Losing a few pounds isn't only good for your figure and your self esteem. According to the Mayo Clinic, exercising to lose weight can also help you sleep better, improve your mood and reduce your risk for diseases such as cancer, osteoporosis, high blood pressure and type 2 diabetes. To make your routine as effective as possible, strive for variety in the exercises you do and consistency in how often you work out.
Strength Training
Strength training is designed to improve your endurance and build muscle mass, which burns more calories at a resting heart rate than body fat does. People who include strength training in their exercise routines generally lose weight more rapidly than those who do not. Simple strength training can be done at home with dumbbells, resistance bands or fitness balls. Strength training exercises can also be done with your own body weight. To boost the calorie-burning potential of strength and endurance exercises, perform them at intervals with aerobics. Alternating each activity, known as interval training, burns more fat and calories than doing the movements separately.
Aerobics
Aerobics and cardiovascular activities are what most people think about when they consider exercising, and they are also some of the most productive and simplest fitness elements. The American College of Sports Medicine recommends doing a minimum of 150 minutes of moderate aerobic activity or 60 minutes of vigorous aerobic activity each week to maintain good health. To lose weight, however, you'll need to exceed the ACSM guidelines, which you can do by extending the length of your workouts or breaking down a longer total workout time into several short bursts throughout the day. You can also burn a greater amount of calories than you already do by pumping up the intensity level of each workout you do. For example, if you usually walk for 45 minutes, try jogging for 30 minutes instead. If it's too intense, alternate periods of jogging and walking until you can jog the whole time.
Examples
When it comes to weight loss and calorie burn, not all exercises are equal. Any physical activity is better than none, but you'll be able to lose weight more quickly if you choose exercises that burn a maximum amount of calories. According to the Mayo Clinic, a 160-pound person can burn nearly 600 calories per hour by playing basketball, football or tennis. More vigorous exercises burn even more calories. One hour of tae kwon do burns about 730 calories, and one hour of rollerblading burns more than 900. However, bowling, ballroom dancing and walking all only burn about 200 calories per hour.
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