Exercises That Help Lose Weight Fast

Exercises That Help Lose Weight Fast
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Losing weight requires a negative calorie balance, with 1 lb. of fat equaling 3,500 calories, according to spineuniverse.com. The greater the deficit, the faster the weight loss will occur. There are two different types of exercise used for weight loss: cardiovascular exercise and resistance training. Cardio is important because it burns a large amount of calories during the activity and keeps the heart and lungs healthy. Resistance training is critical because it helps to prevent muscle loss, and helps increase resting metabolism.

Interval Training

Interval training, where you alternate high-intensity activity with moderate-intensity activity, has been shown to increase the amount of fat burn by 36 percent and improve cardiovascular fitness by 13 percent, according to a study published in "Science Daily." Interval training can be done a number of different ways; typically the high-intensity phase is between 90 and 100 percent of a person's perceived maximum for 30 to 60 seconds. The moderate-intensity phase is anywhere from 60 to 75 percent of the perceived maximum intensity for two to four minutes. You should limit interval training to 20 to 30 minutes, because it is difficult to maintain the proper intensity levels much longer than that.

Dead Lift

The best resistance exercises for burning fat are the ones that utilize multiple muscle groups. An example of this would be the dead lift. The dead lift requires the use of virtually every muscle in the body. The primary focus of the exercise is the legs, which is important because the bulk of human musculature is in the legs. The added benefit to this particular exercise is that it also requires a great deal of core and upper-body strength to complete. The use of all these muscles at once triggers the body to burn an exceptionally high amount of calories, both during the exercise and while recovering for hours after the workout

Pull-Ups

Because rapid weight loss requires burning large amounts of calories, you must perform highly difficult exercises that require high effort levels to maximize the amount of muscles worked, which burns lots of calories during and after the workout. The pull-up is among the most difficult exercises around. Like any other challenging activity, if it is difficult to perform, it requires lots of energy to complete. The more energy burned, the greater the fat-burning capabilities of the exercise.

Push-Ups

Though the push-up does not challenge the legs, it does require a great deal of core and upper-body strength. Just like pull-ups, push-ups utilize nearly every muscle from the waist up, which helps to burn large amounts of calories both during and after the exercise.

References

Article reviewed by Matt Olberding Last updated on: Mar 23, 2010

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