Exercising increases your body's energy usage and induces fat burning. During an exercise, your muscles, respiratory and cardiovascular system work harder and use more energy. In response to the increased energy need, your body begins to burn fat. Regular exercising also increases your metabolism so you burn more energy even at rest. The good news is that you can pick any exercise you like to do to get these effects.
Spot Reduction Myth
You might think that doing numerous situps will burn off that stubborn fat around your belly. Unfortunately, this is not true. You cannot spot reduce fat in a particular area of your body. Doing situps will tone your abdominal muscles but does not burn the fat around them. The best way for you to reduce fat in any area of your body is to do regular aerobic exercises.
Low-Impact Exercises
Walking, swimming and bicycling are examples of low-impact, moderate-intensity exercises that burn fat and improve your health. Low-impact exercises are safer for your joints and muscles and are great choice for beginners. In addition, due to the low intensity, you can do these exercises for a longer duration than more intense exercises. To optimize you fat burning efforts, do at least two, 60- to 75-minute sessions every week.
High-Impact Exercises
Running, kickboxing and skiing are examples of high-impact, vigorous-intensity exercises that burn fat and improve your cardio output and respiratory system. Vigorous-intensity exercises burn more calories in less time than moderate-intensity exercises but because of the higher-intensity you cannot continue these exercises for a long duration. If you are not used to exercising, increase your exercise intensity slowly. Start with a 20- to 30-minute vigorous-activity exercise once a week.
Weight Training Exercises
Weight training exercises strengthen your muscles and increase your metabolism. Once you reduce the fat around your body, these muscles start to show and give you the toned and healthy body shape. Do one to two workouts every week that include exercises like situps, squats, lunges, stepups and crunches. These moves target your belly, butt and thighs and are easy to do in your home. Start with a five minute warm-up, like running in place, doing jumping jacks, or jumping rope, or go for a 10- to 30-minute jog. Repeat each exercise 20 times and do three sets.
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