There are many ways to lose weight, or better yet, reduce body fat, and the best way is a combination of diet, resistance training, cardiovascular exercise, and conditioning work. To get the best results possible, every aspect of your program needs to be effective. Consult your physician before beginning any diet or exercise program.
Diet
One of the biggest issues with dieting is that people frequently cut out too much of the essential nutrients, which would cause your metabolism to slow. You need amino acids to repair the ones you burn during training or you will lose muscle mass, and your metabolism will slow. This means you need protein from chicken, fish, milk, beef, and eggs. You need essential fatty acids for hormone production and regulation, such as omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acids, from fish oils, flax, nuts and seeds. You should have a certain amount of carbohydrates for recovery from training, which you should get from whole grains, fruits and vegetables.
Resistance Training
Lifting weights not only burns calories, it helps you preserve muscle while dieting, which keeps your metabolism running in high gear. Compound exercises such as the squat, deadlift, bench press, chin-up, row and military press work nearly every muscle in the body, burn fat, increase the density of your bone structure, and keep your joints strong and healthy. A whole body routine practiced three days a week can keep you strong as well as help get you lean.
Cardiovascular Exercise
Cardiovascular exercise is a great way to burn fat, but is only part of a complete program. To avoid over training, or wearing yourself out during a single session, do not perform your cardio during the same sessions that you lift weights. You can perform your cardiovascular exercise in the morning, and lift in the evening. This will have the effect of speeding up your metabolism twice in a day, which should help you burn a little more fat.
Conditioning Work
On the days that you are not lifting, you can perform alternative exercises to not only burn fat, but increase your tolerance for training volume and improve overall health. You can pull a weighted sled for conditioning. This not only burns fat and strengthens the legs, it improves your ability to endure while performing an intense workout in the gym. Interval runs, where you sprint for 50 yards and then walk for 50 yards, are another way of conditioning, and similar programs can be done with a jump rope. Use your imagination to improve your health.
References
- "Journal of the American College of Nutrition": "Beyond the Zone: Protein Needs of Active Individuals, Individuals"; Lemon; 2000
- PubMed: Dietary Omega-3 Fatty Acid Supplementation Increases the Rate of Muscle Protein Synthesis in Older Adults: a Randomized Controlled Trial
- PubMed.gov: Acute Hormonal and Neuromuscular Responses to Hypertrophy, Strength and Power Type Resistance Exercise
- PubMed.gov: Acute Testosterone and Cortisol Responses to High Power Resistance Exercise
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