Aside from dieting, exercising is one of The most common strategies used by those trying to shed fat. It burns calories, and this plays a key role in weight loss.
In helping you lose weight, exercise has been linked to many other benefits, including improved mood, stronger bones, and a reduced risk of many chronic diseases.
Best exercises for weight loss.
1. Walking
Walking is one of the best exercises for weight loss — and for good reason.
It’s an easy way for beginners to start exercising without feeling overwhelmed or needing to purchase equipment. Also, it’s a lower impact exercise, meaning it doesn’t stress your joints.
It’s easy to fit walking into your daily routine. To add more steps to your day, try walking during your lunch break, taking the stairs at work, or taking your dog for extra walks.
To get started, aim to walk for 30 minutes 3–4 times a week. You can gradually increase the duration or frequency of your walks as you become more fit.
2. Jogging or running
Jogging and running are great exercises to help you lose weight.
Jogging is a form of trotting or running at a slow or leisurely pace. The main intention is to increase physical fitness with less stress on the body than from faster running but more than walking.
Although they seem similar, the key difference is that a jogging pace is generally between 4–6 mph (6.4–9.7 km/h), while a running pace is faster than 6 mph (9.7 km/h). Studies have found that jogging and running can help burn harmful visceral fat, commonly known as belly fat. This type of fat wraps around your internal organs and has been linked to various chronic diseases like heart disease and diabetes.
If you find jogging or running outdoors to be hard on your joints, try running on softer surfaces like grass.
3. Interval training
Interval training, more commonly known as high-intensity interval training (HIIT), is a broad term that refers to short bursts of intense exercise that alternate with recovery periods.
Typically, a HIIT workout lasts 10–30 minutes and can burn a lot of calories.
HIIT is easy to incorporate into your exercise routine. All you need to do is choose a type of exercise, such as running, jumping, or biking, and your exercise and rest times.
For example, pedal as hard as you can on a bike for 30 seconds followed by pedaling at a slow pace for 1–2 minutes. Repeat this pattern for 10–30 minutes.
4. Swimming
Swimming is a fun way to lose weight and get in shape.
How you swim appears to affect how many calories you burn. Per 30 minutes, a 155-pound (70-kg) person burns 298 calories doing backstroke, 372 calories doing breaststroke, 409 calories doing butterfly, and 372 calories treading water.
Another advantage of swimming is its low-impact nature, meaning that it’s easier on your joints. This makes it a great option for people who have injuries or joint pain.
5. Yoga
Yoga is a popular way to exercise and relieve stress.
A 12-week study in 60 women with obesity found that those who participated in two 90-minute yoga sessions per week experienced greater reductions in waist circumference than those in the control group — by 1.5 inches (3.8 cm), on average.
Aside from burning calories, studies have shown that yoga can teach mindfulness, which can help you resist unhealthy foods, control overeating, and better understand your body's hunger signals.
The bottom line
Many exercises can help you lose weight.
Some great choices for burning calories include walking, jogging, running, cycling, swimming, weight training, interval training, yoga, and Pilates.
That said, many other exercises can also help boost your weight loss efforts.
It’s most important to choose an exercise that you enjoy doing. This makes it more likely that you’ll stick to it long term and see results.
Comments
Post a Comment