Fastest & Most Effective Way to Lose Weight

One of the most effective ways to lose weight fast is to follow an interval training program that combines cardiovascular exercise with strength training. Interval training, sometimes called muscle confusion, involves bursts of intense activity with moderate activities. This type of workout allows your body to burn more calories because you're using more than one muscle group at one time. Your session can be as short as 20 minutes.

Instructions

• 1

  Warm up your muscles for a few minutes before you begin. Always warm large muscle groups with dynamic stretches, such as arm circles, windmills and knee bends.

• 2

  Sprint when you walk or jog. Alternate sessions of four or five minutes of a moderate jog with 30 seconds or one minute of sprinting. If you use a treadmill, you can easily alter the intensity of your session with speed or incline.

• 3

  Adds burst of high intensity to your aerobics routine. Run in place or do jumping jacks for 30 seconds or one minute in between every four or five minutes of moderate aerobics, the Mayo Clinic suggests.

• 4

  Add weights to standing exercises for more of a challenge. Instead of doing lunges alone, do them holding hand weights and lifting arms into a biceps curl. Instead of regular squats, remain in the squat position and do arms rows with dumbbells. Use small muscles with big ones to burn more calories.

• 5

  Transition from one type of exercise to another for intensive interval training. Moving from cable column machines to using dumbbells, kettle balls or your own body weight keeps you guessing. Exercises on cable machines provide support whereas when you use kettle balls or are doing walking planks, you're using your entire body including stability muscles.

• 6

  Increase difficulty when you feel stronger. When you feel you've conquered a certain pace in your routine, ramp it up by doing it for longer or make it faster.

• 7

  Cool down with static stretches, such as sitting in a splits position and reaching over your body and touching your toes. Another good stretch after working out is one for your quadriceps. Stand on one leg, bend opposite leg and grab that foot with your hand. Keep your knee pointed down and hold for a few seconds. Switch legs. Stretch your shoulders by stretching your straight arm across the front of your body.