12 Best Exercises for Fast Weight Loss in 2020, According to Medical Experts and Research

Have you being trying to figure out the best Exercises to lose weight fast and easy? Before we go any further you need to remember that if you want to lose weight, you need to burn more calories than you consume.

Exercise can help you achieve this by burning off some extra calories.

However, some people claim that exercise isn’t effective for weight loss on its own.

This may be because exercise increases hunger in some people, making them eat more calories than they burned during the workout.

Is exercise really helpful for weight loss? This article takes a look at the evidence.

The benefits of interval training

Interval training is the ultimate cardiovascular workout. Just by practicing interval training once a week, you will be able to take advantage of several benefits, from more effective oxygen intake to a slower heart rate.

If your fitness goal is to lose fat fast, interval training is one of the best route to take. Interval training is more fun and more effective than your regular old cardio routine. Best of all, interval training makes it possible to get better results in less time, helping you reach your fitness and weight loss goals quickly.

To help you find the a calorie-burning workout that fits your lifestyle and goals, we rounded up the best exercises for weight loss here. If you’re working out in intervals, do the exercise for 30 seconds every minute and rest for the remaining 30 seconds. As you progress, you can increase your time to 45 seconds of activity and 15 seconds of rest. Remember, you want to be working at your maximum—leaving you out of breath by the end of that interval.

So if you want to implement interval training into your fitness routine to rev up your metabolism, here are the best exercises for weight loss.

Running

Whether you love or hate it, running is one of the best and simplest ways to burn calories—and you don’t need a treadmill to do it. Just lace up your shoes and hit the road. Running in intervals—speeding up and slowing down your pace—will help make the minutes and miles go by quickly. Run in fartleks, which means speedplay in Swedish, where you pick up the pace every other street lamp or water hydrant you hit, and then slow down after you pass the next one.

“Running is great, but sprinting is even better. Sprinting helps engage the core and offers shorter durations of runs at higher intensities. So next time you think about running, think more about quality and not quantity,” Ryan says. He also notes that running slow is relatively easy on your body as far as exertion is perceived, but running fast at 80% of your capability is even harder, pushing your body even more to its limits. This conditions your body to get used to this kind of stress. “There is definitely something to be said about getting comfortable being uncomfortable on your runs, so skip the road and head to a track or soccer field for some sprints next time,” he says.

TRY a Fartlek sprinting routine: Start out with a 5-minute jog. Then alternate between 10-second sprint intervals and 50-second moderately-paced jogs. Use that jog to catch your breath, then hit the next sprint hard. Perform these intervals for 15 minutes, then end with a 5-minute jog. When you start feeling stronger in your runs, try upping the sprint effort to 20 seconds with 40 seconds of jogging.

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Jump rope

Skipping rope doesn’t skip workout. When was the last time you jumped rope? It’s cheap and portable – and burns more calories than you might think. Give it a whirl!

What piece of exercise equipment sells for under $20, fits into a briefcase, can be used by the whole family, and improves cardiovascular fitness while toning muscle at the same time? And using it for just 15-20 minutes will burn off the calories from a candy bar? The answer: a jump rope.

Jumping rope is a great calorie-burner. You’d have to run an eight-minute mile to work off more calories than you’d burn jumping rope. Try this Crossrope routine Counter to figure out how many calories you’ll burn for a given activity, based on your weight and the duration of exercise.

Swimming

Swimming – excellent full-body weight loss exercise. Water supports the body. Thus, less stress is placed on joints – low-impact. Brilliant for those with injuries.

Need more motivation to hit the pool? “Simply being in water around 78 degrees for your workout helps to burn even more calories than on land because your body’s natural temperature is 98.6 degrees. It fights to keep itself warm in water by burning calories and fat,” Ryan says. 

You’re also using your legs, arms, and core to help you stay afloat, making swimming a great total-body exercise for building strength and endurance.

TRY these swimming workouts for every level.

Kickboxing

Kickboxing is a great way to burn calories, sculpt muscles, and get some serious stress relief! By driving power from your legs, your arms are able to throw major jabs, crosses, hooks and uppercuts, making it a full-body exercise. It will also test your coordination and endurance—all essential things that make you a better athlete in and out of the ring.

