Did you think that jazzercising could be better for weight loss than running on a treadmill?
Before we get into which exercises will help you lose weight the fastest, there are a couple of important points that you should understand.
Have you ever heard the saying “you cannot out workout a bad diet”?
If you’re eating 5,000 calories a day, it’s going to be almost impossible to burn more than that unless you’re training for an ultra-race or some other insanely grueling activity.
*An ultra-race is a race that is longer than a marathon… what kind of monster decided there should be anything longer than a marathon, I don’t know.. any way..
To lose weight, if you do nothing else, you absolutely have to burn more calories than you eat.
How do you know how many calories you should be eating vs burning? The easiest way is to use a calculator like this one here.
This brings me to the other point I wanted to touch on.
Because the rule of weight loss is so simple and dependent on creating a caloric deficit (more calories out than in), the exercise or workout you do doesn’t matter.. technically.
Technically, you don’t need to exercise at all if you diet right.
Exercise will significantly expedite your results though and help you to lose weight much faster.
It’s also the only way that you can create a bigger surplus, aka lose weight faster, without going under your BMR.
If you’ve been following me for a while, here or on instagram, you know that I am a huge proponent of choosing an exercise that you ENJOY above all else.
This is exactly why.
Working out consistently is more important than the specific workout.
I’d rather see you jazzercising 3-4 days a week because you love it than only crushing it on a treadmill once every two weeks because you dread it.
Okay, now that we have all of that out of the way, what’s the best workout that will help you lose weight fastest?
Best Workouts to Lose Weight Fast
1. HIIT
HIIT stands for High Intensity Interval Training.
HIIT isn’t a specific workout, it’s a way of doing any exercise.
The HIIT style workout is becoming insanely popular.. and for good reason!
What’s so great about HIIT?
Well..
It has been proven to continue to burn additional calories after the workout has ended.
HIIT workouts, if done right, can burn the same amount of calories in 15 minutes as you would burn during a light jog twice as long.
How do you do a HIIT workout?
The way it works is through intervals, for example, 30 seconds intervals..
For 30 seconds, you will give it your all out effort. This is called your work interval.
What counts as all out effort? I’m talking can’t hold a conversation, can barely speak effort.
Then, for the next 30 seconds, you’ll slow it down to a lighter pace – but not a complete stop!
This is called your ‘rest’ interval, even though you aren’t completely stopping to rest – it’s an active rest.
You’ll go back and forth doing that for the entire set workout time, usually 10-30 minutes max.
30 seconds is just an example. The intervals can vary quite a bit, but they should be relatively short.
For example, you could do 45 seconds work, 60 seconds rest.
This means that HIIT workouts can be used with any exercise you want.
You can convert any workout to a HIIT workout by implementing these work and rest intervals – running, biking, swimming, jump rope, dancing, etc.
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You can even do a HIIT walking workout. The important thing is that your work interval is your all-out effort for you.
For a HIIT walking workout, you could walk at a faster pace or uphill at an incline to make it more difficult.
For even more about HIIT and some example workouts to try, here is an in depth HIIT article.
2. Plyometrics
Plyometrics, also called plyos for short, are any movement that first extends the muscle and then quick contracts it back in.
Plyos are great for building power, speed, explosiveness… oh and.. they’re great for losing weight fast!
Because these types of movements get your whole body involved, will help you to not only lose weight, but to tone your muscle and improve your cardio as well.
The other great thing about plyos is that they usually require little to no equipment.
Combining HIIT and Plyo is how I am able to make my at home workouts average just 30 minutes and even keep the cardio portion of my gym workouts so short.
Here are some examples of Plyo exercises (if you’re unsure what they are, a quick search in YouTube will have tons of great results showing proper form):
- Box jumps
- Mountain climbers
- Burpees
- Knee Tucks
- Jump Squats
- Jump lunges
- Skater hops
- Clapping pushups
3. Weight Lifting
Weight lifting has long been a go-to workout for men, while all too often I hear women afraid to lift weights in fear of becoming or looking ‘bulky’.
Allow me to take a moment to put that fear to rest.
If you are a woman, for the vast, vast majority of us, putting on muscle mass that will make you look bulky is incredibly difficult, and almost impossible.
Weight lifting can be an extremely effective workout in helping you lose weight if done right.
As proof, this is me after a couple of years of lifting weights as heavy as I possible can on a consistent basis:
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Okay, but which one is the BEST workout for weight loss?
Those are 3 of the best workouts that can help you to lose weight the fastest.
So which one should you do?
If you want to lose weight and get lean and toned as fast as possible, a mixture of all three of these is your best bet.
It’s good to switch up your routine so that your body doesn’t get used to one exercise causing you to hit a weight loss plateau.
That being said, I can emphasize enough that consistency is most important.
If you try these workouts and hate them.. and you only end up doing them once a week, or less.. don’t do them,
Find something else that you’ll want to do regularly.
Even if that something else is jazzercising.. whatever floats your boat and gets you up in the morning!
Pre-made Workout Plan
If you’re wanting to lose weight and completely transform your entire body..
I’ve made a workout plan laid out day by day that incorporates all three of these.
There are only a few spots left as of this writing, but I would love to have you join my 8 Week Total Body Transformation Challenge.. but only if you’re up for a challenge. ?