Best Exercise to Lose Weight

You keep promising yourself to lose weight — you have a moodboard for inspiration, did a healthy grocery run, and polished your training shoes. And yet somehow, you have no idea what exercise to do. With so much information available these days, it can get confusing, but I am here to help you get a better understanding of exercise and weight loss.

First, while exercise can help create a calorie deficit, it has many more benefits. Regular exercise helps you gain or maintain muscle mass and functionality, supports mental health and mood, and is associated with reduced risk of many chronic diseases. Oh yeah, and you will also produce a lot of laundry, so your washing machine won’t get lonely. Regardless of what exercise you do, the key to sustainable weight loss and adherence to your exercise routine is finding ways to move that bring you joy and challenge you in a motivating way.

I hold an MSci in Biomedical Sciences and am a big fitness enthusiast who regularly lifts weights, does Pilates, runs, swims, and gets daily steps in. However, I used to dislike working out at some point, so I know how daunting it can be to start. Why am I credible to talk about weight loss? I worked as an international model for 5 years, meaning I had to adhere to certain body measurements while traveling and exploring foreign cuisines. I did it in a sustainable way, with long-term lifestyle changes, however, I have also seen many dangerous weight loss methods firsthand.

Besides reaching out to exercise professionals, it is also smart to seek guidance from a dietician or a nutritionist for a personalized meal plan. Your calorie deficit should not cut out food groups or leave you starving, but it can be confusing without proper support.

Understanding weight loss and exercise

The key to weight loss is a caloric deficit, meaning you need to consume fewer calories than you burn on a daily basis. Exercise does not directly make you lose weight, but it increases your calorie expenditure, thereby making it easier to create a calorie deficit.

However, monitoring your nutrition is crucial as your appetite may also increase from intense exercise, and if your calorie intake remains too high, even exercise is unlikely to negate it to create a caloric deficit, thus, weight loss will not happen. The most popular approach is a 500-calorie deficit to lose about a pound of weight per week.

500 calories is about half a tub of Ben & Jerry’s ice cream, and a whole Domino’s pizza can have more than 2,000 calories. To burn off 500 calories, you would need to exercise fairly intensely, like running, kickboxing, or swimming, for 45–60 minutes, depending on your weight, age, height, fitness levels, and effort. I hope this helps you understand why nutrition is still key to weight loss and that the saying you cannot out-train a bad diet makes sense.

Exercise or movement is one of the key pillars of health, regardless of whether you are trying to lose weight or not. A well-balanced exercise routine can help you regulate weight and appetite, support mental well-being, improve sleep, support the immune system, reduce the risk of numerous chronic diseases, help maintain functionality as you age, and simply become a hobby to share with friends or part of your self-care routine.

The general guidelines for adults are 150 minutes a week of moderate-intensity or 75 minutes of vigorous-intensity aerobic activity. The key is to not overexercise and see it as some sort of punishment through which you ‘earn’ food, as it can lead to serious health and psychological issues and disordered relationships with food, exercise, and yourself.

Below, I will dive into the main types of exercise and how they may support weight loss. However, for overall weight loss, the best exercise is the one you enjoy and can stick to.

Exercise types for weight loss

Moderate-intensity cardio

Moderate-intensity exercise raises 50–60% of your maximum heart rate, though you can still comfortably hold a conversation. Examples could include brisk walking, jogging, biking, playing with your kids, gardening, or even doing chores. This type of exercise is not what we typically associate with exercise, but it is one of the easiest and most affordable ways to get movement throughout your day and burn calories.

Biking or walking could be a part of your commute to work, meaning you would not need to set aside time from your daily schedule, nor would you get so sweaty that you would need to change into workout clothes. Moderate exercise also does not require any specific pre- or post-workout eating, making it easy to execute. Additionally, you may get some time outside, which has a myriad of other health benefits.

It is recommended to get 150 minutes a week, or around 20 minutes a day, of moderate exercise. That being said, I would view this amount as a minimum movement throughout the day or a good starting point. A 30–40 minute walk daily listening to your favorite music or podcasts is a great way to clear your head and start moving without feeling intimidated.

