What’s the best exercise to lose weight? The answer will probably surprise you. If you’re one of the millions of people who spend hours each week running the treadmill and see no results, this article’s for you. It’s sad that the fitness and diet world is so full of unfounded claims. It just boggles the mind how these myths and ridiculous ideas get constantly published, discussed and passed on until everybody just accepts them as true without thinking about it. And we’ve even got strong scientific evidence to support real dieting and exercise methods that actually work.
One of the reasons I think these things spread around is that they make a bit of sense. For example, cardio sounds like the best exercise to lose weight the first time you hear about it. It seems to most people like it would work. You do a low intensity workout that gets you into fat burning mode, and you continue it for longer hours so the calories come off. Sounds like it might work! But science says, “No it doesn’t.” There is more and more evidence getting published all the time that says cardio isn’t the best exercise to lose weight. In fact, this evidence also suggests that it’s not the best thing for your cardiovascular system either.
The type of cardio workout I just described (which I refer to as ’steady state’ cardio) is a major part of lots of programs for weight loss. Go to any gym and you’ll see it full of people who spend months doing cardio. The only trouble is that after these months of work, they see no results at all. This type of workout requires lots of time, and you should be seeing slow and steady results. But when you’ve gone through the time and work and you see nothing, it can really kill your motivation. This explains the statistic that says most people give an exercise program 3 months before giving up. Why do it when you don’t get results?
High intensity interval training, or HIIT, is really the best exercise to lose weight. This type of training involves short periods of extremely high intensity workout with longer periods of lower intensity exercise or rest. The high intensity part is done in repetitive cycles, and it really is intense. It has to be very intense in order to get results, but these bursts of intensity only last around 20 minutes. The routine has to be intense if it’s going to help, especially for people who are in poor cardiovascular shape or overweight.
You can start doing HIIT training easily with a simple treadmill. Get on your treadmill and set it to a walking speed that’s brisk but comfortable. Do this for a minute, and then push the speed up until you are running. Keep running for a minute, and then slow it back down to your walking speed. The walking speed is your low intensity period, and your running speed is the high intensity period. Each time you run, increase the speed slightly until you start to really feel it. Do the whole routine for 20 minutes and then you’re all done. For best results, do this 3 or 4 times each week and it will start to make a difference.
HIIT is not only the best exercise to lose weight, but also great for boosting your cardiovascular fitness. It works much better than the cardio I call ’steady state.’ What you get out of it is less gym time and a heart that’s healthier. You’ll only lose body fat!
For more hints and tips about best exercise to lose weight, go to author Nick Springs fitness blog which is loaded with information such as the Gabriel Method.
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