The idea is that glycogen stores will be depleted at this time and therefore fat will be used directly for fuel. In many cases, this strategy has worked.

However, some feel it is not a valid method. It is worth trying though. HIIT High intensity interval training is an advanced form of aerobics designed to strip body fat at a faster rate.

HIIT High Intensity Interval Training is an advanced form of aerobics designed to strip body fat at a faster rate. Although not for everyone, as it can be very demanding, HIIT is one of the more effective fat-loss methods for the intermediate to advanced trainer.

As the name suggests, HIIT requires training at high intensity near maximal for a series of intervals, before backing off to a lower work rate. The interval can last anywhere from 10 to 30 seconds, and the entire session might last only 20 minutes, depending on the stage both in terms of fat storage and fitness level one is at.

At the smooth stage a thin layer of fat—independent of water—covers the body or in the shape stage around six percent body fat , it is probably acceptable to stagger food intake so that high calories or so above normal can be eaten for two days followed by lower calories for three days.

There are many variations on this practice, but the guiding principal stays the same: After a period of low calories, the body will tend to hold onto fat; on this basis it is thought that upping the calories will up the metabolic rate to burn more adipose tissue.

Generally the extra calories will not be stored as fat as long as the high-calorie days are limited to a certain period and are promptly followed by the lower-calorie days.

The higher-calorie days are not open invitations to pig out on all manner of forbidden foods, but should be comprised of clean proteins , carbohydrates, and fats. This strategy is best practiced when aiming to lose that remaining five to ten pounds of fat, and when a person is in reasonably good shape to begin with.

If the client is overweight, the higher-calorie days could sabotage their weight loss due to a more sluggish metabolic rate. A greater degree of excess fat would probably require consistency in terms of low-fat, low-calorie eating, as will be shown in the success stories featured later in this article.

In most of the weight loss success stories I have read, one common theme emerges: a higher than normal water intake is crucial for fat loss. Water intake is important for fat metabolism because it helps the liver perform the function of fat conversion for energy purposes.

Unfortunately the liver also has to work on behalf of the kidneys if the kidneys are water-deprived , therefore lowering total liver productivity, which has deleterious consequences for the fat-conversion process.

Therefore drinking enough water is an important step toward fat reduction. Weight training is a perfect activity for fat loss. Although it doesn't directly burn a greater number of fat stores than aerobics, weights will build muscle, which in turn will increase the metabolic rate 24 hours a day.

The more muscle you're holding, the better your chances of losing body fat. A combination of methods is needed for those who have a significant amount of weight to lose.

These are the people who typically need to lose around 40 pounds of fat before they even consider achieving muscle definition. The best strategy for these people would be to lose weight slowly with a realistic, longer-term approach. Crash-dieting and intense training probably would not be the best option.

Crash diets—where calories are severely restricted—will likely result in initial losses in water weight and a failure to stick to the diet due to the restriction these kinds of diets place on total nutrient balance.

Use the following approach for someone who is overweight:. At this stage one is visually overweight, but not obese. Typically they are holding around 20 pounds of fat and have a body fat percentage of around percent in males and 25 percent in females. The best strategy would be to gradually drop excess body fat through a combination of low-intensity and high-intensity training, coupled with a sensible eating approach.

The following guidelines can be used:. The smooth stage could be defined as a puffy appearance with a small amount of visible body fat around 11 percent in men and 15 percent in women; about 10 total pounds to lose to become "in shape".

This look would probably be regarded as normal and healthy, but there is an absence of muscle definition due to a thin layer of fat—the off-season bodybuilder is usually at this stage.

To drop these additional 10 pounds to reveal a muscular physique, use the following methods:. For those who only have three or four pounds of fat to lose in order to reveal a ripped, muscular physique, it is probably also best to do HIIT, as this should more effectively rev the metabolic rate while one is at an advanced fat-burning level.

For the out-of-shape beginner, HIIT might be overkill, but for the in-shape, advanced trainer, it could prove to be perfect because it's an effective way of improving an already efficient metabolism. HIIT sessions can be done five times a week, independent from any other form of training.

The following are additional ways to burn remaining visible body fat:. One of the worst practices when wanting to lose weight, drinking alcohol will not only add empty calories but will reduce appetite and lower testosterone levels for up to 24 hours testosterone helps to burn fat.

Alcohol will also reduce the number of fat calories burned for energy. After alcohol is consumed it is converted into a substance called acetate, which is used in place of fat for energy, thus helping the body to maintain its fat stores[1].

