If you were wondering, “is aerobic good for weight loss”, here are 20 exercises to confirm that they are!
1. Bear Crawls
Bear crawls are beneficial for the following reasons:
- They strengthen the whole body.
- Bear crawls increase muscle power.
- This exercise boosts cardiovascular health and metabolism.
To do the perfect bear crawl, follow these steps:
- Step 1: Get on your feet and hands.
- Step 2: Keep your back straight and with knees slightly bent. Then, begin to “crawl”.
- Step 3: Walk with your left hand forward and your right leg, then switch.
Repeat the exercise around 15-20 times in sets of 3 or 4.
2. Burpees
Burpees is a full-body workout with several benefits, such as increasing blood circulation, strengthening the body, enhancing flexibility, and pumping up the heart rate.
To do burpees, follow these steps:
- Step 1: First, stand with your feet comfortably positioned at shoulder length.
- Step 2: Then, squat and get into a plank position.
- Step 3: Next, reverse your movement to a plank position and jump into an upright posture.
Repeat this in 3 to 5 sets of 8-15 repetitions.
3. Butt Kicks
This aerobic exercise for weight loss is targeted at the hamstring and the glutes. To do this exercise, you must do as follows:
- Step 1: Stand apart with your feet positioned just below the shoulders and bend your arms to the side.
- Step 2: Bend the right knee like you are jogging and touch your buttocks with the ankle. Repeat with the other foot.
Moreover, you should try this slowly a couple of times before you are confident. Then, you can speed up the action. Complete it in 2 or 3 sets of 30 seconds each.
4. Cycling
Cycling is beneficial as it gets your heart pumping. Cycling also lowers body fat levels and increases metabolism level. Moreover, it helps to build more muscle which aids in the burning of calories.
In addition, it helps to strengthen the muscles, alongside boosting heart health and blood flow.
5. Dancing
Dancing is a fun way to lose weight! It is a cardio exercise, meaning, it pumps up your heart rate. Hence, aerobic dance for weight loss is ideal.
Dancing is a full-body workout that keeps you flexible and fit. Some of the more popular dances are Zumba, belly dance, pole dance, etc. Dancing affects the core muscles, legs, arms, buttocks, and lower back, thus strengthening and keeping them flexible.
6. Donkey Kicks
An aerobic exercise for weight loss, donkey kicks are aimed at strengthening the glutes and hips. You can do it like this:
- Step 1: Get on all fours. Your hands should be directly below your shoulders, with your knees aligned directly below the hips.
- Step 2: Kick your right leg in the air and bring it back down to the starting position.
- Step 3: Do the same with the left leg.
Complete the set after repeating for 15-20 times. You should aim to finish 3 sets of donkey kicks.
7. Flutter Kicks
An exercise that is aimed at reducing the waistline, flutter kicks are also simple enough to do. Here’s how to start:
- Step 1: Lie down on your back with arms stretched by your side or below your lower back for support.
- Step 2: Raise your legs mid-way. Then, kick up and down repeatedly.
Repeat this exercise 18-20 times and complete it in a series of 3 to 4.
8. High Knees
High knees help to burn calories and increase metabolism. To do this exercise, you should follow these steps:
- Step 1: Stand with your back straight and your feet shoulder-width apart.
- Step 2: Lift your right knee to the waist level and then slowly drop them down.
- Step 3: Repeat with the other knee.
You should practice this in sets of 30 seconds for as long as it is comfortable.
9. Inchworms
Inchworm is another fun aerobic exercise for weight loss! It is a warm-up that strengthens one’s arms, chest, and back. Here’s how to do it:
- Step 1: Stand with your feet shoulder wide.
- Step 2: Bend at the waist and allow your hands to drop to the ground gently.
- Step 3: “Walk” your hands forward in order to make a plank position.
- Step 4: Then “Walk” your feet towards your head and get back to the upright position.
Repeat this exercise 2 to 3 times in 10-15 repetitions.
