What are the best types of exercise to lose weight?

Jeff Croswell , NASM Elite Trainer

Fitness

Many people look for the best exercises, the best foods or best rountine to lose weight. However there is no "Best" of anything to help you lose weight better or quicker. The best way to lose weight is to make sure your in a deficit each day. Now how big your deficit is will determine how much weight you will lose each week. For example if you want to lose 1 pound per week then your goal is to have a 500 calorie deficit per day. So it is not what exercises that will work the best but how hard you do the exercises for you workout plan. Remember to track how many calories you are taking in and also track how many you are burning to see if you are on the right track.

Shannon Sorrels, CPT

Fitness

All activity counts when it comes to losing weight. Any time you move your body, you are burning calories. Do what you enjoy.

Now, if you've been doing aerobic work for several months and have built some tolerance for it, and if your doctor has no issues with you working out vigorously, then you might try a HIIT protocol for your cardio work. HIIT is High Intensity Interval Training and boy, it's a humdinger when done correctly. It burns great calories.

Resistance training is also a great. Muscles are your friend. Go pump some iron with the big boys.

RealAge

It seems that the right combo of physical activity may have the power to make you eat less. The magic formula involves both cardio and strength training. Doing just one or the other doesn't really curb your calorie intake as much, if at all.

When men in one small study combined aerobic exercise with weight training for 16 weeks, they ate significantly fewer calories compared with the men who did either aerobics or weight training alone or who did no exercise at all. The researchers suspect that the combo of cardio and strength exercises had the most favorable effect on blood levels of fats, glucose, amino acids and satiety hormones -- producing a powerful combination of hunger-controlling physiological changes.

Saint Agnes Medical Center

The type of exercise you do to lose weight doesn’t matter as much as you might think, as long as you're active. In one study, to test the effectiveness of different types of physical activity, researchers put 96 obese adults on a 22-week calorie-restricted diet and randomly assigned them to one of three exercise routines. One group did only endurance exercise, such as running; the second group was limited to biceps curls, bench presses and other strength-training exercises; and the third did a combination, which could include the treadmill, cycling, rowing machine and bench press.

All three groups exercised for the same amount of time at the same level of intensity and all experienced positive results, including significant reductions in body weight, body mass index, waist circumference and total fat mass. Each group also had a significant increase in lean body mass, according to the research.

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Important: This content reflects information from various individuals and organizations and may offer alternative or opposing points of view. It should not be used for medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. As always, you should consult with your healthcare provider about your specific health needs.

Exercise For Weight Loss

Regular exercise, along with diet, is a critical part of any weight loss program and is often listed first when suggesting weight loss tips. To lose weight, your body has to be burning more calories than it's taking in – a difficult thing to do if you aren't actively working out. But it doesn't have to be a daunting exercise. Fun activities like gardening, dancing, walking, yoga and swimming can help you burn as many calories as an afternoon at the gym.

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