Losing weight and toning your body isn't always as easy as it sounds. In addition to eating a healthy, well-balanced diet, you must also commit to an exercise program to get positive results. Weight loss can be accomplished through aerobic and anaerobic exercise when done correctly. By focusing on increasing muscle mass, you can tone your body while burning fat at the same time.
High Intensity Interval Training
High intensity interval training, or HIIT, is a type of exercise regimen that uses short "rest" and "work" intervals with no rest in between. For instance, you jog for 60 seconds followed immediately by a 60 second sprint at 80 to 90 percent of your maximum speed. You then repeat this cycle without rest five to 10 times per workout session. The key to this weight loss and body toning workout is that you exercise at high intensity, as the name implies. Doctors at the University of Alabama at Birmingham have found that HIIT burns more calories than moderate aerobic exercise and in a shorter period of time. HIIT can help to sculpt your leg and core muscles as well as promote weight loss by skyrocketing your metabolism.
Inclined Treadmill Workout
Treadmills are effective fitness tools. By increasing the incline of the treadmill by just 5 percent, you can burn as many as 60 percent more calories, according to promotehealth.info. Increase the incline to 10 percent or higher, and you will experience an even greater calorie burn. In addition to burning more calories in less time, an inclined treadmill workout also can help tone the core and leg muscles because you are exerting more effort walking uphill.
Resistance Training
Whether you choose to lift weights or perform resistance exercises such as push-ups, crunches and squats, you can build muscle while burning fat at the same time. Muscle tissue is an efficient fat burner because it burns more calories than fatty tissue, according to the Mayo Clinic. So increasing your muscle mass can lead to a thinner, more toned appearance. Most people will see noticeable results using a three-day-a-week resistance training program with a day of rest in between each workout. Each session should last between 30 and 60 minutes.
Circuit Training
Circuit training is a type of exercise program that basically combines aerobic and resistance training in one. There are various types of circuit training routines to choose---one of the most basic routines involves the use of weightlifting equipment to target the entire body. Choose five to eight different machines to target all your major muscles groups such as chest, back, legs, abdominals and arms. Use compound weightlifting machines that work multiple muscles at once--- such as the bench press, squat machine, dead lift machine and shoulder presses. The idea behind circuit training is that you move from one machine to the next with little or no rest in between each set. For instance, you would complete 10 repetitions on the bench press and then immediately move to the squat machine and perform 10 squats, and so on. Rest for two to three minutes after each cycle of five to eight machines is completed.
The constant movement gives you an aerobic benefit while the resistance exercise helps to stimulate muscle growth over time. The result is increased weight loss benefits and a more toned body.
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