Rapid weight loss can be a really exciting experience – whether you’re trying to get in shape for your fast-approaching dream audition or you just want to be at peace with yourself when you look in a mirror!
Irrespective of your motive or motivation, if you’re serious about achieving rapid weight loss, one thing is certain – you need an effective workout routine.
Before we delve into the best workouts for weight loss, though, you should understand that working out isn’t necessarily always about losing weight.
There are several benefits that comes with regular exercising such as boosted immunity, better sleep, mental health and a host of others.
That said, here’s a little disclaimer – if you need to lose weight fast, it’s going to take a lot more than just working out!
As a matter of fact, for most people, working out is not an absolute necessity, when it comes to rapid weight loss.
So, if you don’t want to get stuck on the “I-wish-I-could-lose-weight” island, You’ll need to pay close attention to a few other factors.
Important Tips for Rapid Weight Loss
1. Check the Diet:
One of the quickest way to lose weight is by starting with the right diet. Diet is key! No matter how gym-centric you are — you can’t outwork a ruinous diet!
This is a fundamental truth if you’re really serious about losing some pounds. You are what you eat! – heard that before?
You can’t keep up your unwavering commitment to that sumptuous peperoni pizza and expect to be dropping pounds each week!
So, if you want to get some really positive results from your weight-loss exploits, then your first stop is a good diet. Check out these tips from some registered dieticians.
2. Commit to Exercising in a Meaningful Way:
I just can’t help but laugh when I see guys hoping to drop some “serious” pounds, but are unwilling to commit themselves to any kind of exercise.
Yeah, yeah, there are a few “superior beings” with “good genes,” who simply can’t get fat, no matter how hard they try! But I’m guessing you’re not one of them since, you know… you’re already fat.
So, for those of us who are mortal, rapid weight loss is going to demand a bit more work and that means a meaningful commitment to working out.
Some funny folks go for a light 15-min jug every Saturday after breakfast, buy and devour a cup of ice cream on their way back and then go right ahead to check their weight on the scale, to see if they’re down a few pounds. LOL!
Their disappointment knows no bounds after they repeat the same routine for weeks, only to hear… wait for it… Crickets!
For a start, you should target 3 high intensity workout sessions a week and later you can increase the frequency.
I know a really thorough workout can leave your muscle sore for days, but that’s how to actually lose weight fast, because you’re progressively overloading your muscles and your body will adapt to it in no time.
You should allow for at least a full day of rest, though, between successive workouts to allow your body to recover.
3. Push Yourself to the Limit:
After your first thorough workout session, your muscles will be grumbling for the next couple of days.
If you’re not careful here, you may want to start going “easy on yourself” – but that’ll render your efforts completely null and void!
One of the underlining principles behind workouts – whether for fat loss or muscle gain, is progressive overload. This basically means training your muscles beyond the previous peak intensity level as you advance in your workout journey
So, in essence, if you train your legs (quads mostly) to perform 20 reps of sumo squats at the beginning, you should gradually increase the reps from week to week – say to 30, 40, even to 100 and beyond.
This is why it’s important to have a solid workout plan and stick to it. If you have a good trainer as well, it will help at this point.
Find whatever source of motivation that works for you and get the job done. And remember this – “don’t stop when you’re tired, stop when you’re done!”
4. Enjoy the Workout:
Credit: NepalBuzz
One of the fastest way to lose weight is to identify an effective workout routine that you enjoy and stick to it. Effective here doesn’t exactly only mean rigorous or tedious, but also exciting!
If you’ll have any hope of sticking with your workout routine, it has to be one you really enjoy – so much so, that you’re excited every time you’re headed to the gym.
This is very important because if you enjoy doing something then you’ll need little or no external motivation to keep at it.
Most people who fail to enjoy their workout routines eventually discover they can’t keep it up and end up being frustrated.
It does help to find a trainer you enjoy working with, that’ll offer the additional motivation and encouragement to keep going during unexciting times.
