Training = weight loss. This postulate is instilled in all those who are losing weight and want to lose weight. Training and exercises have recently become a panacea that guarantees you weight loss and a toned figure. Everyone is looking for exercises for weight loss, and some even find them. One of our first clients was Kolya. A cyber athlete who did not notice a rapid weight gain due to frequent sitting at the computer. Previously, he went to the football section, but the appearance of the game DOTA 2 made him forget about all other things. Back in university, Kolya and his classmates organized a team and regularly trained in joint games, which, of course, wasted their free time. Against the background of active cyber training, the physical activity of the players dropped to almost zero. At the same time, the calories from food did not decrease, which, of course, led to obesity.
A modern person, before doing something, asks Google and Yandex for advice, and Kolya was no exception. He needed a quick result, the receipt of which would not distract him from his main gaming activity. So he began to look for effective exercises for weight loss. This is where the story of our cooperation begins, but before telling about his transformation, we will learn everything about exercises for weight loss. This was the condition for publishing this story. Nikolay agreed to retell his transformation only to help beginners avoid mistakes. At one time, these mistakes took a lot of his time and energy.
In fact, nothing. It is paradoxical that during training or any other physical activity you practically do not burn fat. It is believed that some exercises burn fat cells, while others build muscle, others form abs, etc and some of them for inner peace like yoga. Reality is not as attractive as these stereotypes.
First, remember: losing weight is a lack of energy. When your body doesn't have enough calories from food to perform all its duties (mental activity, organ function, physical activity, etc.), it begins to use up its spare energy - your fat reserves.
This does not happen in 1 day, and not in 1 workout. During rest, when the body normalizes energy exchange, it analyzes the expenditure and receipt of energy. If it is not enough, it takes a little from the fat "stash". If there are not enough calories regularly, the stash steadily decreases, and this is how you lose weight.
What do you need to know about exercise in this context? It is just physical activity, i.e. a tool for burning calories. For example: you eat 2000 kcal, spend 1700 kcal on everyday activities, and with the help of training you increase energy expenditure by another 500 kcal, i.e. you spend 2200 kcal. A lack of two hundred calories leads to stable weight loss.
During training, the amount of fat burned is too small to be considered significant. The average man can burn up to 500 kcal during one workout. Even if we hypothetically assume that all 500 kcal will be burned by burning fat, we will get an insignificant figure.
Caloric value of 1g of fat is 9 kcal. Therefore: 500/9=55.5g of fat per workout in a non-existent reality. You also need to consider that fat is stored together with water cells, and on average, half of the fat lost is water. That is, 27.75g of fat per workout. So, to lose about 3 kilograms of fat, you will have to workout at least 100 times, and this is hypothetical.
The reality is even worse: your body and muscles burn not only fat, but also other energy sources: blood sugar, muscle sugar (glycogen), creatine, free ATP, and more. So it turns out that exercise does not directly contribute to fat burning, and the very concept of fat loss during exercise is incorrect.
Losing weight is a stable calorie deficit. There is no other way to lose fat. Long runs and other types of physical activity are not able to burn much fat. The body is an ideal mechanism of evolution, which is capable of unprecedented miracles of endurance, strength and speed. It would be extremely stupid to lose all the stored fat because of a few long runs.
In reality, attempts to make yourself a permanent marathon runner or any other athlete with long monotonous training sessions supposedly to burn fat will not give a weight loss effect at all, but the exact opposite.
Exercises and their classification
Exercises for slimming hips, belly, arms, etc. etc. Millions of questions and millions of ridiculous answers. Stereotypes have so engulfed this area of fitness that almost every second person believes that to slim down the belly you need to do a thousand and one repetitions of crunches, and to burn fat on the butt - swing your legs or squat millions of times.
Fat is your reserve source of energy, but as we have found out, it is not the only one. If you persistently train any part of the body, this does not guarantee that you will consume nearby fat. The body is designed completely differently. The consumption of fat during training is quite conditional, but it also obeys the simple laws of physiology and biochemistry. To obtain energy from fat, the body initially uses the services of free fatty acids that float in your blood. If there are not enough of them, it activates lipolysis (fat breakdown) throughout the body, and takes from the world "a little at a time."
