It is estimated that more than 45% of Americans want to lose weight at some point in their life. Diet plays a large role, but so does exercise. Those extra pounds you put up during Christmas holidays or generally, if you need to be in a better shape, working out is probably the most important thing you will need to do to shred that fat and build more muscle.
But this also begs the question- how much do you exercise to lose weight? What exercises are best to lose weight fast? Below, we discuss exactly that.
Some popular exercises that may help you lose weight are below:
Probably the most effective form of exercise that will eventually lead to weight loss is jogging. A study showed that an average 30 minute jog at a slow pace (5 miles/hour) will allow you to burn about 290 calories per setting if you weigh about 70 kg.
In addition to burning calories, jogging can tone you for a better cardiovascular profile. Meaning, it is not only effective in burning that brown fat, it allows your body (particularly your heart) to tone and condition, which are attributes of a healthy physique.
However, can jogging help you lose weight fast? The answer is no. Jogging, just like any other exercise needs consistency and time. Coupled with a diet plan, consistent slow and medium paced (6 miles/hour) jogging for 30-40 minutes daily can allow you to lose weight over a 3-4 week period. Exactly how much is different for every individual.
One of the most popular ways to exercise particularly in the elderly, is walking. Make no mistake, daily walking is shown to reduce weight and burn visceral fat.
For walking to help lose weight, it must be done at a faster pace (at least 3.5-4 miles/hour) and consistently. A 30 minute brisk walking at the above rate can burn about 150 calories.
To increase the caloric burn, try walking on an incline. Walking is easy to adopt into your routine- walking during evening after dinner (if you have a dog even better) for 1-2 miles is ideal and not disruptive. Walking does not involve being indoors or the need to get any equipment, and hence remains popular in individuals who are obese or who suffer from arthritis.
In order to lose weight with swimming, again the same principle generally applies. Time and consistency. Swimming is more effective however as it works out the core of the body, as well as extremities.
A 30-minute swim can help burn about 230-360 calories in an averagely built person. Increasing the speed of the swim and changing the strokes will allow more calories to burn and more weight loss.
Swimming and water exercises are also effective as it reduces your weight in the water and is particularly important in obese individuals with arthritis. Swimming can help lose weight but also condition your cardiovascular system and get you back in shape. Positional changes that improve your flexibility during swimming have also shown to improve digestion.
Over the last decade, biking has become quite popular for losing weight. Biking can be done outdoors or using a stationary bike.
The recent advent of Peloton bikes has completely changed the scope of biking and its use in exercise and weight loss. An average 30-minute cycling workout allows you to burn about 220-250 calories based on the intensity.
Biking has advantages in addition for those training for triathlons. These endurance races have a large leg of it involving biking and this might be a good exercise for someone to lose weight at the same time training to be a triathlete.
Generally, weight training is more for conditioning, increasing your core strength rather than for weight loss. Most weight trainers are trying to bulk and grow their muscle mass but this also allows you to shred the fat and help you lose weight.
Weight training, mixed with periodic jogging, can be very effective in weight loss. An average 30 minutes of weight training in an average person allows about 120 calories to be burnt.
Weight training also augments the muscular phenotype that may be attractive to those in the bodybuilding community.
Commonly termed HIIT are short bursts of exercises that are typically done alternatingly using an explosive series of workout regimens followed by periods of recovery.
As expected, HIIT allows a lot of calories to burn rapidly and is one of the best ways of toning yourself to improve your cardiovascular score. HIIT is also effective in losing weight. An average HIIT activity of 30 minutes is estimated to burn about 300 calories.
Yoga is lower on the caloric “burn rate” but it makes it up by improving the flexibility. Yoga is one-of-a-kind exercise that has tremendous benefit in improving condition, flexibility (particularly of the joints) as well as circulation.
An average 30-minute yogic workout can burn about 140 calories. In addition to burning visceral fat and allowing you to lose weight, yoga drastically improves the core strength and joint flexibility. For the best results, yoga should be mixed with weight training and/or a true cardio workout such as jogging or biking.
In summary, there are quite a lot of exercises that can allow you to lose weight. The goal is to put in the effort on a consistent and a long-term basis.
We recommend having an exercise regimen that incorporates more than one of the above in the weekly schedule. This allows toning, cardiovascular workout as well as flexibility to build in addition to weight loss.
Lastly, any good workout requires proper hydration. Using MAGNAK® Endurance Mix with your training allows you to train harder and recover faster. It’s unique and patented electrolyte mix that allows you to get enough magnesium can allow you to increase your workout time leading to a faster route to your goals of losing weight. Plus, not being magnesium deficient has loads of benefits.