“Kickboxing works your core, legs, and specifically your obliques to newfound glory by pumping up your heart and lungs,” Ryan says. “But it also helps you work on balance, coordination, and proprioception. It truly is a mind meets muscle exercise if there ever was one.”

TRY five kicking combos from the DailyBurn: Take these combos and perform 8 reps of each as long as you can for 30 minutes. Rest as needed. Play your favorite fight music and stay strong!

Spanning

Spinning, whether it’s on an actual bike or a stationary one, is one of the best ways to burn calories and build endurance. “Spinning is a great weight-loss activity that is relatively low impact and targets the biggest, strongest muscles in the body,” Ryan says. “When you engage your biggest muscles, you set off hormones to produce more muscles, similar to strength training, which helps to burn fat across your whole body,” he adds.

If you don’t like running, spinning is a low-impact alternative that’ll crank up your heart rate. But there’s more to pushing the pedal than speed. By practicing good form and engaging your core as well as your thighs and glutes, spinning can be a full-body workout. Whether you’re doing a heavy climb in first position or sprinting in second, your core is the key to spinning efficiently and quickly. And as you drive your foot down with each stroke, it’s all about squeezing your inner thighs.

TRY a spinning interval routine: Warm up on the bike for 10 minutes. Go as hard as you can for 30 seconds; pedal easy for 60 seconds. Repeat four times except after the fourth work interval, pedal easy for four minutes. Repeat the whole cycle three more times for a total of 37 minutes of exercise.

Rowing

If you haven’t used your gym’s rowing machine, you’re missing out on one of the best pieces of cardio and strength equipment. Working your quads, glutes, hamstrings, core, arms, and back, you get a total-body workout that’ll have you pouring sweat. Contrary to what most people think, the power of rowing mostly comes from your legs—not your arms. Engaging your quads and glutes, you drive your legs back to pull the handle toward your chest.

“Rowing is a great weight-loss tool because it incorporates the best out of the cardio and strength worlds, with a focus on pulling and opening up the hips and shoulders. At the same time, you’re working your heart and lungs,” Ryan says. Because many people have desk jobs, our backs tend to be rounded. Rowing helps correct this by opening your spine, hips, and shoulders, Ryan says.

TRY a 15-minute rowing routine: Start with a 5-minute warm up, rowing at a slow, consistent pace. Then move up to a moderate pace (about 22 strokes per minute) for 5 minutes. End the workout with a 5-minute cool down.

Battle rolling

Battle ropes are an excellent, no-fuss way to get a full-body strength training and cardio workout. Working at a high intensity, battle ropes will increase your heart rate in seconds. 
“There is something extremely fun and satisfying about slamming heavy ropes repeatedly,” Ryan says. “It not only burns the lungs and muscles in the best way possible, but it also offers a sense of accomplishment by taking out anything that has been bothering you throughout the day.” 

To use them properly: Hold one end of the rope with each hand and stand with your feet shoulder-distance apart. Bend your knees slightly and keep your chest up as you alternate whipping your arms to send waves down to the rope anchor. Experiment with different tempos and movement, whipping faster with one arm while slamming the rope hard with the other.

TRY this 15-minute routine: Start with making alternating waves with each arm. For the next 5 minutes, try to maintain these waves. Don’t worry about speed or intensity. Just try to endure. Try this for another 2 rounds. Rest 1 minute in between rounds.

Running up stairs

Running is good, we all know that. But what about running up stairs? According to experts, it’s much better and much more effective at burning calories and staying lean. If you are an amateur or a competitive runner, it is even more important for you to do this activity.

According to RunnersWorld experts, plyometric motion (running-up stairs) strengthens your muscles, heart, and lungs for better running. They state that:

“Stairs force you to work against gravity, and this helps build two essential needs for runners: strength and power,” says Anne Moore, M.S., an exercise physiologist and running coach in Charleston, South Carolina. You need both, whether you’re kicking to the finish of a 5K or trying to maintain pace during the later miles of a marathon.”