What does this look like in practice? You actively train your abs, expecting your body to burn belly fat because you are activating that muscle. At this time, your body slowly breaks down fat in all parts of your body, sending fats into the bloodstream, and from there they go to the active muscles, where they are broken down and released as energy.
Not only do exercises burn an extremely small amount of fat during training, but as a bonus there is no local breakdown of fats. That is, even if you burn fat, you do it simultaneously throughout the entire body, and not in one muscle. It is simply impossible to influence this with exercises.
In this case, how can we explain that some people actively lose weight in the waist, and more slowly in other parts of the body? Here, everything is even simpler: the more fat, the more noticeable its loss. Fat is deposited on the body, alas, unevenly. It is a shame that we burn it evenly everywhere, but accumulate it as we please. That is why you see big bellies with thin arms, huge butts with thin legs, etc. on the street. Of course, with uneven fat deposition and uniform weight loss, some parts of the body will be thin, leaving others - full. This is such an imbalance on the part of evolution.
Another argument in favor of the absence of local fat burning can be any athletes from tennis, boxing, or basketball. Tennis players are known for training mainly one hand. Right-handed people play only with their right hand, and the volume of training is huge. Often, the left and right receive completely different loads. Despite this, they look the same, and fresh research from 2015 proved the old thesis that local fat burning does not exist. They compared 6 tennis players from the top 30 of the ATP rating. They compared the percentage of subcutaneous fat in the forearms, biceps, triceps and even in the deltoid muscles of both hands. The difference was insignificant, which served as further evidence.
Why doesn't exercise burn fat?
An effective exercise for weight loss is a special movement that will burn a lot of fat and allow you to quickly tone your figure. Such movements do not exist. The body tries to use energy in a balanced and economical way. The body is not able to use only fats or glucose from the blood. Using only one source of "fuel" is an ineffective scheme, so all sorts of exercises that promise only fat burning are nothing more than a fairy tale.
Running for weight loss, squats for weight loss and other beautiful phrases are a marketing ploy that is designed to make you think according to the principle: I do exercises = I lose weight. Yes, in general terms this is true, but there is no direct fat burning during training, except perhaps on a small scale.
To lose weight, you need a constant calorie deficit for weeks and months. Diet is needed to control incoming calories, and exercise is needed to create a deficit. Simply put, it is our tool for burning calories. In this context, you can safely call all physical exercises fat-burning.
There are only two truly effective exercises for weight loss. Absolutely anyone can do them, regardless of gender, age, training experience. The presence of injuries and pathologies will not interfere with their use. Unique and truly working exercises, which, due to their obvious effectiveness, have not received due attention from the fitness community.
Table scraps
Perform a controlled move away from the table when you feel full. The ideal technique involves a step of at least 2-3 meters. Stop looking at the set table, or better yet, leave the room. Regular repetition of the exercise will help you save yourself from extra calories and thus lose weight.
Head turns
When you are offered to eat something that does not fit into your calorie balance, you need to turn your head alternately to the right and left. The ideal technique involves saying the phrase: "Thank you, no."
Despite the humorous subtext, these exercises can really be called weight loss exercises. They will rid you of extra calories, and this is the main rule of losing weight. The problem is that people are looking for physical exercises with weights to lose weight. You need to start with your diet, not with running and training, but that's another topic.
What does the best exercise for weight loss mean? There are several criteria:
High calorie burn;
Enjoyment of doing the exercise;
Moderate amount of time required;
Minimum risk of injury and other pathologies;
Simple in terms of mastering the technique of execution.
There are quite a lot of such exercises, and their choice is determined by individual factors. Despite this, it is possible to single out several truly effective exercises for weight loss.
Deadlift with a barbell is a less traumatic version of the deadlift, high calorie expenditure, strength load;
Snatch or clean and jerk – if performed correctly, this is the best duo of exercises that burn a lot of calories;
Slow jogging – no more than 40 minutes at a time. Moderate calorie expenditure, does not wear out the central nervous system, and within the time limit rarely leads to injuries;
Burpee is a CrossFit exercise that, if done correctly, meets all of the above criteria;
Plank is one of the best static exercises. Safe and simple in terms of technique. Works out the abdominal muscles well;
Jumping rope – minimum risk of injury, easy to perform, variable intensity.
