Whats the Best Way to Lose Weight?

Your Guide to Exercise for Fat Loss

By Senior Instructor Tania Tetrault Vrga

This is the most common question we get from people new to exercise. So we have put together a few tips to help you along your journey.

Though fat loss is often the primary reason people start an exercise program, let me be clear and state upfront that results cannot be achieved by exercise alone. Nutrition and lifestyle management play a critical role in any fat loss program. Before you even get into the gym, make it a priority to clean up your diet, manage your blood sugar and stress levels, and get some sleep. You can check out our blog on What Is Health to get you started.

Now here are a few tips for exercising specifically for fat loss.

First, understand the endocrinology of training.

Endocrinology is the science of hormones. Since hormones play an important role in every function in our bodies, it’s important to understand that different types of exercise will produce different hormonal effects that impact body composition. By training efficiently and intelligently, you can have a lasting effect on your metabolism rather than just burn a few calories along the way. One of the ways to do this is to include intense anaerobic training such as strength training, circuit training and sprints into your workout routine. Short bouts of intense exercise can have a dramatic effect on your post workout energy expenditure and metabolic state in comparison to a long drawn out low intensity cardio session. Looking for ideas of how to train this at home? Check out Why You Should Be Offset Training for some great tips!

Second, use your time wisely.

Choose compound exercises that will give you the most bang for your buck. Compound exercises are full body movements that use many muscles at the same time. These multi-joint exercises might include squats, pull-ups, and presses rather than leg extensions, bicep curls and tricep extensions. By combining several muscles and joints in a single movement and by using free weights in these movements, you can further increase the effectiveness of your routine. This allows you to build muscle, which results in a more toned appearance and an improved ability to burn fat. Not sure how to build a program? We got you covered. Here’s a FREE WEEK of On Demand Classes from the Agatsu Online Gym.

Third, learn proper exercise technique.

A routine of squats, deadlifts, presses and pull ups is very effective, but only when performed correctly and safely. If you haven’t done these movements before, you might have no idea if you are doing them correctly, and there is a significant risk of getting hurt. Make sure you seek out someone who has experience with the specific movements you want to train. If you are unsure of form and technique we offer monthly workshops in our Agatsu Fitness Forum. Next month is dead lifting! We will teach you how to safely and effectively do this from home for maximal results.

Lastly, treat the entire world as your gym.

Find ways to remain active throughout the day by walking and playing. Going to the gym for a few hours a week is a great start but permanent, effective fat loss must become a part of everyday life. Go to the park, hang on the monkey bars, climb a mountain, play with your kids, and learn new sports. What’s the use learning to move properly if you can’t use it in real life. If you need ideas on how to get more movement throughout your day check out our Daily Movement Snacks. A little bit each day goes a long way.

Got questions? We are here to help. Drop us a comment below :)