Struggling with weight loss despite exercising and dieting? Maintaining a healthy weight not only boosts your confidence in wearing beautiful clothes but also protects your health, helping to prevent cardiovascular and blood fat issues. Fat loss requires a challenging and testing process. Below, AIA lists 8 exercises that effectively aid in weight loss and fat burning for the whole body!
8 effective exercises for weight loss and fat burning
Don’t assume that just cutting down your food intake will lead to successful weight loss, as physical exercises play an important role too. Besides physical activity helping to burn excess calories, exercising also offers other benefits, including improving our mood, strengthening bones, and reducing chronic disease risks.
Here are some recommended exercises:
Walking
For those reluctant to invest heavily in exercise equipment or gym memberships, walking is a sensible choice. You can walk anytime, anywhere, as long as the space is open and cool, without the need for equipment and without straining your joints.
According to Harvard Health, a person weighing around 70kg can burn about 175 calories by walking for 30 minutes at a moderate pace (6.4km/h) [2].
Start by walking for 30 – 45 minutes per day, 3-4 times a week. As you get accustomed, increase the duration and frequency of your walks for maximum effectiveness.
Jogging
Jogging is a highly optimal exercise. It not only aids in quick and effective weight loss and fat burning but also helps reduce visceral fat and issues related to heart disease, diabetes, and other chronic illnesses.
Jogging can burn a significant amount of calories compared to walking in the same time frame. For example, Harvard Health estimates that a person weighing 70 kg can burn up to 288 calories by jogging for 30 minutes at a speed of 8km/h, with more running leading to greater fat-burning efficiency.
Cycling
Studies show that cycling is not only beneficial for weight loss but also improves overall health, increases insulin sensitivity, and reduces the risk of heart diseases, cancer, and mortality.
Cycling is suitable for everyone, from beginners to professional athletes. If you’re not ready to buy and ride outdoors, consider gyms equipped with stationary bikes for a better experience.
Weight Training
Weight training helps burn calories during and after exercise, making it a sensible choice for those looking to lose weight while maintaining a toned body.
An estimated 108 calories can be burned by a person weighing 70kg in 30 minutes of weight training [4]. Additionally, weight training enhances endurance, builds muscle mass, and increases resting metabolic rate (RMR) or the number of calories burned while at rest.
Interval Training
High-Intensity Interval Training (HIIT) involves short bursts of intense exercise interspersed with rest periods for muscle recovery.
A typical HIIT session lasts 10 – 30 minutes, burning a significant amount of calories, making it ideal for busy individuals.
All you need to do is incorporate HIIT into your daily exercises, such as cycling at full speed for 30 seconds, followed by a slow-paced 1-2 minute break, alternating this activity for about 30 minutes.
Swimming
According to Harvard Health, a person weighing around 70kg can burn about 216 calories by swimming for half an hour.
Swimming also positively impacts the body’s joints, making it an excellent choice for those with injuries or joint pain.
Yoga
Although yoga doesn’t burn as many calories as the exercises mentioned above, it is still considered an effective weight-loss activity due to its significant mental health benefits.
Yoga helps reduce stress and long-term tension, leaving our body relaxed and promoting quicker weight loss. Nowadays, yoga classes are available everywhere, and you can even practice at home with just a mat, saving costs and relaxing your mind.
Pilates
Pilates is an ideal exercise for beginners. Besides aiding in weight loss, Pilates also helps alleviate lower back pain and improves strength, flexibility, endurance, and overall health.
Try to practice Pilates regularly and make it a habit. You can practice at home or in gyms.
How long should you exercise for effectiveness?
If you’re wondering how long you should exercise to see results, here are some considerations.
Limit weight loss to a maximum of 1.36kg per week
Experts advise losing about 1% of your body weight per week (i.e., 0.5 – 1.36kg).
Weight loss is a long-term process. Rapid weight loss can lead to gallstones, nutritional deficiencies, weakness, dehydration, constipation, headaches, hair loss, and menstrual irregularities.
Extend the timeframe: 1 month – 6 months – 12 months
Beginners tend to rush weight loss, but quick reduction is mostly due to decreased body water, not actual fat loss. Furthermore, rapid weight loss often leads to quick weight gain, sometimes even more than before, making it difficult to control.
Extend your workout period to between six months and a year. By then, your body will have adapted to the exercise routine, increasing endurance and overall health.
Why don’t you lose weight despite exercising and dieting?
If you’re wondering why you’re not losing weight despite exercising and dieting, here are some seemingly harmless reasons that are actually quite important:
- Not getting enough sleep
- Eating too little fiber
- Not drinking enough water
- Consuming too much cooking oil
- Not eating enough protein
- Doing too much cardio without weight training
- Consuming high-calorie fast foods and processed foods
- Failing to estimate calorie intake
- Eating too much refined sugar and carbohydrates
Conclusion
The information provided aims to answer the question: Why don’t you lose weight despite exercising and dieting? We hope our insights motivate you and guide you towards an effective workout plan!
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