The Best Workout Plan To Lose Weight In A Month

Before starting any new diet or exercise regimen, consult your doctor to make sure you are ready to start. The best weight-loss approach is to combine a well-balanced diet with exercise for lasting results. The best workout plan should include aerobic exercise, strength training and stretching for maximum weight loss. This combination will help you shed fat while building lean muscle to burn more calories.

Aerobic or Cardiovascular Exercises

Cardiovascular or aerobic exercise involves transporting oxygen to the largest muscles of your body. These workouts strengthen your heart and lungs. Aerobic exercise offers multiple health benefits, such as protecting against cardiovascular diseases, lowering blood pressure, and burning calories for weight loss. Try running, speed walking, swimming, tennis and bicycling for your workout routine. If you are stuck indoors, choose butt kicks, jumping jacks or jumping rope to increase your heart rate and burn calories.

Upper-Body Exercises

Upper-body exercises target the muscles of the upper back, shoulders, chest and arms. Various toning exercises will work your rhomboids, deltoids, pectorals, forearms, biceps and triceps. One example of an upper-body exercise is the dumbbell press. This exercise will work your chest, shoulders and triceps. Lie on your back with your feet planted firmly on the floor. Hold 3- to 5-pound dumbbells over your chest with your arms extended toward the ceiling. Bend your elbows and lower the dumbbells slowly toward your chest. At the midpoint, your forearms should be perpendicular to the floor, upper arms parallel to the ground and knuckles pointed toward the ceiling. Hold for a couple of seconds, then press the weights back to the starting position. Repeat several times. Alternative upper-body exercises include bicep curls, dumbbell rows and push-ups.

Lower-Body Exercises

Lower-body exercises tone the glutes, quadriceps, hamstrings, calves and hip flexors. The lunge is a popular exercise that targets the glutes, quadriceps, hamstrings and calves. Start with your feet hip-width apart. Lift your right leg and step forward. As your foot touches the floor, bend both knees so your right thigh is parallel to the floor and your left thigh is perpendicular to it. Your left heel will naturally come off the floor. Press off of your right foot and step back into starting position. Alternate between both legs. Other lower-body exercises may include crossover lunges, pelvic thrusts and squats.

Abdominal and Core Exercises

Strengthening your abdomen, core and back muscles will help you perform aerobic exercises. Working these muscles gives you a better posture and helps relieve lower back pain. The boat pose targets your abs and lower back. To perform the exercise, sit on the floor with legs out straight out in front of you. Raise your legs until they are at a 45-degree angle. Raise your torso so that you make a V-shape with your body while simultaneously extending your arms out straight to help balance. Slowly release back to starting position. For variety, try doing crunches or planks to strengthen these muscles.

Stretching Exercises

While working out to lose weight, it is essential to include stretching exercise for your muscles to recover. Added benefits of stretching include improving coordination, loosening up muscles and joints by increasing blood flow and increasing the heart rate before aerobic exercise. Perform stretching exercises in a slow, relaxed manner. The Women's Heart Foundation recommends doing 5 to 7 minutes of stretching as a warm-up and cool-down.