How to Burn Fat through Exercise

Posted by John McEwen

January 26, 2009

If you have excess body fat then you want to know what the best fat burning exercises are. Many experts will tell you that the low to moderate aerobic exercises are best for fat while other experts claim that the high impact aerobics are best. Many experts also say that strength training is the most effective at burning fat. Fact is all will help burn excess body fat.

STEP 1 - Pick Your Aerobic Exercise

The best aerobic exercises for burning fat are the ones that will use your lower body muscles like cross country skiing, walking, jogging or running. The lower body muscles like the glutes, quads and hips are larger muscles and so will burn more calories.

The low to moderate impact aerobics will use approximately 60% of fat for fuel. However these exercises also give you fewer overall total calories burned versus the high impact aerobics. High impact aerobics on the other hand only use about 35% of fat for fuel but will have higher total calories burned during exercise.

The level and duration is what will drive your total fat burn. For example, a 30 minute brisk walk for a 140 pound woman will burn about 126 calories total and 76 fat calories. But a 30 minute run for this woman would burn a total of 336 calories and 115 fat calories.

You can use an exercise calorie calculator to help you determine how long and how intense your workout should be to get the most out of your fat burning exercises.

STEP 2 - Schedule your exercise

In the morning on an empty stomach is the best time to do aerobic exercises for maximum fat burning benefits. This is because you do not have any stored carbs and sugar available to use as fuel so your body starts using fat for fuel much faster. If you were to perform aerobics during the day you would need to exercise for about 20 to 30 minutes before your body started using fat. However exercising on an empty stomach can mean a shorter workout as you may tire quicker. So use your best judgment as to when is the right time for you.

You can also do aerobics immediately following your strength training exercises. Since your strength training will have already used up the excess glucose then when you do your aerobics it will begin to use fat for fuel almost immediately.

Remember to hydrate yourself with 16 to 24 ounces of water before you begin your aerobic exercise workout. Your aerobic workouts should be about 30 to 45 minutes to get the most from your fat burning exercise routine.

STEP 3 - Add Strength Training for Burning Fat

Strength training also helps you burn fat by building lean muscle mass. The more lean muscles you have the higher your basal metabolic rate. The higher your BMR, the more calories and fat you will burn while doing normal everyday activities, including sleeping. Your strength training can be weight lifting, resistance band exercises, dumbbell exercises or even bodyweight exercises.

STEP 4 - Create a Weekly workout Routine

To get the maximum fat burning benefits your weekly workout should include both strength training and aerobics. A good example would be to do a 30 minute morning aerobics workout 3 to 4 times a week and strength training 2 - 3 times a week working all the muscle groups. And always remember to warm up and stretch your muscles before any workout. Just as important, remember to cool down and stretch again after your workout.