Having a weight loss goal can breathe life into your fitness routine, believe it or not. The best routine for weight loss includes a combination of high and low intensity exercise and plenty of cardio and resistance training.
This seven day plan is healthy, sustainable and will help you soon results after just a fortnight.
THE RULES
- Regularity and consistency are your best friends when it comes to seeing results. The cumulative effect of exercise cannot be underestimated. Schedule exercise sessions in your diary and stick to them no matter what.
- Keep an eye on your diet. If weight loss is your goal, try not to ‘eat your workout’. Never go hungry but avoid high-calorie food rewards (we’re talking post-workout pastries and muffins) and oversized meals. Good post-workout snacks include pitta and humus, a protein smoothie shake or yoghurt and fresh fruit.
- You can switch sessions around but try and stick to following a higher intensity day with a lower intensity workout the next day.
MONDAY:HOME HIT
It’s Monday which means a full-on (but easy-to-follow) workout after the weekend. Start with a 4-minute warm up consisting of:
- Easy jogging-on-the-spot
- Shadow boxing
- Star-climbing
- Shuttle runs
Then, try the following…
- 30 seconds mountain climbers
- 30 seconds jumping jacks
- 30 seconds rest
- 30 seconds high knee jogging-on-the-spot
- 30 seconds squats-with-a-jump (at the top)
- 30 seconds rest
- 30 seconds fast alternating lunges
- 30 seconds lateral jumps
- 30 seconds rest
- 30 seconds fast step-ups left leg
- 30 seconds fast step-ups right leg
- 30 seconds rest
- 30 seconds reverse lunge with knee drive left leg
- 30 seconds reverse lunge with knee drive right leg
- Rest and…repeat!
TUESDAY: INTERVAL WALKING
This is your active recovery day – the perfect excuse to try this calorie busting walk.
Start by walking at a moderate pace for five minutes to warm up. Then speed up so that you can still hold a conversation, but so that your heart rate is raised and you start to break a sweat. Hold this pace for three minutes. Slow down to a stroll for one minute and repeat. Repeat this four minute cycle a total of five times. See more of our walking workouts.
WEDNESDAY: LUNCHTIME RUNNING CLUB
Grab a friend or a colleague and head out to boost fitness levels, strengthen bones and whittle waistline with this 30-minute, mixed intensity run.
- Run at moderate pace (6/10) for 4 minutes.
- Run at a fast pace (8-9/10) for 2 minutes.
- Run at slow pace (4/10) for 2 minutes.
- Run at moderately fast pace (7/10) for 2 minutes.
- Repeat twice more, to a total of 3 times.
- THURSDAY: YOGA CARDIO BLEND
- 1 min marching on the spot
- 1 mins alternating shallow reverse lunges (think speed, not depth)
- 1 min skipping lunge
- 1 min jogging on spot with arm circles
- 1 min shallow walking lunges
Repeat a total of three times before moving onto these four high calorie burning yoga moves…
CHAIR POSE.
From a standing position, bend knees, push hips back and squat down towards the floor as you extend arms into the air, palms facing forward. Hold for 5 deep breaths. Rest and repeat up to five times.
WARRIOR II.
From a standing position, take a wide step out with right leg and bend knee to a 90-degree angle, foot also turned to the right. Your left leg is straight, foot turned slightly inwards. Reach arms out to sides, palms facing the floor. Rotate torso to the right looking forward. Inhale and exhale several times before repeating on the other side.
WARRIOR III.
Stand with feet shoulder-width apart, lift right leg parallel to the floor before hinging forward from the waist. Maintain a slight bend in the left leg as you reach forward with arms – arms, upper body and right leg should all form a straight line. Switch sides after a count of 10. Slowly increase time to 30 seconds on each side.
PLANK WITH ARM RAISE.
Assume push up position with weight distributed evenly between palms and balls of feet, with body forming a straight line. Reach your right arm forward and hold for a count of 3. Relax down and repeat on the other side. Do a total of 5 but slowly increase to 10. Switch sides.
FRIDAY: DESKERCISE
Don’t want your workout to eat into wine-o-clock? No problem. Instead of taking a complete rest day, however, just try a bit of deskercise…
Try 3 sets of 20 reps (spread throughout the day) of…
- Leg extensions (straighten legs out in front of you, hold for count of 5, lower and repeat)
- Tricep dips (edge body off seat with hands either side before lowering yourself to floor by bending elbows)
- Bottom lifts (place hands either side of seat and lift bottom off chair a few inches)
- Double leg raises (for the tum – lean back in seat, lift legs off chair and straighten at knee)
SATURDAY: THE BODYWEIGHT WORKOUT
Try this metabolism-boosting, muscles-strengthening, all-over body toner to get a decent weekend workout that won’t eat into your leisure time. After a 5-10-minute warm up consisting of either a short jog, power walk or Monday’s warm-up, repeat the following three times:
- 30 wide squats
- 1 min walking lunges
- 15-20 press ups
- 30-second side plank each side
- 25 tricep dips
- 20 cycling crunches
SUNDAY: LOW INTENSITY CARDIO
Try this fat-busting cardio session on the one day of the week you should have a little more time to exercise. We’ve varied the pace, while keeping it low intensity, so heart gets a decent workout and calorie-burning’s maximised.
- 5 mins fast walking
- 4 mins slow jog (4-5/10)
- 8 mins moderate-paced jog (6-7/10)
- 4 mins slow jog
- 4 mins moderate-paced jog
- Repeat
KEEPING IT GOING…
When you’ve reached your goal weight, stick to the routine but you may find you need to eat a little more if you want to maintain your weight. Increase the size of your post-workout snack, bump up that morning bowl of porridge, add a banana to your protein smoothie…You get the message – we’re talking adding calories that count (nutritionally).
Continue to up the intensity of your routine. Add equipment to your workouts such as tubes and weights, speed up your cardio intervals and expand your yoga practice by trying a new app or class. This is essential to boost fitness and avoid plateaus. Good luck!