Your body burns fat when you engage in even the most moderate aerobic exercise, such as a casual stroll around the block. However, you likely won't burn enough for weight loss that way -- you'll just replace those calories and more when you eat. A healthy exercise regimen, like a healthy diet, involves variety. If you engage in various forms of exercise on a regular basis -- cardiovascular training and strength training -- your body could turn into a fat-burning machine, even shedding calories hours after you've stopped working out.
Aerobic and Anaerobic Exercise
Aerobic exercise tackles calories directly, using them for energy as you challenge your heart and lungs. Strength training burns fat too, though not as immediately. As you build up your muscles, they require more energy and they draw that energy from calories. Well-developed muscles burn calories even when you're at rest. Strength training also helps keep your bones strong and gives you the support you need to perform cardio exercise with proper form.
Reaching the Fat-Burning Zone
Regardless of the aerobic exercise you choose, you won't lose weight if you don't lose your breath. To be most effective for fat-burning, an aerobic workout should raise your heart rate to between 70 and 80 percent of your maximum heart rate. You can be reasonably sure you're at that point if you can only speak a brief sentence before gasping for breath and speaking another short sentence.
Top Fat-Burning Exercises
If you're fit enough to run 8 mph, you can burn over 900 calories in an hour, according to the Mayo Clinic's "Calories Burned in an Hour" exercise chart. You may not be ready for that level of intensity, however, in which case you might consider in-line skating. Jogging, rowing, swimming, jumping rope and working out with stair treadmills are other major fat-burning aerobic exercises.
Don't Weight Yourself Down
It's best to ease yourself into fat-burning mode, especially if you've been inactive a long time. Start with moderate-intensity exercises like walking, jogging or leisurely bicycling. Though you won't burn as many calories this way, you'll burn some, and you'll have more energy to build up your intensity overtime if you moderate your diet. Reduce portions of your favorite fattening foods while introducing a wider variety of nuts, legumes, fruits and vegetables into your diet so that you'll feel more lively, more alert and more motivated to exercise.
References
- Department of Health and Human Services: Making Physical Activity Part of a Healthier You
- American Council on Exercise: Trimming Off the Fat
- "Lifetime Fitness"; Fitness Fixes--Fitness by the Numbers; Sally Edwards, et al.
- Mayo Clinic: Exercise for Weight Loss -- Calories Burned in One Hour
- The President's Council on Physical Fitness and Sports: Ten Tips to Healthy Eating and Physical Activity for You
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