If you're overweight, losing body fat at a rate of 1 percent per month is generally considered safe and manageable, according to the American Council on Exercise. However, simply losing weight won't guarantee substantial fat loss because about 25 percent of lost weight also comes from lean mass. Committing to eating a low-calorie diet and including multiple types of exercise in your workout routine will help you get the results you're looking for.
Interval Training
The body burns more fat calories than carb calories during long, low-intensity exercise and vice versa during high-intensity exercise. Though the proportion works out that way, it doesn't mean you should stick to long and slow exercises because you still end up burning more calories -- hence more fat calories overall -- during a fast-paced workout, according to the American Council on Exercise. However, intense workout sessions can be limiting if you don't have the stamina or strength to stick them out. Interval training, or switching off between high and low intensities during the same cardio workout, will help you burn more fat while preventing you from burning out. If walking is your cardio of choice, incorporating intervals could mean switching off between jogging and walking every 30 seconds or jogging every time a fast-paced song comes on your MP3 player.
Jumping Rope
After you've built stamina through interval training, vigorous-intensity exercises such as jumping rope will help you burn lots of fat in a full session. If, for example, you weighed 160 lbs. and committed to jumping rope for about 30 minutes, you'd burn about 365 calories, according to MayoClinic.com. To reduce your risk of impact injuries, limit jump height to about 1 or 2 inches from the ground and only allow the balls of your feet to touch the ground. Also keep the rope swinging movement in the wrist and forearms as opposed to your shoulders.
Strength Training
Incorporating strength training in your workout regimen will help you preserve lean muscle mass as you lose fat. Lifting free weights, using weight machines and doing body-weight exercises such as yoga are just a few examples of methods you can use to build lean muscle. Another perk of strength training is that the extra muscle mass you build will speed up your metabolism and help you burn off greater amounts of fat whether you're exercising or watching television. Include enough exercises to work all major muscle groups twice or three times weekly, recommends MayoClinic.com.
Kickboxing
Kickboxing, which incorporates an organized series of kicks and punches, is a hybrid exercise. It gives you a cardiovascular workout while increasing your flexibility and helping you tone your muscles. This total-body workout targets fat from multiple angles. If you weighed about 135 lbs., you'd burn 350 to 450 calories in a single 50-minute kickboxing class session, according to the American Council on Exercise. Kickboxing may not be for you if you're not used to high-intensity workouts or if you're recovering from a knee injury.
References
- MayoClinic.com: Strength Training
- ACE Fitness: What Are the Guidelines for Percentage of Body Fat Loss?; Natalie Muth
- ACE Fitness: Kick Your Way to Fitness
- "Fitness" Magazine: 10-Minute Workout: Jump Rope to Skip Yourself Slim; Betsy Stephens
- MayoClinic.com: Interval Training: Can it Boost Your Calorie-Burning Power?
- American Council on Exercise: Body Fat and Intensity
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