Effective Exercises To Lose Weight

Regular exercise and eating a healthy diet that stays within your calorie needs are essential components of a weight-control plan. Regular exercise can improve your fitness, reduce your risk of developing some chronic diseases and can help you burn more calories. Some types of exercises that can be part of your weight-loss plan include aerobic exercise, strength training and interval training.

Calories

Multiply your body weight by 15 if you are moderately active to find out how many calories your body needs each day to maintain your current weight. If you are sedentary, multiply your weight by 10 to estimate your daily calorie needs. Once you know how many calories your body needs each day, you can figure out how many calories you should consume to lose weight. Losing 1 to 2 lbs. each week, which is the recommended rate for safe and effective weight loss, requires burning approximately 3500 to 7000 calories. This can be done by creating a calorie deficit of 500 to 1000 calories each day by eating less food and exercising more.

Aerobic Exercise

The President's Council on Fitness, Sports and Nutrition reports that aerobic exercise can be effective in helping you burn calories and lose weight. Some popular types of aerobic exercise include brisk walking, cycling, running and swimming. Increasing the duration of your aerobic workout, or the intensity, can help increase the amount of calories you burn during your exercise session. The American College of Sports Medicine, or ACSM, recommends working your way up to 60 minutes of aerobic exercise on four or more days each week to promote weight loss.

Strength Training

Strength-training exercises are also effective in helping you reach your weight-loss goal. According to the "Ask the Trainer" program from Indiana.gov, strength training can help increase your metabolism, or the number of calories your body needs to use for its regular processes. Increasing your lean muscle mass helps increase the number of calories your body uses, even while you are not exercising. Doing strength-training exercises for your major muscle groups at least two times each week is recommended by the ACSM.

Interval Training

Interval training exercises can be added to any aerobic exercise workout and have shown to be beneficial in burning more calories than some traditional aerobic exercise workouts. Interval training consists of alternating short, high-intensity bursts of activity followed by lighter rest periods of activity. Interval training can add variety to your workouts while still improving your fitness and helping you burn calories. It can also be a good way to break through a weight-loss plateau.