Just Joined my first gym, what works best for all over weight loss?

[Anonymous]

I joined my first gym today and I'm really excited! It opened a few months ago and I've been really tempted. I'm about 25 pounds overweight. It's embarrassing. So I decided to do something about it.

But when I went on the tour, I was surprised by all the different kinds of equipment, classes and stuff they offer!

I want to try out the cycling class, and I've always been into yoga. But what should I go to for a workout that will burn fat all over my body? What works best for you?

[kheserthorpe]

Well, I'm going to tell you a few separate things:

- Weight loss is mainly based on eating, unless you can do -huge- amounts of exercise. Huge meaning many hours per day, every day, at a high level. Lets assume for now that's not going to be you. So it will be mainly about dietary control.

- Higher intensity work (heavy weight lifting, or high intensity intervals which may involve weights) burn more calories per minute then steady state aerobic work. However, you can'd do intervals for an hour. You can probably burn more calories in a given workout by doing a longer, steady state (i.e. steady heart rate) type workout. BUT

- Steady state work tends to be catabolic - that is it sends hormones to your body to reduce muscle mass. Intense work and to a greater extent lifting heavy weights releases anabolic hormones, which tell your body to add muscle. More muscle = higher metabolism, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

So what 'burns the most fat?' doing exercise for as long as possible, at the highest intensity you can manage for that duration. In the short run. In the longer run, different types of exercise can do different things. Resistance work helps you tone your muscles which stokes your metabolism. Aerobic work can improve your cardiovascular system, which allows you do higher volumes of aerobic work at a higher pace, burning more calories down the road.

What seems to work in practice? Women who do resistance work and diet lose significantly more then those who diet alone. Women who do aerobic work and diet lose very little more then diet alone, but are more likely to keep it off. Neither of these are necessarily how things 'should' be but are what seem to happen most often in practice.

I have also not touched on the fact that there are things other then fat loss. If toning is more of a priority, more (heavy) resistance work is in order, if increased endurance and energy is a goal, aerobic work long term pays off (with HIIT to top it up later). If flexibility is a goal, yoga is great.

[Justthinkingaloud]

A good full body work out for loosing weight would be thaibo. Anything cardio is good for loosing weight. But make sure if you decide to use weights that you don't work everything out in one day, you want to do arms, chest, shoulders one day, legs and abs another. Or you could strain yourself. I also suggest using light easy to lift weights during any arobic type exercise, this can help burn fat and tone muscles faster. And drink lots of water, it keeps you hydrated and also helps flush toxins out your body also helping weight loss.

[MyNameIsJonas]

Cardio cardio cardio.

Do the cycling class its fun and will give you a jump start into working out. You can do Yoga too. Do it all. Classes will teach you and get you in better shape, plus you will probably meet some cool people with the same goals.

Running or eliptical are great. Burn time is important. Which mean's you do not need to make it very intense but you do need and should shoot for an hour of cardio.

[elfmasta00]

Cycling would be good. It's about cardio. lift light weights to tone, but don't go too heavy. Got to elevate your heart rate for at least 30 minuets straight.

[caligirl3]

dance, indoor walking, core and the tredmill

[funkadelic5]

A good diet.