How to Burn Body Fat More Effectively

Here are six tips for how to burn body fat more effectively with aerobic exercise and weight training.

1. Do interval training.

Interval training, also known as high intensity interval training or HIIT, consists of alternating high intensity "work intervals" with low to moderate intensity "recovery intervals" over a 10 to 20 minute time period (not including warm up and cool down) two or three times per week.

For example, you sprint 50 yards and then walk 50 yards, and then continue to alternate these work and recovery intervals. Or you pedal at a fast pace on a stationary bike for 30 seconds and then pedal at a slow or moderate pace for 60 seconds, and then continue to alternate these work and recovery intervals.

Interval training not only burns a lot of calories during the workout, it also causes your metabolism to be elevated for several hours after the workout is over. An elevated metabolism causes your body to burn more calories to maintain itself. Your metabolism stays elevated much longer after an interval training workout than after a traditional aerobic workout.

2. Do cardio first thing in the morning.

Doing cardio first thing in the morning, on an empty stomach, will ensure that your blood sugar is low, which will put your body into a quicker and deeper fat burning state. Stick to low or moderate intensity cardio first thing in the morning, as this is not the time for interval training.

3. Do cardio after weight training.

If you're going to lift weights and do cardio during the same workout, always lift weights first and then do cardio. Research shows that cardio done after weight training enhances fat burning both during and after the cardio session.

4. Vary your cardio workouts.

Many people do the same aerobic exercise routine month after month, and this often leads to aerobic adaptation. Aerobic adaptation is where your body adapts to a particular cardio routine, and it can cause fat loss to come to a stop.

You need to make periodic changes to your cardio routine, such as alternating between different types of aerobic exercise (e.g., treadmill one workout, elliptical machine another workout) or doing interval training instead of traditional aerobic exercise.

5. Use the right rep range when weight training.

Performing 8-12 reps per set is the best rep range for building lean muscle mass, and the more lean muscle mass you have the higher your metabolism will be. The higher your metabolism, the more calories your body burns to maintain itself.

6. Do more free weight exercises.

Studies have shown that you burn more calories when performing free weight exercises such as squats than when performing machine exercises such as leg extensions. This is most likely due to the greater number of stabilizer muscles that are used when performing free weight exercises.

For more information on how to burn body fat, check out Burn The Fat, Feed The Muscle. It's packed full of information on how to use nutrition and exercise to get lean, fit and healthy.

Leave the How to Burn Body Fat More Effectively page and return to the Weight Loss Articles page
Leave the How to Burn Body Fat More Effectively page and return to the Home page