If your goal is to lose weight, performing exercises that burn calories help you get there. Simply put, in order to lose weight, you have to burn more calories than you take in on a daily basis. To lose weight, you must perform exercises that burn calories and add lean muscle tissue, which will cause fat to be burned at a faster pace. Speak with your doctor before starting any type of exercise regimen.
Aerobic Exercise
There are a variety of exercises that fall under the aerobic exercise umbrella. Some of these exercises include riding a bike, swimming or walking. The Mayo Clinic recommends a minimum of 30 minutes of some sort of aerobic exercise on a daily basis. Since your goal is to lose weight, it is typically a good idea to increase the amount of daily activity that you participate in to an even higher amount. Even if you find it difficult to find at least a 30-minute block to exercise, splitting your physical activity into small blocks throughout the day works as well. If you are able to get to the gym, consider joining an aerobics or cycling class. Purchase some cardio DVDs if you plan on exercising at home.
Strength Training
Performing strength training exercises a minimum of two days per week will not only help you to lose weight, but it will also help you maintain healthy muscle. If you belong to a gym, you will have access to a variety of strength-training tools, including free weights and resistance machines, but a gym membership is not necessary to get the benefits of muscular fitness. Hand-held weights can be purchased at many department or health stores or you can make your own by filling plastic milk jugs with sand or water. Resistance bands provide another option that can mimic the movements of resistance machines. There are also some strength-training exercises that can be performed without any equipment at all, such as leg squats, crunches and push-ups.
Circuit Training
Once you are accustomed to aerobic and strength-training exercises, circuit training can take your exercise to the next level. These exercises can be especially helpful if you have hit a plateau in your weight-loss attempt. Circuit training combines a number of cardiovascular and strength exercises that are performed in succession and repeated several times with very little or no rest in between. To perform circuit-training exercises, you will typically need some dumbbells, cardio equipment and a stopwatch or clock that has a second hand. An example of a circuit-training exercise may include alternating one minute of bicep curls, one minute of running, one minute of bench presses and one minute of cycling. Repeat three times. As your fitness increases, you can add additional exercises into the circuit.
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