For the overweight person, alcohol is a definite problem on this basis alone. Making a plan will ensure fat loss is achieved with greater certainty.

Having predefined goals and a progress diary will help your client stick to their plan, and allow for a greater degree of accountability.

The first step is to determine exactly what their goals are. The ability to do what is required every day without fail is the hallmark of a winner. For fat loss, all the right steps need to be taken at the right times to realize this goal. As will be shown in the following success stories, the individuals unwaveringly stuck to their plan and achieved their fat loss goals—they were consistent.

A personal trainer can add help to motivate and inspire a person to lose body fat. Having someone on hand to lend support and expertise can really make the difference for those who are struggling with their weight-loss efforts.

The best personal trainer is the one who has the right amount of knowledge and who knows how to plan a program for the specific needs of their client.

Fat-burning supplements can have a thermogenic effect on the body, which causes fat to be burned at a faster rate.

It is important to realize that these are supplements that can help if they are used in conjunction with an adequate diet and training regimen. The following stories show how fat can be lost to attain a specific goal. They serve as inspiration for those wanting to lose stubborn body fat. Amer eviscerated 25 percent body fat and became a proud owner of striated abs.

It doesn't matter what type of fuel you use when it comes to weight loss. What matters is how many calories you burn. Think about it this way—when you sit or sleep, you're in your prime fat-burning mode. But you probably don't think of sitting and sleeping more as a pathway to losing body fat.

The bottom line is that just because you're using more fat as energy doesn't mean you're burning more calories. Exercising at lower intensities will use more fat for energy. Over the years, this theory has become so ingrained in our exercise experience that we see it touted in books, charts, websites, magazines, and even on cardio machines at the gym.

The trouble is that it's misleading. Working at lower intensities can be great, but it won't necessarily burn more fat off your body. One way to increase your calorie burn is to exercise at higher intensities.

This doesn't necessarily mean that you should avoid low-intensity exercise if you want to burn more fat. There are some specific things you can do to burn more fat and it all starts with how often and for how long you exercise.

You may be confused about exactly how hard to work during cardio. You may even think that high-intensity exercise is the only way to go. After all, you can burn more calories and you don't have to spend as much time doing it. But having some variety can help you stimulate each of your energy systems, protect you from overuse injuries, and help you enjoy your workouts more.

You can set up a cardio program that includes a variety of different exercises at different intensities. Or, if you're not using heart rate zones, about a six to eight on a point perceived exertion scale.

What this translates to is exercise at a level that feels challenging and leaves you too breathless to talk in complete sentences. But you're not going all out, as in sprinting as fast as you can. There's no doubt that some high-intensity training work can be helpful for weight loss as well as improving endurance and aerobic capacity.

You can get the same benefit from short workouts spread throughout the day as you do with continuous workouts. For example, a pound person would burn about calories after running at 6 mph for 30 minutes.

If this person walked at 3. But, the number of calories you can burn isn't the whole story. Too many high-intensity workouts every week can put you at risk in a number of ways.

If you don't have much experience with exercise, you may not have the conditioning or the desire for breathless and challenging workouts.

If you have any medical condition or injury, check with a healthcare provider before training. If you're doing several days of cardio each week, you would probably want only one or two workouts to fall into the high-intensity range. You can use other workouts to target different fitness areas like endurance and allow your body to recover.

Here are some examples of how to incorporate high-intensity workouts. One way to incorporate high-intensity workouts is to exercise at a fast pace. You can use any activity or machine for a minute workout at a fast pace, but the idea is to stay in the high-intensity work zone throughout the workout.

Twenty minutes is usually the recommended length, and most people wouldn't want to go much longer than that. Tabata training is another form of high-intensity interval training in which you work very hard for 20 seconds, rest for 10 seconds, and repeat for 4 minutes.

In this workout, you should be breathless and unable to talk. Additionally, interval training is a great way to incorporate high-intensity training without doing it continuously. Alternate a hard segment e. Repeat this series for the length of the workout, usually around 20 to 30 minutes.

That would be a level four to six on a point perceived exertion scale. You are breathing harder than usual, but can carry on a conversation without much difficulty. Schedule your day around exercise instead of trying to squeeze it in when you can.

Making your workout a priority increases the chances that you will accomplish your goal. The American College of Sports Medicine ACSM often recommends this level of intensity in its exercise guidelines. The lower end of this range usually incorporates the fat-burning zone.

