Losing weight is a matter of burning more calories than you consume. Exercise helps with weight loss by upping your daily calorie burn—helping you reach this deficit faster. Even if you do not belong to a gym, you can exercise at home to lose weight. It takes burning 3,500 calories to lose just one pound. Although it is natural to crave fast weight loss, recognize that you can only burn so many calories per day through physical activity. Coupling your at-home exercise program with a healthy, reduced-calorie diet will yield results even faster.
Step 1
Perform a cardio circuit three days per week. Warm up with a five minutes of moderate jumping rope. Spend one minute each on jumping jacks, speed skaters—hopping horizontally from foot-to-foot—high knees, squat thrusts and switch lunges—lunge with a jump to switch lead legs. Repeat this sequence three times for a 15-minute segment. Jump rope vigorously for five minutes and then go back and re-perform the 15-minute circuit. Jump rope for another five minutes and complete one more cardio circuit to conclude your one hour of moderate- to high-intensity exercise, the minimal amount recommended by the American College of Sports Medicine for weight loss. Expect to burn about 570 calories for a 150-lb. person during this routine—the larger you are, the more calories you burn.
Step 2
Strength train on two additional non-consecutive days per week. Warm-up with a light jog in place for about five minutes. Conduct a 30 second bout each of squats, walking lunges, bent over rows and biceps curls using dumbbells or heavy jugs of laundry detergent, triceps dips off of a coffee table or chair, and push-ups. Jump rope vigorously for three minutes. Repeat the whole circuit five times for a 30-minute routine that burns up to 10 calories per minute, reports Fitness Magazine. Go outside for a steady-state jog or cruise up and down a set of stairs for 15 to 30 minutes to burn another 240 calories.
Step 3
Be physically active all day long. Garden, clean house, pace while you are on the phone, walk to the corner store, walk the dog and play outside with your kids. Including these moves can help you burn an extra 250 to 500 calories—or more, depending on your size and enthusiasm—daily, resulting in as much as another pound of weight loss per week without having to leave your home area.
Tips and Warnings
- If you are new to exercise, moderate your intensity and duration. Even though you are eager to lose weight quickly, if you go too hard too soon you risk injury. If you are injured, you absolutely will not be able to exercise to lose weight. Even with this strategy, aim for no more than a 2-lb. per week weight loss, a safe, sustainable rate as recommended by the Centers for Disease Control. If this amount of physical activity is new to you, you may lose more than one or two pounds in your first couple of weeks of adding in exercise. Overtime, your rate of loss will level off to the safer one or two pounds per week.
- Please check with your doctor before beginning a rigourous exercise routine.
Things You'll Need
- Jump rope
- Dumbbells or heavy laundry detergent jugs
- Coffee table or chair
- Staircase
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