10 Ways To Lose Weight Fast Through Fitness

Pay close attention to these new Diamond Shreddies.  Objects may not be what they seem.

Just as confusing new diamond shreddies can be to a focus group, we can feel the same way trying to get in shape by working out.  We hit plateaus and ask, “What the crap is going on?” Sometimes that plateau effect, working out a ton and not getting results, is not a plateau effect of the body, but the mind.

I will talk about some of the physical changes you can make to your fitness routine, but be aware that this is just as much a mental game and the perception you have of yourself and your surroundings.  So much of this war on fat we face is in our mind.  It is the perceived understanding of what is happening to our body and how we take into account our quantitative results.  Often we aren’t appreciative of what progress we have accomplished with our body or patient with the life circumstances we face to get there.  Or on the other end we think we are making more progress than we actually are.

This is why it is important to measure your progress to truly know what is and isn’t working.

So feel free to use these options below, but make sure to revisit your goals and what is motivating you to get there.

How do we know when we hit a plateau working out?

The body is an amazing machine and wants to stabilize at a certain body composition.  This is a defense mechanism you body enacts to prevent from the loss of fat, which could be an alert to your body as some physical danger.  You body sees this exercise as a potential hazard and starts to regulate after a while if you continue with the same pattern.

After anywhere from 3-4 weeks your body becomes adjusted to your consistent movements and requires alterations in intensity or the type of exercise to keep getting impressive results whether that is weekly increase of .5% lean mass or a loss of .5% in body fat.

This process of keeping your body guessing is referred to as muscle confusion.  Muscle confusion is vital for your to lose weight fast.  It also helps you avoid the mental plateau that happens, by finding excitement in varying your fitness routines.  In order to lose weight fast through nutrition you have to mix up foods and calories.  In order to lose weight fast through fitness you need to create variety in exercise to keep getting results.  It is the spice of life and the key to consistent results.

How to Mix Up your Weight Training:

1. Increase weight by 5 or 10 pounds

Adding weight can add strength, but often when you can exceed 12 reps, then the weight isn’t giving you the type of impact you need to keep rapidly building muscle tissue.  More muscle tissue means your body has to churn that much faster to maintain that muscle.  So your body will burn more fat with more muscle.

2. Do 1-4 more reps

More reps means simply more exercises.  Increasing your reps can burn more calories and it can build more muscle causing more fat loss when you are not working out.  You can burn an additional 100-200 calories a day when not working out.  That can lead to an addition 10-20 pounds of fat burned every year just by blinking and breathing.  Lean mass has a huge residual benefit.

3. Take smaller breaks between sets by 30 seconds.

Smaller breaks means a higher heart rate.  The smaller the breaks, the closer you get to aerobic exercise.  Aerobic exercise is any consistent exercise for at least 20 minutes that doesn’t stop and start.  The more oxygen you require, the more calories you burn.

4. Increase from lifting 3 days a week to 4-5 days a week.

This is simply a matter of more is better.  When moving to more days, you can spend more time on individual days focusing on specific muscle groups.  This means more repetitions for these muscle groups.

5. Go back and forth between training programs

Use different training programs every month or few months. You can also find training programs that shift training regimens every few weeks.  If so, then these are trainers that understand muscle confusion.  Good examples of workout programs with variety are P90X, Insanity, and CrossFit.

How to Mix Up Your Cardio:

6. Add 10-15 minutes to your cardio

Most cardio should be 30-45 minutes.  The first 10-15 minutes are spent burning glycogen storage before burning your reserves of body fat.  This is why when you get going at a certain heart rate, it is key if you can keep your body in that zone for an extended period of time.

7. HIIT (High Intensity Interval Training)

In HIIT training you spend 30-120 seconds doing high intensity aerobics followed by 60-120 second periods of low to moderate aerobics.  You burn a great deal of calories during and after because your heart rate stays elevated longer with the consistent spikes.  According to the “Physiology of Sport and Exercise” by using HIIT compared to standard training, you burn an additional 50-75 calories per workout after the exercise is done.  That is about 4-5 pounds a year of fat burned AFTER working out that you burn when you are blinking and breathing.  This is one of the best ways to lose weight fast.

8. Go from 3 days a week to 4-6 days a week

This is the same thing as shifting to more weight training during the course of the week.  If you start doing two-a-days between cardio and weight training, it is best to run in the morning and lift at night.  In the morning you have low glycogen levels and your body pulls

faster from your fat reserve in the morning.  It also gets your metabolism level up at an early time in the day starting your day off on a great note.

9. Go back and forth between different types of cardio

There are many different types of cardio exercises you can do such as running, stair stepper, treadmill, recumbent bike, rowing, elliptical, etc.  These are all healthy ways to lose weight fast.  It is best to try to do a different cardio exercise every time during the course of the week.  Not only does it keep the body guessing, but it helps to work different muscle groups depending on the type of cardio you do.

10. Do two-a-day cardio in the morning and evening for 30-45 minutes each.

If you are struggling cutting fat by working out daily for 60 minutes, then you can shift to two cardio exercises.  Do one in the morning for 30-45 minutes and another one in the evening for the same time.  If you are getting to this point, make sure to re-evaluate your daily caloric intake and the type of foods you are eating.

These are quite a few options and should be huge in helping you to lose weight fast.  All of this won’t matter unless you know your body fat percentage and measure it weekly.  By doing this, you get a true idea of where you are at, what is working, and what adjustments you need to make.

Count your calories, evaluate your body fat, and you be consistent with your exercise.  Create your own best diet to lose weight fast.  If you can do that, then you will be monumentally more successful and find quick weight loss. Here are some tips on how to lose weight fast through nutrition.

Finally, be patient.  I know many of you are saying to yourselves, “I need to lose weight fast!”.  Set goals, push yourself, but be positive about your progress.  Very few people lose fat at all.

About Cade

Cade is the founder of Know My Body. Sorry...no doctor degree, fancy gym, multi-million dollar fitness program, or label as a self-proclaimed health guru of biblical proportions. He is a common guy just like you. Maybe that helps him get you a bit better.

He has worked the past several years trying to get a grasp of "health knowledgeries" from the perspective of a person working a 9 to 5 job and dealing with the normal and not-so-normal challenges that life gives. Visit our About Page to chew on some more knowledge about Cade and how we want to help you at Know My Body.