What is the best exercise to lose weight? The answer may surprise you, but it’s…
…The one you will actually do!
We could debate the merrits of swimming vs. running all day long, but if you hate running and love swimming, then swimming is definitely the best exercise to lose weight for you! With that in mind, let’s discuss a few options to get your imagination going.
- Running
- Swimming
- Walking
- Weight Lifting
- Riding a bike
- Talking a cario or karate class
- Walking up stairs (real or at the gym)
Whatever You Do, You Must Create a Calorie Deficit
This means that you must burn more calories than you eat. This is a very simple equation, but one that people often ignore.
Selecting The Best Exercise To Lose Weight
As you go about formulating your weight loss workout program, one of the top things that you need to be thinking about is what the best exercise to lose weight will be. Many people end up spending hours and hours in the gym and don’t see the results that they’re looking for simply because they haven’t selected the top exercises to include in their program.
Since we all have a limited amount of time we can dedicate to our workout programs, it’s vital that you’re only doing the best exercise to lose weight.
Let’s give you a brief run down on what to look for in any exercise that you choose.
Works Multiple Muscle Groups
The first key component of the best exercise to lose weight is that it is one that works multiple muscle groups at once. The more muscle fibers you have working to execute any given movement, the more calories your body is going to burn.
Since weight loss does come down to how many calories you expend each day versus how many you take in, this will shift the balance of the scale in your favour.
In addition to that, those exercises that work multiple muscle groups all at once will also create the greatest hormonal response in the body, meaning that you’ll continue to burn calories for hours after they’re completed.
This goes a long way to ensure weight loss success.
Gets Your Heart Rate Up
The second component that the best exercise to lose weight will have is that it gets your heart rate up.
Having an increased heart rate is indicative that the exercise is very intense in nature, and this is required to both boost your fitness level and burn fat at the same time.
You should really feel as though your body is working maximally with each and every exercise you do.
Allows You To Lift Heavy Weights
Finally, the third component to think about when identifying the best exercise to lose weight is that it will allow you to lift a heavy amount of weights. This will come into play in any resistance training exercises you’re thinking of using, so make sure to consider this as you make your choices.
Typically those exercise that work many muscle groups at once will be the ones that will also allow you to lift the most weight, so if you’re doing things correctly, this should fall right into place.
More weight lifted means more work is performed total and that translates to a higher overall calorie burn for you.
So What Is The Best Exercise To Lose Weight?
Now that you know the requirements of the best exercise to lose weight, what exercises would satisfy all of these?
Think compound weight lifting movements and sprinting. Sprinting is the cardio activity that you should be doing because even though you won’t be lifting heavy weights while doing it (obviously), you will still get your heart rate up and work many muscle fibers at the same time.
On the weight lifting side of things, you’ll want to perform exercises such as squats, deadlifts, shoulder presses, bent over rows, chest presses, push-ups, pull-ups, lunges, and step-ups.
All of these are going to meet our three requirements above and will get you on the right path to an incredible fat burning workout that gets you results.
So have a good look over your current workout program. Are there some changes that you should consider making?