The BEST type of exercise to lose fat!

Kemper Sosa

“What’s the best type of exercise to lose body fat?”. If you’ve been exposed to any health and fitness marketing, you’ve seen all kinds of answers to this question. Let me know if the suggestions below bring back any memories:

• Fasted cardio in the morning, before breakfast!
• Running, make sure to keep your heart rate from getting too high as you’ll move out of the “fat burning” zone. Do this for 45-60 minutes.
• Interval training, make sure to spike your heart rate as high as possible during your work intervals to maximize the “after-burn” effect. Do this for 15 to 30 minutes.
• Lift weights…light weight & high reps though! 
• Lift weights…heavy weight & low reps though!

The list goes on & on. While there is some supporting evidence one can use to argue all of these points above (granted proper nutrition, sleep & activity are part of the equation), I’m here to bring some awareness to a foundational piece many of us often forget.  

The BEST type of exercise to lose fat (Well, to achieve pretty much any exercise related goal) is the type that you’re able to stay consistent with…I know, shocker right!? Stay with me on this concept for a second. Exercise, like any health related habit, will reward you best when it’s done in a consistent manner. 

Here’s an example: I thoroughly do not enjoy running on the treadmill….I would much rather lay on a hot bed of coals than go for a 45 minute treadmill run. If coach-trainer continued to reinforce that treadmill running was the best way for me to achieve my health/fitness goals…I would be in a world of trouble. The amount of mental energy (let alone physical energy) it would require for me would not be sustainable do to the simple fact that I do not enjoy running!  

I enjoy strength training, to a high degree in fact! There is no real mental energy associated with making sure I achieve 5-6 days of that specific training each week because of how much joy it brings me! 

My point is, make it easy on yourself. We all have lives that contain more stress than necessary. Your exercise program should combat that truth vs. feed into it. Some form of exercise is better than none so do yourself a favor, quit over-analyzing and simply begin!

Beth Manoogian

I don’t know if I can trust anyone who says they hate running.... 🤨🤨🤨

Heather Quinlan

When I saw the heading of this topic and first started to read, I kept thinking "just move in ways you love"... and then you hit that nail right on the head! So spot on, @Kemper Sosa ! Reading the list of suggestions at the beginning of your post actually made me start to feel anxious because it was a reminder of all the thoughts I used to have about what I had to do "perfectly" to try and obtain a reality that wasn't sustainable. Great post! (minus the stuff about hot coals... that sounds a tad extreme! lol 🤨)

Kemper Sosa

@Heather Quinlan, I am happy this post resonated with you! Many times we suffer from "paralysis by analysis" and end up gaining nothing when it's all said and done. It seems as though you're mindset is on the right path! Thank you for sharing your experiences on this topic!

Kim Goodfellow

Thank you @Kemper Sosa . This info is great. Consistent exercise though- when does the body give in at that point and not change? I am fighting to see if I need to change up my routine to achieve more weight loss. I am consistent with 5/6 FS classes a week. 2 or 3 yoga... But maybe the thought of shocking the body with running one day would help kick up the weight loss..

Kemper Sosa

Hey @Kim Goodfellow , great question to ask!

As you have probably gathered from this forum, context is king. To answer your question in the context of losing weight, there are a number of things one can do from an exercise standpoint that can help encourage composition changes. Given your circumstances of already training (intensely) most days of the week and the fact that exercise alone doesn't correlate directly with weight loss, you may be better off tweaking the following:

• Sleep
• Nutrition
• Active minutes outside of exercise.

"Shocking" the system with a new modality of exercise efforts to spark further weight loss doesn't have a ton of evidence backing it up.

In short, my suggestion would be to continue your exercise routine, work with your practitioner and @Bella Diaz on the bullet points above. Best of luck to you Kim and keep up the awesome work!

Sawyer Paull-Baird

@Kim Goodfellow Wanted to chime in here real fast.

There is certainly a point of diminishing returns with any physiological adaptation Your body starts off changing fast, and then over time, it slows down. If it didn't, eventually we would all weigh zero lbs haha.

I think there is a solid psychological basis for changing up exercise modalities to "kick start" progress, but physiologically, maybe not as much. @Mike Stack , do you have more to add here? I do know there is a physiological adaptation to exercise, where when you first begin a routine, you expend more calories than you would after a few months of that routine (your body adapts and gets more efficient.. darn human body being all smart and stuff!). However, I don't know that changing up the modality would modify this that much.. The increased efficiency would still be there with any form of similar exercise.. thoughts though Mike?

One thing I do think is tremendously helpful for people who hit a wall in fat loss is to look into building more muscle. Muscle is very metabolically active tissue, meaning it burns calories just by existing. The more muscle we have, the more calories we burn throughout our day. Increasing muscle mass can be a decent strategy when trying to lose a little more fat. It sounds a little counter-intuitive as you'd actually be gaining weight on the scale (in muscle), but long term, gaining muscle will tend to result in more fat loss as well. Thus, starting some lifting could be something you and your FP discuss.

