The Best Type of Exercise to Lose Body Fat

What is the BEST type of exercise to lose fat?

Cardio? Strength training? CrossFit? High Intensity Interval Training (HIIT), or even a combo of them all?

There are so many schools of thought here in terms of what's deemed the "most effective."

On top of that, we can only imagine how confusing it is as a bystander to understand WHAT you should be doing to lose stubborn body fat.

Since MOST individuals who come into our program have fat loss goals, we figured it would be helpful to cover how YOU can effectively reach your fat loss goals with the right type of training.

When it comes to making ANY body composition changes, strength training is key.

And not only strength training, but lifting heavy and increasing your weights, reps, time under tension, and range of motion as you progress.

That's why it's so important to follow a program that builds muscle and forces your body to keep adapting to becoming STRONGER.

This is also why cookie cutter workouts on Pinterest or instagram are not optimal for any goals you have.

There is most likely no progressive overload that's going to occur there and these workouts are way too random to be effective. OR, you end up following that same workout every week, using the same sets, reps and weights since there’s no progression or structure.

So to reiterate, having a solid strength based program should be your top priority in order to lose body fat.

Now let’s talk cardio because this is important for fat loss to occur too. Think of this more like the goldilocks of fat loss - we don’t want to do it too much but we also don’t want too little.

Typically, when it comes to losing fat, people opt for tons and tons of cardio.

Cardio can help progress your fat loss goals and is also beneficial for your cardiovascular health. However, if all you’re doing is cardio or adding tons of cardio on top of your strength training all while being in a caloric deficit, then you may start eating into your lean tissue (especially if you are following a low carb diet).

And that's the last thing you want to do. You want to hold onto all the muscle you have. Especially if you want to look toned and shredded.

Your goal in a fat loss stage is to preserve as much lean muscle mass as possible. Especially if you're new to working out then this should be your main goal.

Why?

Well first off .. muscles are sexy.

And secondly, bulk muscle is your metabolic furnace... the more muscle you have, the more calories you can burn at rest and during activity.

Again, the goal when losing body fat and being in a caloric deficit is to HOLD ON to as much muscle as possible. You can’t do this with cardio alone or cardio that is too highly intense...

Which brings us to high intensity interval training (HIIT) which comes in the forms of bootcamps, kickboxing classes, orange theory and … CrossFit!

Are these forms of exercise helpful to lose fat?

You may have heard this before, but HIIT has been shown that in just short bouts, you can increase your metabolic activity through what’s called excess post exercise oxygen consumption (EPOC). Think of it like an after training calorie burn.

We will preach this till we're blue in the face - working out is a STRESSOR to your body.

Too much stress can be detrimental to your goals.

Even though you may FEEL less stressed after your workout, your body doesn’t know the difference between you doing 20 burpees as fast as possible and you running from a wild bear.

HIIT can be high stress to your body and can actually RAISE your cortisol levels, our stress regulating hormones.

Yes, HIIT can be beneficial to help lose body fat... but too much HIIT without adequate rest and recovery can lead to fatigue and poor sleep (and sleep is the most anabolic activity you can do).

On top of this, appetite can be much harder to control when your body is exposed to cortisol and lactic acid on the regular. Here come the sugar and salty cravings.

HIIT can also increase your risk of injury, which will derail you from your fat loss goal as you will have to either stop your training or take it super easy.

So if you're integrating HIIT style training into your training program, make sure you have adequate recovery techniques and nutrition lined up.

And it shouldn't be the sole focus of your training program.

Okay, now for our last point.

One of the most underrated and overlooked ways to lose fat.

......

GETTING IN MORE DAILY MOVEMENT.

Being ACTIVE throughout the day is JUST as important as your TRAINING program.

If you are training 100% in the gym for 45-60 mins a day, your activity level outside of the gym is going to drop to 0-10%.

CrossFitters we know you can relate to this. Think about when you have a soul crushing workout in the gym (ahem, Fran which is typically a 4-6min workout).

If you gave this your all (#FULLSEND), you ain’t moving for the rest of the day. You have no energy. Plus, you probably now have “Fran cough.” So there goes your non exercise activity thermogenesis (NEAT).

NEAT plays a HUGE role in your fat loss journey.

So as tempting as it is sometimes to train balls to the walls (especially if you're a CrossFitter), consider how that might affect your fat loss goals, and movement later in the day.

Overall, there is no one best exercise to lose body fat (we know this isn't the answer you wanted to hear.

But a solid program that is biased toward strength training, with moderate to little HIIT and low impact steady state cardio integrated in, ALONG WITH plenty of movement throughout the day will be where the fat loss money is made.

Want to put the guesswork aside and have a training and nutrition program that's individualized to you and your fat loss goals? Schedule a free consultation with us to learn more about our 1:1 online coaching.