The healthiest way to lose weight is a combination of eating well and exercising properly. Just like dieting the right way is important if you’re trying to slim down, you also should follow the correct workout routine.
There’s some dispute as to what’s the best exercise for melting away fat. Some say steady cardio is the way to go, others think weight lifting is better suited for trimming your body. By balancing a healthy diet with a combination of effective weight-loss routines, you can pinpoint the activities that work best for you and start dropping the digits on the scale.
Effective fat-burning routines
Weight and interval training are great for fat reduction, Nerd Fitness explained. Here’s more on these calorie-incinerating workouts:
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Interval training:
The constant variation in these exercise routines is what makes them so effective. This can be a combination of sprinting, using the exercise bike and jogging. The shifts in intensity and speed ensure your heart rate stays up.
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Weight training:
While cardio has long been associated with weight loss, there are some who assert weight training is better. Cardio alone is an inefficient way to burn fat, Born Fitness explained. High-intensity weight lifting burns more calories than cardio, making this sort of exercise a faster way to burn off fat. Combine it with cardio – which does help with recovery and keeps your heart rate up – for optimal weight loss training.
Pure cardio is actually an efficient weight loss routine.Why constant cardio doesn’t work
If you ever wondered why an hour or more of cardio each day isn’t having the desired effect on your weight, it’s because you’re not burning enough calories. Medium or high-intensity weight training will do the work that cardio doesn’t. You can mix in a jog or ride on the stationary bike between sets to keep your heart rate up and ensure you’re pumping blood – and oxygen – more efficiently.
More calories burned isn’t the only reason building muscle melts fat away more efficiently than cardio, though. Born Fitness explained that your resting metabolic rate also contributes to weight loss. How does resting help weight loss?
Muscle needs energy to maintain itself. It’s always burning off calories to do so, which means no matter what you’re doing your muscles are consuming energy. Lean muscles built through weight training are the most effective at this. The more of this sort of muscle you have, the more calories you will burn throughout the day.
“The most effective way to burn fat is to combine weight and interval cardio training.”
How to shed pounds faster
Ultimately, the most effective way to burn fat is to combine weight and interval cardio training. The weight lifting will give you the muscle you need to burn calories more efficiently, and the interval cardio workouts will ensure your heart rate stays up between sets.
Something to note is that this training might show in the way your body looks more quickly than what the scale says. That’s because muscle is much more dense than fat. While you know what five pounds of fat may look like, five pounds of muscle is much less noticeable, Bodybuilding.com noted. Your body may start changing shape faster than your scale can react, as fat is replaced by lean muscle.
If you’re ready to start losing weight the right workouts – along with a healthy diet – will help you get going. Remember, the key is to build muscle, so you’re burning as many calories as your body can throughout the day. So pick up that dumbbell and get started! With the right routine, you’re sure to see a difference – especially if you combine healthy eating and exercise with CoolSculpting®, and FDA-approved way to freeze the fat cells away. A thinner you is on the way!
