Single best exercise for weight loss for Women

This is a question we get very often especially from women: “What’s the best exercise for weight loss?” What can I do so that I get results fast and without the risk of putting the weight back? Is there a single exercise I can do at home and make me slim and fit? There are two answers to these questions and this is what we are going to explain below.

 

 

First let me say that this is not a new question for us. If you read most of the comments you will see that women are constantly looking for the best way to get fit. It is no coincidence that one year ago we published the post “Best Weight loss exercise for great results” which talks about the most efficient weight loss exercises. Basically the post gives more insight about the number of calories you can burn through stationary bike, elliptical trainer, step aerobics and running. These are certainly among the best weight loss exercises but this is not the complete answer for today’s question.  The complete answer has other parameters which are equally important to the calories burned by each exercise.

The best exercise for weight loss is the one you can do

What do we mean by this? The best exercise for weight loss for you is the one you enjoy doing. It doesn’t matter how many calories you will burn what it matters most is that you do it regularly and for a long time.  For example, you can burn approx. 600 calories per hour by doing step aerobics. This is great if you like doing aerobics, if you have the time to do aerobics and if you are physically fit to perform this type of exercise. Maybe step aerobics is the best exercise for weight loss but when it comes to you, this is not your best exercise. You may enjoy walking or running or any other form of cardio exercises and this is what is right for you. The 2 main reasons that most people fail to lose weight with exercise are:  boredom and injury. In other words they either get bored to do their workouts or they get injured because they attempted to perform a workout that does not fit into their body style and physical condition. How do you solve this problem?

Make a list of the exercises you like to do

So, as a first step make a list of the exercises you would like to do and find out how many calories you can burn for a 30 minute workout.

Then once you have your list, identify which of the exercises you enjoy doing and select the one(s) that is more efficient in terms of calorie burning. For example, let us suppose that this is your list:

  Exercise Calories burn (30 minutes session) Aerobics, high impact 250 Aerobics, low impact 180 Aerobics, water 200 Basketball game 270 Bicycling, < 10 mph, 150 Canoeing 130 Dancing, ballroom 110 Weight training 190 Rope jumping 430 Running, 5 mph 300 Stair treadmill 330 Swimming, laps 210 Walking, 2 mph 100

 

From the list above the best exercise is rope jumping with 430 calories per 30 minutes. Maybe you don’t like to do rope jumping but you enjoy dancing, water aerobics, swimming and running. If you only have 30 minutes per day to work out then running is your best exercise for weight loss since it is an exercise you enjoy doing, it is an exercise you can do constantly and it is the most efficient exercise in terms of calorie burning from the other exercises you would like to do.

What if I do exercises I like but get bored again?

It is normal that doing the same exercises over and over again will sometimes make you bored. The solution of this is to do cross training. By doing cross training you basically do different exercises instead of doing just one. This has a number of benefits: first you will not get bored, second you get better results (more calorie burning), third you exercise more muscles and fourth you avoid the risk of injury by moving the pressure to different joints.

You already have the list with your favorite exercises so why not choose 2-3 exercises and do them in terms. For example you can do swimming on Monday, running on Wednesday and finish your week on Friday with aerobics. In between you can do walking for 30 minutes (10 minutes in the morning, 10 minutes in the afternoon and 10 minutes at night). If you take this approach you will never get bored and you will get better and faster weight loss. You can also apply cross-training within your exercise sessions. For example do 10 minutes walking, 10 minutes running and 10 minutes aerobics instead of doing a single 30 minute session. Choose whatever suits you better and do it consistently for a number of weeks.

Learning how to exercise correctly is very important

It is not enough to exercise but you need to learn how to exercise correctly. For each exercise there is a good and a ‘bad’ way to do it. Doing it the wrong way will not give you the expected results and also you run the risk of getting injured. It is best to consult a professional trainer before starting any exercise or at least make sure that you have the right equipment (e.g. good running shoes, exercise mats etc) before starting your workout. We have outlined 10 fitness tips for women in a previous post that gives you guidelines on how to structure your workout.

Exercise is only part of the weight loss equation

Everybody knows that the best way to lose weight is by following a balanced diet and doing regular exercise. Exercise is a key part of the whole process that can help you lose weight faster but most importantly keep the weight off and never gain it back. Besides that, there many other tips you can follow for more solid results. You need to take care of your diet and lifestyle habits. We have gathered in a previous post 28 weight loss tips with exercise for getting the best results from your exercise sessions.

 The best exercise for weight loss for women is…

To sum up the best exercise for weight loss for women is the set of exercises you like doing consistently and for a long time without getting bored and can generate the best calorie burning results according to your lifestyle, body structure and physical condition. Finally, always remember that doing any exercise (even walking on a daily basis) is better than not doing any exercises at all.

 

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