Five Day Workout Routines To Lose Weight

Excessive body weight is a serious problem for your health, not just your body image. Over two-thirds of adult Americans are classified as overweight or obese, according to the American College of Sports Medicine. Excess body weight increases your risk of disease as well as lowers your quality of life. Making a five-day workout routine and sticking with it can help you lose weight and improve your health.

Resistance Training Plan

Perform resistance training two to three times per week on non-consecutive days. Do full-body workouts where you choose one exercise for each major muscle group and start with one set of eight to 12 repetitions per exercise. As you get stronger and more fit, increase up to three sets per exercise. Use a resistance, or weight, that challenges your body and makes it difficult to finish each set. Focus on proper form, and do not use momentum. Change the exercises every four to six weeks to prevent a weight-loss plateau.

Cardio Plan

Perform cardio all five days of your workout routine. Cardio can burn a lot of calories to reduce your body weight. Choose any activity that you like but make it challenging. Sessions should last 30 to 60 minutes and keep your intensity moderate to high for more effective weight loss. On the days that you are doing cardio and resistance training, perform resistance exercise first, followed by your cardio workout.

Increasing Calorie Burn

You can add intensity, and burn more calories during your workouts, by adding circuits and high-intensity interval training (HIIT). During resistance workouts, perform your exercises back to back with little to no rest between each exercise. Do your circuit two to three times through for a harder workout. In cardio workouts perform HIIT. HIIT workouts alternate moderate and high intensity intervals for increased training benefit, such as weight loss. For example, warm up on an indoor cycle for five minutes at a moderate pace. Increase pace and resistance to very challenging for 30 to 90 seconds. Reduce pace/resistance to moderate for one to three minutes. Alternate for the entire workout.

Role of Diet

What you eat will affect how much weight you lose. All the exercise in the world will not yield weight loss if you eat too many calories. Aim to reduce your total caloric intake by 15 to 20 percent each day. Consume a variety of whole grains, lean protein, unsaturated fats as well as fresh fruits and vegetables each day. Drink a minimum of 64 oz. of water per day to prevent dehydration and aid weight loss.