Moderate-intensity workouts also have some great benefits. For instance, even modest movement can improve your health while lowering your risk of heart disease, diabetes, and high blood pressure.

Also, it takes time to build up the endurance and strength to handle challenging exercises. Moderate workouts allow you to work at a more comfortable pace, which means you may be more consistent with your program.

You also can usually get into the moderate heart rate zones with a variety of activities. Even raking leaves or shoveling snow can fall into that category if you do it vigorously enough.

For weight management, you would likely want the majority of your cardio workouts to fall into the moderate range. Some examples include:. This level of intensity is no doubt one of the most comfortable areas of exercise, keeping you at a pace that isn't too taxing and doesn't pose much of a challenge.

This fact, along with the idea that it burns more fat, makes low-intensity exercise popular. But, as we've learned, working at a variety of intensities is ideal for weight loss. That doesn't mean that low-intensity exercise has no purpose, though. It involves the long, slow activities you feel like you could do all day.

Even better, it includes activities you usually enjoy, such as taking a stroll, gardening, riding a bike, or a gentle stretching routine.

Low-intensity cardio can be something you do all day long by doing an extra lap when you're shopping, taking the stairs , parking farther from the entrance, and doing more physical chores around the house. Exercise such as Pilates and yoga are at a lower intensity but help develop your core, flexibility, and balance.

They can be a part of a well-rounded routine. It may seem like a no-brainer that regular exercise can help you burn fat. But it's not just about the calories you're burning.

It's also about the adaptations your body makes when you exercise on a regular basis. Many of those adaptations lead directly to your ability to burn more fat without even trying.

Adding more muscle by lifting weights and doing other resistance exercises can also help with burning fat. While many people focus more on cardio for weight loss, there's no doubt that strength training is a key component in any weight loss routine.

Here are some benefits of weight training. If you lift weights at a higher intensity, you can increase your afterburn, or the calories you burn after your workout. That means that you burn calories during your workouts, but your body continues to burn calories even after your workout while your body gets back to its resting state.

Lifting weights and maintaining muscle helps keep the metabolism up, even if you're cutting your calories. If you are restricting calories, you risk losing muscle.

Muscle is metabolically active , so when you lose it, you also lose the extra calorie burn muscles produce. To start, choose a basic total body workout and do that about twice a week, with at least one day in between. As you get stronger, you can do more exercises, increase intensity, or add more days of strength training.

It may take a few weeks but you'll eventually see and feel a difference in your body. If you want a more structured program, try a four-week slow build program which includes a schedule of cardio and strength workouts that allows you to gradually increase your intensity.

When it comes to burning more fat, you have to work at it. The good news is that it doesn't take much activity to push the body into that fat burning mode.

Try incorporating some type of activity every day, even if it's just a quick walk. Then, build on that over time. Soon you're on the way to burning more fat. It also can be beneficial to work with a registered dietitian or certified personal trainer to develop a more individualized program.

Mul JD, Stanford KI, Hirshman MF, Goodyear LJ. Exercise and regulation of carbohydrate metabolism. Prog Mol Biol Transl Sci.

While many people focus more on cardio for weight loss, there's no doubt that strength training is a key component in any weight loss routine. Here are some benefits of weight training. If you lift weights at a higher intensity, you can increase your afterburn, or the calories you burn after your workout.

That means that you burn calories during your workouts, but your body continues to burn calories even after your workout while your body gets back to its resting state.

Lifting weights and maintaining muscle helps keep the metabolism up, even if you're cutting your calories. If you are restricting calories, you risk losing muscle. Muscle is metabolically active , so when you lose it, you also lose the extra calorie burn muscles produce.

To start, choose a basic total body workout and do that about twice a week, with at least one day in between. As you get stronger, you can do more exercises, increase intensity, or add more days of strength training.

It may take a few weeks but you'll eventually see and feel a difference in your body. If you want a more structured program, try a four-week slow build program which includes a schedule of cardio and strength workouts that allows you to gradually increase your intensity.

When it comes to burning more fat, you have to work at it. The good news is that it doesn't take much activity to push the body into that fat burning mode.

Try incorporating some type of activity every day, even if it's just a quick walk. Then, build on that over time. Soon you're on the way to burning more fat. It also can be beneficial to work with a registered dietitian or certified personal trainer to develop a more individualized program.

Mul JD, Stanford KI, Hirshman MF, Goodyear LJ. Exercise and regulation of carbohydrate metabolism. Prog Mol Biol Transl Sci.

