According to statistics, adult obesity rates in the US exceed 35 percent across nine states, 30 percent in 31 states, and 25 percent in 48 states. The top five states with the highest percentage of adult obesity are Mississippi, West Virginia, Arkansas, Louisiana, and Kentucky.
With the increasing number of people who are getting overweight and obese, it’s important to start choosing the best types of exercises to shed the extra pounds. If you want to achieve a healthy and strong body, check out the most effective exercises for weight loss below.
Walking, Jogging, and Running
Experts, like healthcare professionals, personal trainers, and athletes, share and emphasize the best evidence-based weight loss tips. These tips include walking, jogging, and running.
Walking is considered a low-impact exercise, which means that it doesn’t stress your bones and joints. If you’re a beginner, you can start exercising by walking so that you won’t get overwhelmed. Also, it will eliminate the cost of purchasing home gym equipment at a very early stage.
Meanwhile, running doesn’t only help you lose weight by burning calories, but also improves your cardiovascular health and immune system. Moreover, athletes share their experiences about the benefits of runners high, which is a phenomenon that provides unexplained euphoria and a meditative state. It only means that you can attain a sense of fulfillment and joy when running, while also fulfilling your weight loss goals.
Here are some tips and tricks to get the most out of walking and running to help you lose weight and achieve a healthier and more fit body:
- Always see to it that you nourish your body before and after exercises like walking and running. Eat a balanced diet. You can take protein supplements as needed, like a quality protein alternative, most especially if you don’t have time to shop and cook high-protein food recipes.
- Walk, jog, or run at least 20 minutes a day to burn fat. Be consistent and stick to your schedule as much as possible. If running isn’t very exciting to you, a fun way to do it is to walk, jog, or run with your dog.
- Opt to run outdoors instead of using a treadmill, so you can work out more of your muscles. An outdoor environment pushes your body to move in various terrains and elevations.
- Reduce your waist circumference by walking, which has been proven effective by findings of a 12-week study. There were 20 participants, all women, who were asked to walk for 50 to 70 minutes, three times a day in 12 weeks. Their waist circumference and body fat reduced by 1.1 inches (2.8 centimeters) and 1.5 percent average.
Strengthening Exercises
According to a study at Arizona State University, strengthening exercises can burn roughly double the calories as what experts previously thought. Researchers say that even light resistance exercises are considered vigorous-intensity activities.
Here are the findings of the study:
- Strengthening exercises involve short and powerful anaerobic bursts, which are followed by recovery periods.
- There were dramatic calorie-burn differences when the researchers used a new calorie-burn calculation for push-ups, lunges, curl-ups, and pull-ups. For instance, the traditional calorie burn computation for push-ups is 4.09, and the result for the new computation is 8.56 calories per minute. With curl-ups, you’ll lose 7.29 calories per minute, 9.33 for lunges, and 9.95 for pull-ups, using the new method of calculating calories burned.
Note: When doing strengthening exercises, your muscles need a boost of energy so you can perform different exercises with ease and confidence. That’s why you also need to watch your diet and take protein supplements (as needed) to get the most out of strength training.
Swimming
Swimming is a full-body exercise. That’s why it helps a person burn calories and lose weight. Also, swimming can help tone your muscles and improve your cardiovascular and respiratory systems. Many people prefer swimming because it’s fun to do alone or with family and friends, allowing you to get closer to nature and have fun with the people you love.
Swimming for about two hours and thirty minutes every week will help you lose weight. If you want to keep your body in good shape, swim for fitness at least 20 minutes every session for several times a week.
Conclusion
Walking, jogging, and running are distance and speed exercises that people usually do to lose weight. You can also take advantage of doing strengthening exercises or resistance training, like lunges, pull-ups, push-ups, and curl-ups to lose more calories. Moreover, swimming is an excellent workout, most especially for those who hate to sweat, but love the ease of water activities.