Ways to Lose Weight Through Exercise

Do you know what type of exercise is best for weight loss? Many people think that endless hours of cardio is the recipe for weight loss, but although this will be effective in the long run, particularly if you are currently sedentary, there are better and more effective forms of exercise for weight loss.

The Key To Weight Loss Through Exercise

With so many ideas, tips and solutions to your weight loss, let's simplify this just a bit for you :

• The key to effective weight loss through exercise is being able to keep your metabolism high. Your metabolism is the speed at which you burn calories and therefore, the faster your metabolism, the easier it is to lose weight.

The Second Key to Losing Weight

This is not so much about exercise, but it is linked so closely for long term weight loss, that we have to include it :

• The second key is to ensure that over a day, a week or a month, you never consume more calories than your body can use. Ideally, once you have lost weight, the calories you eat will equal the calories you burn - so you will stay the same weight!

So Why Will Exercise Work?

Your muscles are the biggest engine driving your metabolism. The more muscle you have, the higher your metabolic rate, the less muscle you have, the slower your metabolic rate.

Therefore, the best exercise for weight loss is going to be one that protects, or even adds to, the amount of muscle you already have - therefore making your body burn more calories.

This is particularly crucial as you get older, because we all lose muscle as we age unless you are actively working to protect or add to your muscle mass, you will be losing muscle and your metabolism will be slowing every year. That's why so many people gain weight as they get older.

What About Martial Arts?

Have you ever considered martial arts as a way to keep fit and also lose weight? Martial arts are becoming increasingly popular with both men and women looking for a new way to lose those pounds. Not only do you get the aerobic fitness and burn calories as you train through your target heart rate zone, but a lot of martial arts moves and fitness includes exercises that build muscle.

Martial arts are also great as they don't need a lot of kit and you can do them outside of a dedicated studio or gym - making this more accessible than some forms of exercise. There is bound to be a local martial arts studio to you, why not see whether there's something there that grabs you. Also check out our other article that is dedicated to martial arts fitness and how you can get involved.

Building Muscle Helps to Burn Fat, Reducing Your Weight

Yes it really does, just as we described above!

Building your muscles helps you burn fat. Muscle is very "metabolically active" in comparison to fat, meaning it burns a lot of calories even when you're resting or asleep. But too much muscle building and you will gain weight rather than losing it, even though you have removed a lot of fat! You'll look great and feel great, but you won't lose weight.

Lets look at a few different ways to building muscles through exercise.

Machine Resistance Training

Most gyms are packed with gleaming machines that allow you to work your muscles. These are a good place for beginners to get used to strength training, as the machines are safe and easy to control. The range of exercises is a little limited and the machines limit the range of muscles used in any given exercise.

Free Weight Resistance Training

Free weight training includes dumbbells, barbells, and Kettlebells. This is a superior method of training, offering almost infinite possibilities and allowing you to work several muscle groups at once. Depending on your goals you can use the same equipment and exercises to target muscle size, weight loss, or even overall fitness.

If you are not sure how to use free weights, be sure to consult a trainer first to learn proper technique and a good variety of exercises. Free weights also have the advantage of being inexpensive and taking up a limited amount of space, so they are ideal for home workouts.

Resistance Band Training

Developed from physical therapy techniques, resistance band training uses elastic bands to work and build muscle. They can be used to work the whole body, and are ideal where space is limited. They are good for people who have little initial conditioning, but are ultimately limited in how much strength they can develop.