Remaining active, physically fit and losing weight are all good reasons to exercise. Burning fat helps to reduce the body's overall mass and improve your health. The body converts fat to energy when it expends more calories than it takes in. Exercise, combined with a healthy diet, can burn fat and lead to weight loss.
Combine Weight and Cardio Training
The website for "Fitness" magazine reports that a one-hour weightlifting session followed by 20 minutes on a stationary bike is an effective means of burning fat. This exercise theory, also called "firm-then-burn," reduces fat more effectively than foregoing the cycle ride for rest. According to the article, the rhythmic routine of cycling is relatively easier to do when tired, resulting in extra fat burn without overly taxing the body.
High-Intensity Workouts
Vigorous workouts not only help the body burn calories and fat, but they can sustain metabolic performance long after the workout is complete. A challenging workout triggers a hormonal release that turns fat into fuel. "Fitness" reports on a study by the University of Virginia that found obese women working out at what they believed was a highly intense pace lost an inch and a half more off their waistlines than another group of obese women working at low intensity.
"Women's Health" Flat Belly Workout
Rachel Cosgrove, author of "The Female Body Breakthrough," published an eight-step workout in "Women's Health" magazine that promises a healthier core. The two-part workout begins with four basic maneuvers that Cosgrove recommends doing on three non-consecutive days per week. These include a series of abdominal-tightening maneuvers that use the forearms, feet and upper back for support to hold muscles within the body's core in place. Cosgrove writes that the next four moves -- an advanced set that adds rotations, reversals or lifts to the basic set -- can be adopted after three weeks. The program is designed to progressively increase in repetitions from five to 10.
Interval Training
New York City-based fitness consultant Stefan Aschan advocates interval training to burn fat. The idea is that a person starts at a base level of effort, then pushes to a maximum effort for a period of time before returning to the baseline. Writing for ABC News, Aschan describes an interval program as a cardiovascular routine, such as running or cycling, starting at 65 percent effort for 10 minutes before increasing to 95 percent for 10 minutes and declining to 65 percent for the final 10 minutes. During this half hour, you will lose 173 calories, including 50 from fat.
References
- MayoClinic.com; When You Lose Weight, Where Does the Lost Body Fat Go?; Jennifer Zeratsky.
- "Fitness" magazine; 8 Ways to Burn More Fat, Faster; Caroline Hwang
- "Women's Health" magazine; Flatten Your Belly with This Ab Workout; Rachel Cosgrove; May 2009.
- ABCNews.com; The Fastest Way to Burn Body Fat; Stefan Aschan; January 2007/
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