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Effective Exercises to Lose Weight in the Gym

The gym offers you all the facilities you need to create the environment within your body to lose weight. To prepare the body for losing weight you need to combine all four areas of exercise into a routine.

Never forget that exercise is only part of the solution to getting into shape. Without the correct nutrition and the right internal environment the body will struggle to lose fat.

Cardiovascular (aerobic) training.

This refers to running, walking, rowing, cycling etc. There are no right or wrongs about which to do but if you want to feel fitter in the real world then jogging has the greatest cross over effect. If your body cannot handle jogging then you should start with walking while doing rehab to the areas that are preventing you running.

For weight loss the key is intensity. What is a high intensity depends upon your current levels but the idea is you are working hard. I have seen so many people aiming to do 40 minutes cardio per session or burn 400 calories. This is missing the point. You should aim to go harder for shorter periods of time. The focus is on intensity.

Though a percentage of people do well on the longer cardio the vast majority do not. So limit the volume (time) and step up the effort (intensity). This will prove far more effective mentally and physically when it comes to losing weight. (Note, some people do better with zero aerobic training in their plan).

Resistance training.

The time you have saved by doing only 10-15 minutes of total cardio can be used for resistance training. Lifting weights produces hormonal changes within the body that makes losing weight easier, more manageable and a natural part of getting fitter. Resistance training builds your muscle tissue upwards and counters the stresses of daily life.

The key to resistance training is ensuring you are using a weight that takes you to the point of fatigue (can't lift anymore) before 15 reps. This is where many people go wrong, especially women.

The exercises really should be performed with free weights as this trains many more muscles at the same time which then produces a greater hormonal shift which is the key to losing weight.

Two amazing exercises for losing weight are squats and lunges. However, even these exercise will struggle to generate results if you do not use a heavy enough weight to induce fatigue. As with the running. If your knees hurt on such exercises you should use a modified version until you have done rehab to resolve the problem. in addition to this you can use other weight exercises such as bench press, bent over row, press ups, pull downs, cable twists,shoulder press, stomach work on a ball and much more.

Flexibility training.

Stretching plays an important role in creating good health by removing toxins from the body and restoring ideal posture. When your posture is perfect blood and nerve flow is at its most efficient which will help the health of the organs and thus improve your overall health and therefore allow you to lose weight more easily.

The key to stretching is to discover which muscles are tight and loosen these rather than stretching any old muscle. Stretching is comprised of the traditional type stretching e.g. touching toes and active stretching

Core training.

This is the strengthening of the muscles that support the spine. Almost all gyms have swiss balls to use which are good for engaging the stomach musculature. To maximize effectiveness ensure you are comfortable with contracting the key core muscles. At this point there are various exercises you can do such as ball rolls, ball planks, lateral rolls, leg curls and ball twists to strengthen the mid section.

Structure your training and increase difficulty

The training programme within the four areas must be adjusted progressively to ensure you are receiving the right stimulus for the body to change. Turning up to just do the exercise does not work. Instead you must challenge the body so that it is increasing in 'fitness' after each session. This produces the effect of what you want ultimately - fat loss. To ensure the body is increasing in fitness after each session you must use the principles of periodization.

For example, you may lift all weights for 15 reps for 3 weeks. After this point you change your target down to 10 reps. To ensure fatigue is met at 10 reps instead of 15 you must use heavier weights than what you were using. These new weights will force the body to adapt. After another 3 weeks you can change the target rep to 5 reps and increase the intensity (weight used) again. Any weight increase should not be done at the expense of using good technique.

A final point to note is that different people need different amounts of the exercise types, depending on their particular body type. So some need to do a lot more weights than cardio exercise. While some need to do less weights but a little more cardio. The way to find out is by comparing your results on the different training plans. Underpinning all training plans is the use of intensity.

Exercise is part of the weight loss equation

To lose weight without the other aspects of nutrition and lifestyle may prove to be impossible. It is essential you use metabolic typing to combine the specific foods your body needs to the right exercise to lose weight.