One thing’s for sure: Exercise and weight loss are inseparable! You can exercise without losing weight, but losing weight without exercise is way too hard. But we all want to know just what is the best exercise for weight loss to keep from wasting time and energy.
Here’s the real answer:
Any physical activity you can see yourself doing 3-6 times a week for a long time!
Of course, there’s the comparison of the amount of calories each different exercise burns.
But face it: That’s of little consequence if you’re not exercising several times a week because you hate the routine you’ve chosen.
Choosing the Best Exercise for Losing Weight
Basically, you can put all exercises into one of two categories:
- Resistance Training, which includes things like weight lifting, pushups, chin ups, squats, planks. It means to work against an opposing force, right.
- Cardio Exercise, which includes any exercise that increases heart rate and breathing. Things like, running, walking, swimming, rowing, jump rope, home cardio machines, etc.
Both resistance training and cardio workouts burn calories. Generally speaking, when it comes to calories used for energy, cardiovascular workouts have the upper hand.
When it comes to losing weight, including both methods into your workout routine is by far your best bet.
Why You Need Both Resistance and Cardio Training to Lose Weight
The first thing that comes to mind with exercise is burning calories, which we naturally associate with fat loss.
But only a handful of people realize what actually happens to the fat on our body that we’re trying to remove; and that’s important information.
✪ Why Cardio Exercises Are Essential
What happens to fat we lose:
- Of course, some of the fat stored in our body turns to waste material that we excrete.
- However, the vast majority of the fat stores leave through our respiratory system.
Fat actually converts to carbon dioxide, and we exhale it.
Once you get a grip on that fact, along with the idea that cardio exercises raise your heart rate, which in turn gets you to inhaling and exhaling more than normal;
You see why Cardio is an essential ingredient to losing weight.
✪ Why You Need Resistance Training
The first thing to know is that you don’t have to be a bodybuilder to use resistance training of any kind.
And depending on your own situation and goals, just a few minutes a couple of times a week may be sufficient.
Benefits of Resistance Training for Weight Loss
- The higher the ratio of muscle to fat, the more, easier, and faster the calorie burn
- Resistance training builds muscle to make you stronger
- You can’t tone or firm up fat to look good, but you can muscle
- As you lose weight it’s important to tone your body to look your best
- Improved muscle strength decreases the risk of injury while doing cardio exercises to burn more calories
Even though resistance exercises won’t burn quite as many calories per workout session, you’ll be happier with the end results when you include these workouts.
How to Use Cardio for Weight Loss?
Short and intense cardio sessions are more effective than long steady-state cardio.
You want to engage in high-intensity cardio sessions that last anywhere from 20 to 30 minutes to see real results.
Anyone can include HIIT exercises into any workout routine whatsoever. And it’s this HIIT routine that turns on your weight loss with cardio!
These sessions will get your heart pumping and create an oxygen deficit because you are exercising all out!
Your body will be in fat-burning mode for 8 to 12 hours after the workout ends.
Overall, you’ll burn more calories and lose more fat. By doing less cardio with more vigor, you’d have achieved more.
To sum things up, watch your diet and engage in short, high-intensity sessions. You’ll find that losing weight becomes a breeze when you focus on the right protocol.
How Often To Do Resistance Training On A Diet?
To get the most out of resistance training you’ll need a good workout routine of at least two sessions a week.
For the best results, work in 3 cardio workouts and 2 days of weight training each week.
The main thing to remember is that cardio and resistance days are both important tools for the same goal.
You can even include both on the same day.
Just do 1/2 hour of some form of resistance training first and then add about 20 minutes of cardio.
It’s important to do the cardio first. It’s easy to do the weight training first, and then run out of energy for cardio.
Another way to get both workouts on the same day is to do your resistance training at high-intensity levels.
Doing them as fast as possible for short durations turns into cardio.
HIIT exercises are a highly effective method to burn fat and lose weight in a short time. Not only will you lose weight with HIIT, but you will also tone your body.
There’s a lot of choices when it comes to resistance training
You will find a wide variety of resistance training methods. There is the traditional weight lifting, using your own body weight, resistance bands, TRX cables, and plenty more.
You’ll find unique benefits of each, and some you will like, and others not so much. The main thing is to get started and explore different techniques.
Should You Exercise for Weight Loss At All?
The key to successful weight loss is understanding that all exercise is a tool that’s meant to boost your metabolism to keep your body burning calories.
When you exercise, you get fitter and stronger and your body burns calories at an accelerated rate. That’s the role of exercise.
Exercise is a means to an end and NOT an end in itself.
Successful weight loss comes from watching your diet like a hawk.
You’d see much faster results by following a sensible diet plan and having three 30-minute cardio sessions a week — instead of having 7 cardio sessions and neglecting your diet.
You cannot out-exercise a bad eating habit.
Remember – exercise is a tool. Your body is a machine and the food you eat is the fuel.
Most people are more concerned about the type of fuel they put in their car than the food that they put in their bodies.
It’s absolutely essential to eat right if you expect to lose weight. Everything else is secondary.
Diet, Cardio, and Resistance Training for Weight Loss
When your diet is on point and you’re mixing up cardio and resistance training, you body will shed the excess fat and you will naturally get more toned.
You’ll become lighter, fitter and stronger. Now, the pull-ups and push-ups will become easier and you’ll find yourself executing them with ease.
It takes time… but if you have all the components in place, successful weight loss and the body of your dreams will be within reach in a couple of months. Stay consistent and the results will follow.