Many people exercise to lose fat by exercising to improve their looks and/or their health. But more often than not, hardly any fat is lost, people get frustrated and quit training altogether. In response to the rising demand in fat loss, much research has been performed to determine the most effective ways of losing fat. This article will give you best tips science can give you on how to lose weight and fat effectively.

Cardio Exercise:

Cardio exercise such as running on a treadmill or cycling is known to aid weight loss. However the intensity and duration of cardio exercise is a hot topic among fitness enthusiasts and trainers. Some trainers believe that to maximize fat loss during training, long session of cardio training at a relatively low intensity are necessary because burning fat stops at higher exercise intensities. Relatively speaking they are right, the body has an easier time burning fat at lower intensities, and at high intensities it can stop burning fat altogether. It might therefore seem that this is the best way to achieve fat loss. However research has shown that despite the sometimes minimal amount of fat burned during higher intensity exercise, it is more effective than low or moderate intensity exercise. Especially high intensity interval training is very effective in reducing fat mass. In addition, it requires less time than continuous lower intensity training and it results in larger increases in endurance.

Advice:

-To effectively increase fat loss, incorporate 20-30 minutes high intensity interval training into your training.

-Interval training can be performed on your prefered cardio machine such as a treadmill, stationary bicycle, crosstrainer or stepmachine.

-Alternate 1:00 minute of low intensity exercise at 60-70% Maximum Heart Frequency (MHF) with 1:00 minute of high intensity exercise at 80-95% MHF. During the low intensity parts you should easily be able to speak while training, while you should only be able to speak one or two words during the high intensity parts.

-Try to perform this at least two times a week but no more than four times since the body needs to recover and adapt to the training.

-If performed correctly the body whill adapt quickly and the intensity should be kept high by increasing movement speed or resistance.

Resistance Exerise:

Resistance exercise is not the first thing that comes to mind when someone wants to lose weight and burn fat. It is true that resistance or strength training often increase your weight because of an increase in muscle mass. However, resistance exercise can play a very important role in achieving your goal of fat loss for multiple reasons. First, muscles require energy during training and rest. This is only logical, the more muscle mass someone has, the more muscle mass can be active during training and burn energy. Secondly, muscle tissue requires energy during rest as well, increasing daily energy expenditure, again making it easier to burn fat. Thirdly performing resistance exercise when on a light calorie restricted diet, maintains muscle mass and daily energy expenditure, making it easier to maintain fat loss and preventing the yo-yo effect. Finally resistance exercise, especially when performing exercises which train a large number of muscles at the same time require a significant amount of energy during training and recovery, again making fat loss easier. Note that while it certainly can’t hurt to perform abdominal exercises to strengthen the core, the fat will not disappear from your belly by doing these exercises a lot. Unfortunately it is not possible to control the location of fat loss by any means.

Advice:

-To increase energy expenditure and improve or maintain muscle mass perform exercises for all muscle groups. Good choices are the Squat or Leg Press for the legs, Chest Press or Bench Press for the chest, Vertical Row and Lat Pulldown for the back and the Shoulder Press for the shoulders. Additionally exercises that target fewer muscle groups such as the Leg Extension, Leg Curl, Biceps Curl, Tricep Extension can be added.

-Perform these exercises at a weight that corresponds with 12-15 repetitions when you’re just starting. After 4-6 weeks of training or for those already performing resistance exercise for some time, the number of repetitions can decrease to 8-12 with a corresponding weight.

-Complete three to four series per exercise seperated by 30-60 seconds of rest.

-Try to perform this at least two times a week but no more than four times since the body needs to recover and adapt to the training.

-If performed correctly the body whill adapt quickly and the intensity should be kept high by increasing weights.

Physical Activity:

Aside from regular training, daily physical activity is very important to achieve and maintain fat loss. Physical activity such as walking or cycling aid weight loss by burning calories and preventing the loss of already achieved training effects. This might seem a minor problem, but bed rest studies have shown that physical performance can decrease by as much as 10% in a week. This might be less pronounced in our daily lives, but it can hurt the results of training. Additionally physical activity can aid recovery from training and reduce stress hormone levels.

Advice:

-Try to perform 30 minutes of low intensity physical activity a day for a minimum of five but preferably all days a week.

-These 30 minutes can be performed once or divided into two or three periods of at least 10 minutes of physical activity.

-Low intensity physical activity includes walking, cycling or skating, but in fact all activities will do fine as long as it does not increase your heart rate too much and can be continuously performed for an extended period.

The advice given in this article is very effective in reducing fat mass while maintaining muscle mass. And in addition to improving your looks, it will improve health as well. It will help slow or even prevent the development of cardiovascular disease, diabetes mellitus type 2 and other lifestyle related disorders.

References

-Baechle, T.R., Earle, W.R. (2008). Aerobic Endurance Exercise Training. Essentials of Strength Training and Conditioning. Third Edition. USA. Human Kinetics.

-Boutcher, S.H. High Intensity Intermittent Exercise and Fat Loss. Journal of Obesity 2011.

-Bushman, B. (2011). Complete Guide to Fitness & Health. USA. Human Kinetics

-Hunter, G.R., Brock, D.W., Byrne, N.M. et al. Exercise Training Prevents Regain of Visceral Fat for 1-Year Following Weigh Loss. Obesity 2010, 18, 4, 690-695.

-Tabata I, Nishimura K, Kouzaki M, Hirai Y, Ogita F, Miyachi M, Yamamoto K. Effects of moderate intensity endurance and high-intensity intermittent training on anaerobic capacity and VO2max. Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise, 1996, 28, 10, 1327-1330.

-Wilmore, J.H., Costill, D.L., Kenney, W.L. (2008). Principles of exercise training. Physiology of Sport and Exercise Fourth Edition. USA Human Kinetics.

-Yoshioka M, et al. Impact of high-intensity exercise on energy expenditure, lipid oxidation and body fatness. International Journal of Obesity 2001, 25, 332-339.