“Moore adds that stair-climbing “forces you to utilize muscle stabilizers, like the gluteus medius, that get neglected during regular runs,” because you’re balancing on and activating one leg, briefly, as the other moves to the next step. Strengthen these areas and you’ll reduce your risk of injury.”

Running up stairs is considered to be a form of cardio exercise that comes with various health benefits including weight loss and strengthening your heart as well as lungs.

Remember, you’ll only be able to lose weight if you consume fewer calories than you burn, so check how much calories you eat. Also, you should cut out salty or fatty foods, and maintain a healthy, balanced diet.

Higher impact aerobis

High impact activity can be defined as any cardiovascular exercise routine where both feet are off the ground at the same time. Except being more intense (and more effective at burning calories) than regular exercises, it comes with many other benefits.

For example, this activity may be beneficial for your bones as it may increase its density as a bone matter can and will adapt to the stresses that affect it.  Also, high-impact exercise can improve your joints.

Experts from USNews.com chime in on this topic:

“High-impact exercise strengthens the joints because it trains all the muscles around that joint to become functionally stronger. For example, when you hop up, you powerfully fire up a plethora of muscles to launch you off the ground. And when you land, those muscles need to contract eccentrically to brace for and soften that impact.”

“While you can do low-impact strength training, you won’t be able to replicate that exact powerful explosion or same eccentric contractions that come from higher impact exercise, Donavanik says.”

However, according to experts from LiveStrong.com, high-impact aerobics may not be for everyone. Just see for yourself:

“High-impact aerobics tend to burn more calories than low-impact, however, the chance for injury either during the session or over time is higher than with low-impact workouts. High impact aerobic activities are better suited for advanced exercisers and may be discouraging for beginners. To prevent overuse injuries from high-impact activities, cross train with low impact activities and take a day off between vigorous workouts.”

So, the next time you are working out, try to add some high-impact exercises to burn extra calories and improve your bones at the same time.

Twaekwondo

Taekwondo is a Korean martial art and the national sport of South Korea. It is also used as part of South Korean military training for every soldier. It is famous for its employment of kicking techniques, which distinguishes it from martial arts such as karate or certain southern styles of Kung Fu.

Today, over 70 million people in 188 countries practice Taekwondo. 4 million of them are black belters. It’s not only focused on physical activity, but it also relies on concentration, combat philosophy and self-defense.

According to LiveStrong, there are many benefits:

“A typical Taekwondo class involves dynamic punching and kicking drills, blocks, core-strengthening exercises and stretches. You’ll build stamina and strength through such active movements.”

“For younger children, learning and practicing the poomsaes — specific patterns of defense and attack movements — leads to better motor skills and body control.”

“A 2014 study published in Sports Medicine noted that Taekwondo athletes demonstrate high peak anaerobic power, flexibility — especially in the legs and hips — high dynamic upper- and lower-body strength and good core endurance.”

HIIT (Higher intensive training )

HIIT workouts are, by far, one of the most effective ways to burn calories and hike up your metabolism. The best part is, these workouts don’t have to last very long. Some HIIT workouts can last for only 10 minutes, but it’s only effective if you push your body to its limits with all-out energy. Research has shown that HIIT can help burn belly fat, a.k.a. the worst kind of fat that puts you at risk for heart disease and other health conditions.

Throughout, form is key. “Even though you are moving through movements at high intensities, you still need to make form paramount to avoid injury,” Ryan says. “Think less about the load/tension or weight intensity and focus more on completing the reps and sets in a sound manner and building load safely.”

Elliptical

Don’t be fooled by the elliptical! It might look an easy machine, casually spinning your legs while watching TV or reading a magazine. But if you crank up the resistance and work at a hard pace, it’ll leave you breathless. “Riding the elliptical at an easy clip will not do much, but magic happens when the lungs start working and the blood starts pumping,” Ryan says. Be sure to stand up straight to lengthen your abs and engage your upper-body muscles. Making use of the handles and swinging your arms will help you blast more fat and calories.

TRY working out like Jennifer Aniston: As reported by Vogue in 2017, the Friends star likes to hit the elliptical for 20 or more minutes. She’ll raise the incline, then alternate between walking for 1 minute and running for 2 minutes.