At the end of the day though, Kemper's point stands strong. Gotta do the things you enjoy!

Mike Stack

@Sawyer Paull-Baird, your assertion is dead on, changing up exercise modality tends to not have as big of physiological impact on metabolism and calorie burning as what people would like to think. Sawyer is also definitely right that the body does become more efficient as it performs the same workout over and over again, but this results in very small decreases in calorie burning from that type of exercise (< 10%). Along those same lines changing to a different mode of exercise would result in a slightly more calorie burning (basically you might gain back that 10%), but your body would quickly adapt again (within a matter of weeks) and then you'd lose the advantage you gained (at least from a calorie burning perspective) from switching up your workouts.

I think a more important point should be made around exercise for fat loss, however, and that point is simple and undeniable, EXERCISE IS NOT FOR FAT LOSS!!! Now you might think I'm crazy, but stay with me here. Exercise is intended to improve functional capacity in various ways (increase strength, increase cardiovascular function, improve mobility, etc.), it does indeed burn additional calories, but that calorie burning in and of itself doesn't guarantee fat loss at all. Fat loss is only a side effect of exercise, but that side effect only manifest itself if you're in a calorie deficit. With that said, if we're talking fat loss we should really shift the conversation away from exercise type and towards what needs to be done nutritionally to ensure a calorie deficit is established. This doesn't mean exercise isn't an important component of an effective program for body fat reduction, it just means that without paying proper attention to nutrition no amount of exercise (or exercise variety) will result in any significant amount of fat loss.

So here's the true take home message here:

1) To @Kemper Sosa and @Heather Quinlan points, finding exercise you can do sustainably is critical. Research recommends between 150-300 minutes per week of total exercise increases the likelihood of fat loss (as that level of activity will result in a significant enough increase in calorie burning to create a decent calorie deficit, provided nutrition is being addressed).

2) Variability in exercise program is more important for psychological factors than anything truly physical. Changing up your routine should be done to generate excitement around exercise and motivation to train more so then doing it because of the expectation that "changing it up" will result in a significantly greater training response. As I said above, it really won't.

3) A much better alternative to constantly changing your program (once you've found a form of exercise you really like, that is) is to just do more of it. Increasing the duration, frequency, or intensity of the training you're already doing consistently (because you like it) is the best way to get more from your workout routine. Simply put, doing more of the thing you like can be very effective.

4) Looking at your diet and your eating habits and making sure you're at an adequate calorie intake to lose body fat is where the rubber really meets the road in this discussion. Regardless of what you're doing from an exercise standpoint, you can easily stay in calorie balance (and therefore maintain your weight) if you're not paying attention to your nutrition close enough. The body has redundant mechanism to make you eat more when you exercise (this might sound like it sucks, but this is an very innate evolutionary protect mechanism that's kept us on the planet for thousands of years, so don't knock it...hahaha). If you're not conscious of this fact the body is always trying to stay the same, and you don't pay attention to your nutrition, your body will subconsciously drive you to eat more in nearly direct proportion to the amount of calories you've burned during exercise. When this happens your body fat levels stay the same.

Long story short, find exercise you like and you can stick with. If you want to lose fat, try to increase the duration, frequency or intensity of that exercise. While you're doing that, pay enough attention to your diet to ensure you're in a calorie deficit.

Kim Goodfellow

Wow!! you guys are ROCKSTARS! Thank you for the wealth of knowledge you all have provided. Helps keep me going in the right direction!! 💪🏋️‍♀️👍

This forum is phenomenal!

Michael Gable

@Beth Manoogian People enjoy running?!?! ;)

Beth Manoogian

@Michael Gable it's literally the best. I was never a runner until about 10 years ago and I still wouldn't consider myself a GOOD runner, but there's something so wonderful about going out for a nice long run outside, it has allowed me to explore areas I would never have otherwise found, and the endorphins are the best! Until you bust your knees and can't do it anymore... :(

Michael Gable

@Beth Manoogian Good point on exploring unknown areas.. I'd probably enjoy running more if I were to do it in more 'interesting'/scenic locations and not the same 2-3 routes over and over haha. I've always found it hard to motivate myself to just run though, unless there's some other objective I'm trying to achieve by running (catching a football, etc.) I can definitely see why people find it very peaceful and mentally restorative though! It all kind of comes back to the original theme of the post in that everyone's different, and it's all about finding what YOU are most likely to do and stay consistent with 😎

Beth Manoogian

@Michael Gable if you ever want a list of scenic running locations I am happy to provide you with some!

Or you can pretend you are being chased by a bear. Or a zombie! I think there's actually an app for that...

Mike Stack

@Michael Gable you're a boxer, aren't you? Don't you do "road work?" Hahaha😂

Michael Gable

@Mike Stack Yes, I am a boxer. This part I know, but pretend for a moment I'm clueless when it comes to what you mean by "road work" 🤣

Mike Stack

@Michael Gable, fair enough, but if you need me to explain it you further, I'd be happy to!!