Weight Loss Exercise Plan – Formula for Success

Losing weight is often convoluted by fitness magazines, food and supplement companies, TV…, The list goes on and on and on because most are trying sell something. The simple fact is that weight loss is obtaining and maintaining a calorie deficit for a prolonged period; or calories burned must outweigh calories eaten. Achieve this for a day and youʼll lose 1lbs, do it for a month and you will lose 10lbs+ easily. That is the science of it. Really is that simple. Now that that has been answered, the challenge is maximizing weight loss.

Formatting Weight Loss Exercise
The part that is often overlooked is the activity aspect. Exercise not only increases number of calories burned but makes sure that the right type of weight is being lost, ie. fat loss and not muscle wastage or water loss. By increasing the number of calories burned the body will more readily use muscle glycogen (muscle sugar energy). Once this type of energy is depleted the body will turn to its fat stores as an energy source. To effectively access these energy stores, exercise choice is important, while exercise reps AND total exercise (complete workout) must be of a longer duration.

Exercise Choice
To use the maximum number of calories during exercise bigger muscles should be targeted or movements that use numerous joint. Both require more energy during work and therefore over the duration of a workout will total more calorie expenditure. Examples: Squats > Calf Raises, Pushups > Biceps Curls or Triceps Ext., Running/Jogging > Walking, Lunges > Leg Curl/Ext, Additionally, free weights or body weight exercises are typically also more superior for weight loss.

Exercise Reps
To ensure that the muscles exercised become fatigued (per set) the body needs to stressed so that it uses its aerobic energy source, +45s. This is typically done by keeping the repetitions between 15-18 with a moderate weight. Additionally, repetitions should be performed controlled so that the total time the muscles are under tension (controlling and moving the weight) is lengthened (eg. 2s up and 3s down). Ideally each set should last over a minute.

Total Exercise
Because weight loss is the goal, within the exercise period (eg. 1 hour) it is important that the maximum number of exercises and exercise sets are completed. To so this rest should be kept to a minimum (30-45s) so that heart rate stays elevated and more time is spent exercising than resting.

Putting It Together
By using this simplistic formula and a couple workout tips the calorie expenditure can be maximized and therefore weight loss is also maximized. A sample plan has also been listed that uses the above guidelines and forms an easy template for further progression.