The best exercise for weight loss is one that gives you most results in the shortest possible time. Time plays a major role in selecting a particular type of exercise. Many people struggle to find enough time for exercise. The best exercise for weight loss must thus make the best use of your time.

1.  Strength Training

The best exercise for weight loss is strength training. The first 3 hours of your allocated weekly exercise time should be spent on this exercise. This is equal to 3 hourly sessions per week. Most people resist making strength training as the base of their exercise program. Strength training is the best investment of your time and should form the core of your exercise regiment.

In a study published in Journal of the American College of  Nutrition, scientists investigated the effects of strength and cardio training when done with very low-calorie diets. The diets consisted of only 800 calories. The researchers found that the participants who did strength training lost much more fat and maintained their muscle mass. The strength training group also increased their metabolism even though they were on a semi starvation diet. The aerobic training group had a decline in their metabolism.

2.  High Intensity Interval Training

High intensity interval training (HIIT) is the next best exercise for weight loss. Your next pocket of exercise time should be spent on this exercise. Interval training consists of bursts of exertion interspersed with periods of recovery. Interval training could take you past the anaerobic threshold which does wonders for your fat loss. Read more on how to do interval training in an earlier article.

An article was published in the Journal of Applied Physiology in 2006. Researchers looked at the effects of 7 HIIT sessions on fat burning. The researchers concluded that a meager 7 sessions of HIIT in only 2 weeks increased the ability of the entire body and the muscles to burn fat. The exercise seemed to increase the fat burning capacity of the body.

Another interesting study was published in the Journal of Physiology in 2006. The researchers compared the effects of HIIT and steady state cardio. The exercises were done on a stationary cycle. The researchers wanted to know the effect that these exercises would have on the body’s fat burning ability and  exercise performance. The HIIT exercise consisted of 30 seconds of all out cycling interspersed with 4 minutes of slow cycling for recovery. The participants repeated this up to 6 times. The total time spend on HIIT was 27 minutes when doing 6 cycles. The steady state cardio group did 90 to 120 minutes of moderate intensity cycling. For the amount of time spent, both exercise increased the body’s fat burning ability and exercise performance by about the same amount. The 27 minute HIIT was as effective as a 90 to 120 minute of steady state cardio. As such, HIIT gives you the best return for your time and effort investment.

Interval training is extremely effective for fat loss and is the best investment of your time. As an example, you could do a 1 minute all out sprint followed by a 1 minute walk. This completes 1 cycle. Do 10 cycles of this and you would have finished an awesome fat burning exercise in 20 minutes.

Although this is an extremely effective fat loss exercise, your body will not be able to tolerate more than 2 sessions a week.

3.  High Intensity Aerobic training

The next best exercise for weight loss is high intensity aerobic training. This is like running. You essentially keep you heart rate at the higher end of the aerobic threshold. This exercise allows you to burn fat. The amount of fat that you burn is dependent on the amount of time you spend doing it. You could do this exercise after you finish 20 minutes of interval training. Chances are that you would probably not be able to do this for more than 30 minutes if you have pushed yourself hard enough on the interval training.

4.  Slow Steady State Cardio

This is the least best exercise for weight loss. This is the casual jogs and walks that most people do. This is right at the bottom of the fat loss hierarchy. This is the last option that you should take to lose weight. I would suggest you spend the time doing some activities that you really enjoy. This could include outdoor activities such as cycling or hiking. You could also spend the time on sporting activities. The idea is to do something that you enjoy doing or else you would get bored and run out of steam.

Select your exercises based on the above hierarchy. The best exercises for weight loss are really strength training and HIIT. Select these exercises to fill your pockets of time