Now that we’ve got all that out of the way, let’s move to the top 5 training types for rapid weight loss.
Here we go…
1. Interval Training
If rapid weight loss is your goal, this is definitely one of the best training types for you! It’s a combination of routines that cause your heartrate to spike and come down cyclically.In other words, you switch back and forth between intervals of high intensity exercises (such as running, fast cycling etc.,) and low intensity exercises (such as jogging/walking, slow cycling etc.).
This kind of workout targets the cardiovascular system and as your heart rate spikes, your body metabolism (energy consumption) increases rapidly.
This means your muscles demand for more energy and since you have no plans of ordering a cup of high-sugar ice cream, your body reaches out to the “fat store” and converts some of the fat into the much-needed energy for muscle usage.
So, the more muscles you incorporate into the exercise, the more calories you torch! You can check out this 20-minute interval workout on treadmill.
2. Resistance Training
Resistance training is just a fancy term for weight-based exercises. The weight in question maybe just your body weight or may include additional weights.
But of course, using additional weights will make your workout more effective.
Either way, resistance training still remains one of the best techniques for rapid weight loss. The beautiful thing about weight-based training is that it increases your resting metabolic rate.
What this means is that your body will continue to burn calories, even after you’re done working out. This is called the “after-burn effect.”
You should add weight training to your routine 2-3 times per week for maximum impact.
3. Boot Camp Training
If you’re looking for a workout that will keep your body metabolism high all day long, then look no further than boot camp!
It combines 2 of the most efficient training techniques – Resistance and Interval.
The combination of exercises in this routine will not only focus on cardiovascular fitness, but also on strength training.
The workout incorporates short periods of high intensity “raging” workout with short periods of rest, while incorporating additional weights to increase the impact on the muscles.
You keep repeating this cycle for a specified period of time, depending on your strength level. Boot Camp training is indeed one of the fastest way to lose weight, but can be very tedious and may not be the best option for an absolute beginner.
But if you feel you’re up to the task, then please, by all means… go for it! You should check out this 2-minute boot camp video by AXFIT.
4. CrossFit
There’s a very good reason why CrossFit is becoming more and more prominent in the workout industry – it actually works!
There are various kinds of exercises involved in CrossFit, from push-ups to rope climbs to kettle bell swings, to front squats and box jumps.
The beautiful thing about CrossFit is that it is designed to be short but intense. That way, you get to torch a whole lot of calories within a very short time frame.
When looking for a CrossFit gym though (or box, as it’s popularly known), be sure to find an informed coach that can effectively plan your routines based on your specific needs and fitness level, so you don’t end up getting injured. Check out this short CrossFit video or just see the one below.
5. Tabata
If “lack of time” has been your greatest excuse for not working out, then Tabata is the solution to your problem!
The routine takes only four minutes to complete, but during and after those four minutes, you’ll burn a great deal of calories.
Tabata is a form of high intensity interval training (HIIT) that features 20 seconds of “turbo-style” effort, followed by 10 seconds of rest. Repeat this 8 times and you’re done!
Common exercises you can do here are squats, jump rope, squat jumps, mountain climbers, butt kicker etc.
However, if you need to lose weight fast, you’ll have to increase the time frame after a few sessions, because your body will soon adapt graciously to that interval.
You can extend the length to 10 minutes after a few weeks and then to 20 minutes. Check out this 4-minute Tabata video
Finally on Rapid Weight Loss…
Commitment is key to success. To get something, you may very well need to give up something else. Rapid weight loss isn’t a mirage but a practical and realizable goal, provided you let go of habits that can slow you down.
For starters, you must give up unhealthy diet because it’ll only frustrate your efforts. Once that is settled, commit yourself to a well-planned and effective workout, that you actually enjoy.
The workouts listed above remain the surest and quickest means of torching undesired calories!
If you stick to them, very soon you’ll look in a mirror and see a lean body and well-developed muscles, not to mention improved health.
Leave a Reply