Chiu CH, Ko MC, Wu LS, et al. Benefits of different intensity of aerobic exercise in modulating body composition among obese young adults: a pilot randomized controlled trial. Health Qual Life Outcomes.

Calorie Control Council. Get moving calculator. Department of Health and Human Services. Activity guidelines questions and answers. Centers for Disease Control.

Measuring physical activity intensity. Willis LH, Slentz CA, Bateman LA, et al. J Appl Physiol Carey DG. Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research.

Use limited data to select advertising. Create profiles for personalised advertising. Use profiles to select personalised advertising. Create profiles to personalise content. Use profiles to select personalised content.

Measure advertising performance. Measure content performance. Understand audiences through statistics or combinations of data from different sources.

Develop and improve services. Use limited data to select content. List of Partners vendors. By Paige Waehner, CPT. Paige Waehner, CPT. Learn about our editorial process. Learn more. Reviewers confirm the content is thorough and accurate, reflecting the latest evidence-based research.

Content is reviewed before publication and upon substantial updates. Reviewed by Heather Black, CPT. Learn about our Review Board.

Table of Contents View All. Table of Contents. Basics of Burning Fat. Fat Burning Zone Myth. Mixing Cardio Intensities. Exercising Consistently. Lifting Weights. Fat-Burning Heart Rate: What It Is and How to Target It.

How to Burn Fat Exercise consistently Perform a mix of high, medium and low-intensity cardiovascular exercise Lift challenging weights Try circuit training Include compound exercises Watch your stress levels Get enough sleep Increase your total daily energy expenditure Eat the correct number of calories for your goal.

Potential Risks If you do too many high-intensity workouts, you put yourself at risk for: Burnout Growing to hate exercise Inconsistent workouts Overtraining Overuse injuries. Examples of Moderate Intensity Workouts For weight management, you would likely want the majority of your cardio workouts to fall into the moderate range.

Some examples include: A to minute cardio machine workout A brisk walk Riding a bike at a medium pace. Benefits Here are some benefits of consistent exercise. Become more efficient : Your body becomes more efficient at delivering and extracting oxygen. Simply put, this helps your cells burn fat more efficiently.

Have better circulation : This allows fatty acids to move more efficiently through the blood and into the muscle. That means fat is more readily available for fueling the body. Increase the number and size of mitochondria : These are the cellular power plants that provide energy inside each cell of your body.

Strategies To burn more fat when strength training, here are some strategies that you can utilize. Incorporate circuit training : Circuit training is a great way to burn more calories by combining high-intensity cardio along with strength training exercises.

You keep your heart rate elevated by moving from one exercise to another with little or no rest while focusing on both cardio and strength in the same workout.

Lift heavy weights : If you're a beginner, you should work your way up to heavy weights over time. Once your body is ready for more, lifting heavy weight forces your body to adapt by building more lean muscle tissue to handle that extra load.

Use compound movements : Movements that involve more than one muscle group e. Verywell Fit uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles.

Read our editorial process to learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy. See Our Editorial Process. Meet Our Review Board.

Share Feedback. Was this page helpful? Thanks for your feedback! What is your feedback? Related Articles. You may accept or manage your choices by clicking below, including your right to object where legitimate interest is used, or at any time in the privacy policy page.

These choices will be signaled to our partners and will not affect browsing data. With weight training, high repetitions with moderate weights would work best for an obese client during the initial stages of training.

It is important to remember that lower-intensity weight training and aerobics should both be done in the same program to maximize results. Walking is a perfect, low impact aerobic activity for anyone who is obese. For weight training, all body parts should be targeted with basic exercises that work larger muscles.

You should probably also dedicate yourself to one of the Weight Loss Workout Plans in Bodybuilding. com BodyFit Elite. The plans are guided by professionals and offer detailed workout and nutritional assistance for anybody looking to lean out while improving their overall fitness.

It has been shown that fat intake of the wrong kind will result in increased fat gains. This stands to reason, as the body will typically burn carbohydrates for fuel and use protein for repair. Therefore, it makes sense to cut back on bad fat while increasing the good type.

Good fats such as the omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acids will actually have a fat-burning effect, as they enhance metabolic function the metabolic rate is an indicator of how the body uses stored energy.

Their use—as opposed to the saturated bad type found in meats and hard at room temperature—should be encouraged. Strategically cutting back on carbohydrates means eating specific carbs at certain times to achieve a fat-burning effect.

