Your time is valuable, especially when it comes to working out at the gym. So, if your objective is to burn body fat, you’ll need to plan out your workouts carefully. The good news is that these workouts don’t take up a lot of your time. Even 30 minutes will help you lose weight.
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However, bear in mind that your nutrition is just as important (if not more) than your workouts when it comes to shedding body fat. This most certainly entails lowering your current calorie intake so that you’re burning more calories than you’re ingesting.
While eating a healthy diet can help you lose weight, the perfect fat-burning activities for women can help you modify your body composition (the ratio of fat to muscle) more quickly. Several times a week, go to the gym and follow a fitness routine that mixes cardio and weight training.
Tip
Strength training should come first, followed by cardio or high-intensity interval training. Lifting weights at least three times a week and doing cardio or full-body circuits on separate days is another option.
1. Cardio Machines
Cardiovascular activity is one of the most effective ways to burn calories. Cardio raises your heart rate, which causes your heart to beat faster, your body to sweat, and calories to be burned. In fact, depending on your weight, the intensity of your workout, and the equipment you use, you can burn anywhere from 250 to 750 calories in 30 minutes.
The top cardio machines at the gym include the treadmill, elliptical trainer, stationary cycle, and stair stepper. They allow you to change the tempo and resistance of your workout while keeping your body challenged. Cardio activity for 30 to 45 minutes three to four times a week will help you burn calories and lose weight.
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2. Weight-Lifting
While cardio burns more calories during a workout than lifting weights, building lean muscle mass allows you to burn more calories over time. Even when you’re not working out, maintaining lean muscle demands extra energy (read: calories).
You’ll also experience what’s known as “the after-burn effect” (excess post-exercise oxygen consumption, EPOC). According to a 2017 study published in the Journal of Human Sport and Exercise, high-intensity strength training boosts resting energy expenditure for up to 24 hours following exercise.
To create lean muscle, lift weights at least three times per week utilising a combination of upper- and lower-body exercises. Most women accumulate fat on their arms, legs, and backsides, so concentrate on these regions.
Exercises such as the shoulder press, push-ups, and triceps extension can help you strengthen your arms.
Move 1: Shoulder Press
1. Stand with a dumbbell in each hand, palms facing out, at shoulder height.
2. Without lifting your shoulders or locking out your elbows, press the weights straight overhead.
3. Lower your back to the level of your shoulders.
Move 2: Push-Ups
1. Begin on all fours with your hands beneath your shoulders. Straighten your legs behind you to form a high plank, with your body making a diagonal line from your feet to your head.
2. Lower your chest to the ground by bending your elbows at a 45-degree angle to your body (or as far as your strength and mobility allow).
3. Return to the beginning.
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Move 3: Triceps Extension
1. Hold a dumbbell in each hand or one huge dumbbell above your head with both hands.
2. Slowly lower the weights behind your head.
3. Return to the starting position without shrugging your shoulders or locking your elbows.
The sumo squat, walking lunge, and Bulgarian split squat are all great exercises for toning your lower body.
Move 1: Sumo Squat
1. Stand with your feet slightly pointing out and broader than hip-width apart.
2. Lower your butt toward the ground by bending your knees and hingeing your hips while keeping your back straight and your knees tracking over your toes.
3. As far as your strength and mobility will allow, lower yourself.
4. Return to a standing position.
3. HIIT Workouts
Short yet intense bursts of exercise are followed by less intense active recovery or rest in high-intensity interval training, or HIIT. According to a 2017 study published in Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise, this form of activity helps boost weight reduction and eliminate abdominal fat in a shorter amount of time than steady-state cardio.
HIIT is available in a variety of formats, but it’s simple to get started on cardio machines like the treadmill. Try this HIIT treadmill workout, for example:
Warm-up for 3–5 minutes at a comfortable speed.
For one minute, run at a fast pace.
For two minutes, jog or walk.
For a total of 15 minutes, repeat this 3-minute block five times.
Relax for 3 to 5 minutes at a leisurely pace.
Because HIIT exercises are meant to be tough, it’s better to gradually increase the number of intervals you undertake. Start with five and gradually increase the duration and intensity of your workouts as your fitness improves.
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4. Circuit Training
Circuit training combines strength training and cardiovascular exercise to give you the best of both worlds. As a result, it’s one of the most effective fat-burning workouts for women. High-intensity circuit training improves body composition (muscle-to-fat ratio) while enhancing overall strength, according to a 2017 study published in the journal Frontiers in Physiology.
A normal training session consists of various strength-training exercises for each muscle group; you go swiftly from one exercise to the next, keeping your heart rate raised and calories burned.
Instead of resting after a strength-training circuit, use aerobic exercises like jumping jacks and jumping rope in between to increase your overall calorie burn.
