Losing weight and gaining muscle can be accomplished through a combination of diet, strength training and cardiovascular exercise. While you will achieve results with nearly any type of exercise that pushes the body to its limits, you can maximize your time spent in the gym and get to your goals faster with a program that is designed specifically for your body.
Step 1
Watch your diet. If your diet is off, you will not see the weight loss results you want, regardless of how much you exercise. Similarly, if you lack adequate protein and balance, your muscle gains will slow dramatically. The calories of your diet should be composed of 55 percent carbohydrate from whole-grain, complex sources like wheat bread and vegetables; 15 percent protein from low-fat sources like chicken breast; and 30 percent fat from unsaturated sources like olive oil.
Step 2
Engage in cardiovascular exercise like running, which is rhythmic in nature and offers a concentrated opportunity to burn a relatively large amount of calories. The American College of Sports Medicine recommends jogging at a moderate pace for one hour, five days a week. Moderate is defined as 60 to 80 percent of your maximum heart rate, which can be found by subtracting your age from 220. Use a heart rate monitor to track your heart rate and stay within these boundaries.
Step 3
Strengthen your muscles. Strengthening your muscles through the use of body weight or external resistance like dumbbells or bands can significantly increase the amount of calories your body burns and augment your strength. To get stronger, lift weights three times a week with a day of rest in between. Each session should consist of full-body exercises performed for three sets of eight to 12 repetitions, says the National Academy of Sports Medicine. A typical weight-lifting routine will start with dumbbell chest presses and seated reverse-grip rows. Then perform sets of squats, shoulder presses, hamstring curls and shoulder presses. Finish with abdominal crunches and dead lifts.
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