Complex carbohydrates will generally maximize the fat-burning effect because they stimulate the metabolism without causing the outpouring of insulin, which causes greater fat storage.

Complex carbs include brown rice, beans, oats, and potatoes, and their use is to be encouraged. However, the short-burst simple-sugar carbohydrates are to be avoided during a fat loss phase, as they can cause a large insulin spike and resultant fat gains.

They are also concentrated, and generally higher in calories. A third type of carbohydrate, fiber, which can be found in high-wheat foods and certain fruits and vegetables, is an important one for fat loss because it increases feelings of fullness and pushes fat through the system to be eliminated.

Best times to eat complex carbohydrates for fat loss are at all meals before p. Simple carbohydrates can be eaten directly after training, as the body will more readily store them as glycogen, not fat, at this stage.

For general health, the recommended intake for fiber is 30 grams per day. For fat loss, an additional 10 grams is advised. For variety—to eliminate boredom and encourage adherence—it is worthwhile to do a range of aerobic activities. These various activities will also have differing fat-burning effects.

Combined, they may stimulate the metabolism to greater heights, therefore enhancing fat loss on a larger scale. One school of thought has it that training aerobically directly after weight training, or first thing in the morning, will stimulate greater gains in fat loss.

The idea is that glycogen stores will be depleted at this time and therefore fat will be used directly for fuel. In many cases, this strategy has worked. However, some feel it is not a valid method. It is worth trying though. HIIT High intensity interval training is an advanced form of aerobics designed to strip body fat at a faster rate.

HIIT High Intensity Interval Training is an advanced form of aerobics designed to strip body fat at a faster rate. Although not for everyone, as it can be very demanding, HIIT is one of the more effective fat-loss methods for the intermediate to advanced trainer.

As the name suggests, HIIT requires training at high intensity near maximal for a series of intervals, before backing off to a lower work rate. The interval can last anywhere from 10 to 30 seconds, and the entire session might last only 20 minutes, depending on the stage both in terms of fat storage and fitness level one is at.

At the smooth stage a thin layer of fat—independent of water—covers the body or in the shape stage around six percent body fat , it is probably acceptable to stagger food intake so that high calories or so above normal can be eaten for two days followed by lower calories for three days.

There are many variations on this practice, but the guiding principal stays the same: After a period of low calories, the body will tend to hold onto fat; on this basis it is thought that upping the calories will up the metabolic rate to burn more adipose tissue.

Generally the extra calories will not be stored as fat as long as the high-calorie days are limited to a certain period and are promptly followed by the lower-calorie days. The higher-calorie days are not open invitations to pig out on all manner of forbidden foods, but should be comprised of clean proteins , carbohydrates, and fats.

This strategy is best practiced when aiming to lose that remaining five to ten pounds of fat, and when a person is in reasonably good shape to begin with. If the client is overweight, the higher-calorie days could sabotage their weight loss due to a more sluggish metabolic rate.

A greater degree of excess fat would probably require consistency in terms of low-fat, low-calorie eating, as will be shown in the success stories featured later in this article. In most of the weight loss success stories I have read, one common theme emerges: a higher than normal water intake is crucial for fat loss.

Water intake is important for fat metabolism because it helps the liver perform the function of fat conversion for energy purposes.

Unfortunately the liver also has to work on behalf of the kidneys if the kidneys are water-deprived , therefore lowering total liver productivity, which has deleterious consequences for the fat-conversion process. Therefore drinking enough water is an important step toward fat reduction. Weight training is a perfect activity for fat loss.

Although it doesn't directly burn a greater number of fat stores than aerobics, weights will build muscle, which in turn will increase the metabolic rate 24 hours a day. The more muscle you're holding, the better your chances of losing body fat.

A combination of methods is needed for those who have a significant amount of weight to lose. These are the people who typically need to lose around 40 pounds of fat before they even consider achieving muscle definition. The best strategy for these people would be to lose weight slowly with a realistic, longer-term approach.

Crash-dieting and intense training probably would not be the best option. Crash diets—where calories are severely restricted—will likely result in initial losses in water weight and a failure to stick to the diet due to the restriction these kinds of diets place on total nutrient balance.

Use the following approach for someone who is overweight:. At this stage one is visually overweight, but not obese. Typically they are holding around 20 pounds of fat and have a body fat percentage of around percent in males and 25 percent in females. The best strategy would be to gradually drop excess body fat through a combination of low-intensity and high-intensity training, coupled with a sensible eating approach.