Having a too-high percentage of body fat can lead to obesity, which comes with an increased risk of heart disease, diabetes, high blood pressure, and some types of cancer, according to the Mayo Clinic. So what’s the difference between a fat-burning exercise and other exercises? It all comes down to intensity, says Len Kravitz, PhD, coordinator of exercise science at the University of New Mexico in Albuquerque. “Exercise at a comfortable but challenging intensity for optimal fat burning,” he says. The long-held idea is that by exercising at a lower than maximum effort, you’ll encourage your body to burn fat calories for energy, according to the American Council on Exercise (ACE). RELATED: Everything You Need to Know About Exercise and How to Start Working Out Don’t get too hung up on that, though, since fat burning also occurs as a result of higher-intensity workouts, primarily because of what happens when the workout ends. That’s when the afterburn effect (exercise scientists call it “excess postexercise oxygen consumption”) comes into play. Your body’s metabolism remains spiked after a high-intensity workout and the body burns fat as a result. The bottom line: Both higher-intensity and moderate-intensity workouts can be effective at burning fat. Which one is more effective is still a matter of debate. A mix of cardiovascular (aerobic) exercise and strength training is ideal for burning fat, says Cat Kom, an ACE-certified personal trainer and CEO and founder of Studio Sweat in San Diego. Any type of cardio that gets your heart rate up to roughly 60 to 90 percent of your max heart rate (which is approximately 220 minus your age, according to the Mayo Clinic) will do the trick, Kom says. “When you get that heart pumping and keep it there, you’re going to burn more calories overall, which leads to increased fat loss,” she says. Don’t skimp on strength training, though. “The simple truth is this: The more muscle you have, the more fat your body is going to burn at rest,” she says. RELATED: The Best Exercises for a Stronger Core According to a review published in Current Sports Medicine Reports, 10 weeks of resistance training increased resting metabolic rate by 7 percent and reduced fat weight by about 4 pounds. Another study, published in October 2015 in the International Journal of Obesity, found that a combination of resistance and aerobic training led to belly fat reductions in young people with obesity. RELATED: Study Shows How Regular Exercise Helps Thwart Genetic Risk of Obesity Finally, high-intensity interval training (HIIT) has proved to be a fat blaster, too, because it results in excess postexercise oxygen consumption (that afterburn effect), Kom says. “When you reach this highly pumped state, your body uses extra oxygen to bring it back to normal, which boosts your metabolism and leads to — you guessed it — burning fat,” she says. A study published in the Journal of Obesity found that three months of HIIT led to a loss of 4.4 pounds of body fat.
A 6-Step Fat-Burning Workout
Kom helped us put together a fat-burning workout that you can complete at home or at the gym. She recommends doing each exercise for 30 seconds back to back with 30 to 60 seconds of rest in between each round. Try not to rest in between the moves — that’ll keep your heart rate up and your body burning calories and fat, Kom says. This should be done at a high intensity that leaves you breathless, though maintaining good form is more important than speed, Kom says. How many rounds you do is up to you and your ability. Kom says the most important things are to avoid injury and to enjoy the workout. “If you don’t like how it feels, you’re less likely to do it again,” she says. Try to knock it out two or three times per week. Do one round for a quick fat-blasting break if you’re short on time, or as many rounds as you can fit into 15 to 30 minutes to reap the most benefit, she says.
1. Jumping Jacks
2. Burpees
3. Squat Jumps
4. Skater Jumps
5. Plank Jacks
6. High Knees
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