10. Jogging
Jogging is a popular full-body workout. It helps to build endurance and stamina that makes the bones and muscles stronger. Moreover, it boosts metabolism and improves bone density.
It builds up the hamstring, calf, and glutes. In addition, jogging is beneficial for the heart and lungs as they take in more oxygen.
11. Jumping Jacks
Jumping jacks is another full-body exercise that affects key areas of the body, such as quads, abs, groin, calf, hamstrings, and back. Here’s how to do this aerobic exercise for weight loss:
- Step 1: The first pose is to stand straight with your feet together and your hands at the side.
- Step 2: Next, jump with your feet spread sideways and hands raised over your hands simultaneously.
- Step 3: Jump to the starting position and repeat.
Here, you should also note that 30 minutes of jumping jacks helps a person lose around 200 calories.
12. Mountain Climber
Aerobics for weight loss in the form of mountain climbers can help strengthen and tone abs, glutes, hips and legs. Here are the steps to do this:
- Step 1: Get into a plank position and bring the right knee up to the centre of your stomach.
- Step 2: Quickly switch to the left leg.
You should start with a slow pace and then increase as you gain confidence. Note that body alignment is highly necessary during this exercise.
13. Skipping
Skipping for 45 minutes can help to burn as many as 450 calories. It engages several muscles like the calf, shoulders, glutes, and quads. Here’s how you can do it:
- Step 1: Stand with your feet shoulder-width apart.
- Step 2: Swing the rope above your head and jump with both feet as the rope goes down.
Moreover, remember to start skipping at a slow pace to avoid injuries. Once you are comfortable, begin to speed it up.
14. Sprinter’s Sit-ups
These are the steps to complete a sprinter's sit-ups.
- Step 1: Lie on your back with your arms under your head.
- Step 2: Perform obliques by lifting your left knee and leg up to your right elbow. Get back to the starting position.
- Step 3: Repeat with an opposite leg and elbow combination.
15. Squat Jacks
Squat Jacks is a great example of aerobics for weight loss. It improves the posture and stability of the lower body. You can do it in this way:
- Step 1: Stand with your feet together and your hands in at your side.
- Step 2: Jump into a squat position.
- Step 3: Push down your weight on the heels and jump up back into the normal standing position. Repeat.
You should try to do this in 1 to 2 sets of 8-15 repetitions.
16. Stair Training
This exercise affects one’s hamstrings, glutes, quads, and calf muscles. In addition, stair training affects the lower body and boosts the cardiovascular system. To do this aerobic exercise for weight loss, you just need to walk up and down the stairs.
You should repeat this exercise for 20-30 minutes at a regular pace. Moreover, you can extend this time to 30 minutes and amp up the speed to increase the intensity of stair training.
17. Swimming
In swimming, people use their arms, legs, and back muscles. Moreover, it is a cardiovascular exercise that burns calories quickly.
Moving through the water causes more resistance, which strains muscles further. Swimming also helps the upper, lower, and core stay toned, making it another popular full-body workout.
18. Walking
You should walk for 50-70 minutes at least 3 days a week. Alongside weight loss benefits, brisk walking lowers heart disease risk, high blood pressure problems, and type 2 diabetes. Moreover, it also helps you burn more calories when you walk at different paces.
19. Weight Training
Weight training builds muscle, and muscle burns 3 times more calories than fats. Moreover, even after a strenuous weight training workout, your body will repair any stressed muscle tissues, thereby burning additional calories.
Weight training also helps improve posture, endurance, strength, stamina, and heart health.
20. Running
Running is a great way to burn calories. A man weighing about 80 kilograms can burn approximately 940 calories at 7 miles per hour. Moreover, running is a full-body workout and can affect the leg and core muscles of the body.
All you need is a good pair of running shoes, and you’re ready to go!
Therefore, consider trying out a couple of these exercises for the best aerobics workout for weight loss.