Exercise is an integral part of a healthy lifestyle. In addition to helping you lose those extra pounds, exercise can strengthen and tone your muscles, help reduce stress, and improve your overall well-being. Each exercise session should include a 5-10 minute warm-up and cool-down to prevent injury and improve flexibility. Also, remember that healthy eating and exercise must go hand in hand to lose weight and keep it off. Pick a few of your favorites and keep it fun!
Swimming
Take the stress off your joints and try swimming to lose weight. Swimming laps for an hour can burn 511 to 763 calories depending on your weight, and simply floating in the pool or leisurely swimming will not work.
Run jog
While walking is an effective low-impact activity, running or jogging can actually increase calorie burn. Depending on your weight, running for an hour at 5 mph can burn 600 to 900 calories. Add in a little interval training and it’ll boost your metabolism even more, as well as add a little spice to your workouts. So instead of doing an easy 3 mile jog every day, add in some hills or speed games (jog 3 minutes, run fast 1 minute) to keep things interesting. You can also add more challenge to your walk with jogging or hill intervals. For example, if you walk for 30 minutes, you can jog for 1 to 2 minutes every 5 minutes.
Strength training
Strength training, such as lifting weights or using resistance to target a certain muscle group, helps increase lean muscle mass, making muscle more metabolically active than fat. This also means that your body will burn more calories, even while at rest. Spot reduction is a myth, so choose a balanced strength training program that targets all major muscle groups (chest, back, abs, shoulders, quads (thighs), hamstrings, glutes, and calves) to get best results.
Aerobics
From a motivational aerobics class in your gym to a DVD in your living room, there are a wide variety of aerobics to choose from. Regular aerobic exercise is an ideal way to burn a lot of calories and reach your weight loss goals. You can select a high or low impact style depending on your fitness level. You can burn up to 600 calories in an hour with low-impact aerobic exercise; about 800 calories an hour with high-impact aerobics.
Plyometry
Jumping and jumping movements that challenge the muscles in new ways are called plyometrics. In addition to helping you lose weight, the explosive speed and intensity inherent in plyometrics also improve cardiac fitness and increase endurance. This type of training is also more advanced and can lead to injury if not done correctly or if you have existing joint problems. For best results and safety purposes, consult with a personal trainer or sports medicine physician before starting a new program. Some examples of plyometric exercises include burpees, jump squats, jump lunges, two-legged jumps, push-ups, and plank jacks.
Cross country ski
Just one hour on the trails can burn 500-800 calories. Cross-country skiing will definitely get your heart pumping and working various muscle groups.