The hormonal changes that occur throughout a woman's lifespan add challenges to the already difficult fat-reduction process. Dietary and exercise modifications that worked at one point in a woman's life may be less effective during her menstrual cycle, in the postpartum period and during menopause. Exercise effectively reduces body fat, but a women's sports medicine specialist can help you determine the exercise type, frequency, duration and intensity appropriate for your needs. Reducing body fat improves overall health and appearance while preventing injuries, but losing too much body fat may have the opposite effect.
Reducing Body Fat With Exercise
Step 1
Run or perform aerobic activity for 30 to 60 minutes each day. Aim for 60 minutes a day if you need to lose weight in addition to body fat.
Step 2
Strength train for the lower body three times a week. Perform three sets of 12 repetitions of squats, lunges, leg curls, abduction for the outer thighs and adduction for the inner thighs to reduce cellulite, which is compartmentalized body fat. Include abdominal exercises such as crunches on a stability ball or slant board.
Step 3
Perform resistance training for the upper body three times a week, on days alternating with your lower body workouts. Include exercises such as the lat-pulldown, the seated row, the lateral raise, the overhead press, the biceps curl and the triceps extension. Do three sets of 12 repetitions of each exercise.
Step 4
Adopt a sport. Choosing a sport motivates you to stick with your fitness program. Cross-country skiing and snowshoeing help you burn additional calories during the winter months. Sports such as squash, tennis and mountain biking burn fat during the warmer months.
A Sports Medicine Approach
Step 1
Measure your current level of body fat and fitness level. A personal trainer or sports medicine expert may take a skin fold test or perform underwater weighing to test your body fat and perform muscle tests to determine the strength of different muscle groups.
Step 2
Strengthen your weaker muscle groups. Weaker muscles are less efficient and will not work hard enough to burn sufficient calories. Weak muscles also fail to support your joints and may make you susceptible to injury.
Step 3
Go to a doctor's office and test your bone density. Women lose bone density as they age. Your trainer will devise a workout based on your current bone density level.
Step 4
Calculate how much exercise you need to perform to lose 1 lb. of body fat. To lose 1 lb. of fat each week, you must create a 3,500-calorie deficit.
Step 5
Consult a calorie-burning activity chart. Enter your weight, choose an activity and enter the activity duration to determine how many calories you will burn during each activity.
Step 6
Devise a schedule alternating high-impact activities such as running with low-impact activities such as hiking and swimming. This prevents overuse injuries to the muscles and joints.
Step 7
Retest your body fat every month. If you do not see results, modify your diet or exercise intensity.
Tips and Warnings
- Maintain an aerobic intensity level of at least 65 percent of your maximum heart rate. Researchers at the University of Michigan found that female rats performing moderate-intensity exercise did not lose body fat. Modify your diet by eliminating high-fat foods and substituting them with high-fiber nutrition. Fiber aids elimination, which in turn, reduces body fat. Drink at least six glasses of water daily. Water also aids elimination.
- Very-low-calorie diets combined with intense exercise leads to what sports medicine experts call the Female Athlete Triad. This eating disorder causes amenorrhea and osteoporosis. Avoid fasting. Fasting puts your body into emergency mode and causes you to store body fat. If you already have low bone density, choose low-impact activities. Raise the intensity by increasing speed.
Things You'll Need
- Running shoes
- Weight training equipment
- Athletic gear
References
- Weight Control Information Network: Overweight and Obesity Statistics
- Family Education: Weight and Percent of Body Fat for Women
- Harvard Health Letter: Abdominal fat and What to Do About It
- Dr Len Kravitz; Cellulite: Everything You Want to Know and More; Len Kravitz, Ph.D.
- "American Fitness"; The Female Triad; Lola Ramos, et al.; May-June 2004
- Health Status: Calories Burned Estimator
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