To lose weight

Physical exercise is a major part of any long term weight loss process. But different workouts provide vastly different results when it comes to burning fat and calories. What are the best workouts to burn fat and get lean as fast as possible?

Basically, exercises fall into 2 categories: cardio workouts and strength workouts. Both of these types of activities are vital for a long term and successful weight loss.

Cardio

In cardio I like intensive workouts as they burn the most calories in the least amount of time. A few of these workouts are:

1. Running - This has to be done in various speeds to train the heart and lungs through a range of intensities. Running incorporates the entire body and so is a great way to lose weight.

2. Cycling - As long as it’s done outdoors and not on a stationary bike, cycling can be very intensive and burn a ton of calories. If you make sure to include cycling in a gradient throughout your workouts, you will also work the leg muscles and the buttocks. Cycling also works the triceps as they continually strain by holding the handlebar.

3. Hiking - Not your regular gym kind of workout, but hiking is an excellent workout as it also serves as a strength workout for the legs. Hiking is also a much more fun activity than regular cardio so make sure to do some once in a while.

I believe that these are 3 of the best cardio workouts to lose weight.

Strength workouts

I prefer to do these workouts with weights, but you can easily do them with body weight resistance and still burn a lot of fat. I won’t go into specific exercises here but I will say that it’s better to work the big muscle groups like the chest, back, shoulders, and legs more than the smaller muscle groups. This is true for 2 reasons:

1. The smaller muscle groups can’t handle too much strain. They’re small. The bigger ones can and often the smaller muscles act as supporting muscles when you work the big ones so you kill 2 birds with one stone. For instance, the biceps work whenever you work the back.

2. Big muscle groups have more potential to grow. This means that they can provide your with more muscle tissue and more muscle tissue means increased calorie burn.

So, the best strength workouts to burn fat and get lean are those that work mainly the big muscle groups and are aimed to increase muscle tissue.

Make sure that you workouts are tailored in such a manner.

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John Davenport lost over 30 pounds in his twenties after being overweight most of his life. He now runs a weight loss forum and publishes a diet and fitness newsletter. To read more about fast weight loss, click here: Lose 10 lbs in a Week.

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