Let's return to the hero of our transformation - Nikolai. At the beginning of our cooperation, I spent quite a long time explaining to him all of the above, backing it up with relevant research and practical examples. Only after mastering such a basic theory were we able to move on.
There was little time for training. Kolya's diet had not changed for several years. Therefore, the weight loss strategy was simple: do not change the diet in any way, but add physical activity. In this way, we will be able to lose weight without manipulating our diet, because exercise allows us to burn calories, that is, with it we will create a calorie deficit.
However, the topic of the most effective exercises for weight loss did not leave Nikolai's head. He still longed for "secret" exercises for the waist and stomach. Well, this factor had to be taken into account. A professional trainer should always take into account the wishes of clients, even if they do not correspond to the ideal weight loss plan.
Kolya trained twice a week. The complex was performed with high intensity - that is, the rest between approaches and exercises was minimal. A distinctive feature of this program is the ability to do it at home. Nikolay did not have time to visit a fitness center. In addition, it is more comfortable for him to turn on his favorite TV series on a huge computer screen and train in such a familiar atmosphere.
The only thing I had to buy from sports equipment was weights for my legs and arms. I'll say right away that Kolya is now an active fitness enthusiast who goes to the gym 3 times a week, even on holidays. But at the beginning of his journey, he was content with just home workouts.
A set of exercises for weight loss
Burpee 2x6
Crunches 2x10
Burpee 3x8
Crunches 2x10
Burpees 4x10
Jumping Rope 30 seconds jumps/30 seconds rest – 8 rounds
The emphasis on the abdominal muscles is the client's wish. This is quite acceptable. Of course, abdominal exercises will not help you burn more fat on your waist and stomach. There is a completely different argument in their favor - the pleasure of doing them. One of the main criteria for effective training or exercises is personal preference and desire to do them.
It was easy for Kolya to mentally prepare himself for this type of training. He trained his abs and was sure that his belly would lose weight. After only 2 weeks, he noticed positive changes. His waist became smaller because he began to burn more calories. Unfortunately, or fortunately, he decided that the research was wrong and that belly fat could be burned with abdominal exercises. In reality, it doesn’t matter what exercises you do, because it’s just a way to burn energy and create a calorie deficit.
After 2 months of training, Kolya lost 14 cm from his waist. But not everything was as simple as it seemed. Hunger grew stronger every day, and eating as before became more difficult. Gradually, we rebuilt the training program: added strength training, jogging. On rest days, Kolya did the plank in four approaches to failure. Gradually, we learned to count calories and determined an accessible calorie limit, which allows him to stay thin to this day.
The history of the query "effective exercises for weight loss" in Yandex ended exactly like this. In the end, everyone is happy and satisfied. The publication of this transformation is the initiative of Kolya, who recently heard questions from his friends about exercises for burning fat. He remembered how much he was mistaken at the beginning, and how often beginners are instilled with false stereotypes about losing weight.
Afterword
Exercises for weight loss are a hot topic in fitness. They have always been and will always be. Manufacturers of special weight loss belts, ointments and other junk benefit greatly from the stereotype that a person can lose weight in certain parts of the body. Supposedly, by training the press like a fanatic, you will reduce your belly, and with the help of a special belt and ointment for 9999 rubles, you will speed up the result by 200%.
Next time you see an ad like this, remember some basic physiology. The jaw is moved by the same skeletal muscles as the biceps or abs. The chewing muscles are the most active. Only the calf muscles can compete with them. Despite their constant activity, fat on the cheeks and neck does not magically disappear, which contradicts the logic of the stereotype. Overweight people eat often, which means they often activate the jaw.
All searches for unique exercises for weight loss are inspired by human nature - to do little, but to get a lot. Unfortunately, fitness is arranged differently. To get results and the desired figure, you need either truly deep knowledge in this topic, or steel discipline with willpower. Often, beginners have neither the first nor the second. Do not look for secret quick methods, learn from other people's mistakes and try to find a professional wise fitness mentor who will save you from wasting your time.