A meta-analysis of 166 randomized clinical trials on individuals who were overweight or obese found that moderate to intense cardio-based exercise was associated with reduced body weight, waist circumference, body fat percentage, visceral and adipose fat, and improved physical and mental well-being. The effects became more clinically significant if the exercise amounted to 300 minutes a week instead of 150, highlighting that the official recommendations are more suitable for overall health rather than significant weight loss.

High-intensity aerobic exercise

High-intensity exercise significantly raises your heart rate — 85–90% of your maximum heart rate — and breathing to the point where it is difficult to hold coherent sentences. This can be running, swimming, dancing, intense biking, stairmaster, kickboxing, high-intensity interval training (HIIT), jump roping, or pretty much anything that gets your blood pumping.

A study on 40 college students with obesity compared the effects of moderate-intensity exercise to HIIT training on body composition. The results revealed that HIIT was associated with more improvements in body fat percentage, total cholesterol, LDL, and other blood markers.

That being said, moderate intensity training also improved the same metrics compared to baseline, just less during the 8-week period. Faster improvements do not always guarantee long-term success as the improvements may have leveled out later down the line, or the regimen may have put too much strain on the body long term.

High-intensity exercise burns lots of calories in a short amount of time; however, the recovery period is also longer, and you may feel an increase in hunger. If you enjoy training intensely for shorter periods of time, you may want to give intense training a try — just be mindful of your form, as it should remain your priority regardless of intensity. Do not train like this every day, as it could lead to over-exercising, burnout, and injuries.

Resistance training

Resistance or strength training is not just for bodybuilders, and no, you will not get absolutely huge and jacked unless you really work hard for it. In fact, this type of training may help you achieve that ‘toned’ look most of us are after. It requires losing fat and building muscle. We actually have a dedicated article on strength training and weight loss.

Resistance training has other important benefits. Since muscles require more energy, your energy expenditure for simply existing also increases, meaning you support your metabolism and are able to eat more during a weight loss phase. This type of training also helps you maintain muscle mass while you lose weight or as you age, thus helping maintain functionality.

That being said, to build muscle, you need to be eating enough protein, about 0.73–1 g per pound of body weight. However, it depends on your age, gender, and activity levels. It is possible to lose fat and build muscle at the same time, especially if you are a beginner, but do not be surprised if your scale weight does not change much. Muscle is denser than fat, so you may feel and look leaner but weigh the same. Strength training can include lifting weights in the gym, bodyweight exercises, or calisthenics.

Combining strength training with cardio may be the most effective way to lose weight while maintaining muscle and supporting your metabolism.

I personally am a huge fan of strength training and found that it made me both physically and mentally stronger and reduced my back pain, as I have more muscle to support my daily movement. If you are a complete beginner in strength training, I would urge you to hire a coach if possible to learn good form and technique, as well as have a structured plan.

Pilates and yoga

You may have seen the recent trend of people ditching weight training for Pilates and yoga to become leaner, but neither will magically make you lose weight.

A meta-analysis of 11 randomized clinical trials found that Pilates improved body weight and body fat percentage in obese or overweight individuals, with the effects being better with longer interventions. However, better-designed and larger-scale trials are needed to confirm more defined associations and training protocols. It is very possible that after incorporating Pilates into their daily routine, participants may have started eating better or less, too, creating a significant calorie deficit to lose weight.

Another meta-analysis of 30 trials looked at the effects of yoga on weight loss and found that it did not lead to significant changes in body weight or composition in healthy individuals but did decrease body mass slightly in studies with overweight or obese participants. The finding suggests that yoga is better than no movement; however, it does not lead to significant weight loss, mostly because it does not significantly increase your calorie burn to create a deficit.

Despite Pilates and yoga trending all over social media, they are not the most effective exercises to lose weight. While both can be fun and calming and improve your mobility and posture, they are fairly low-impact and do not amount to a significant calorie burn to create a deficit. Adding these to your exercise routine or on rest days is definitely beneficial, but yet again, your diet plays a much bigger role in your weight loss.

However, if you truly enjoy this type of exercise and practice regularly while increasing your overall daily steps and improving your diet, you will likely see positive changes in how you feel and body composition.

Expert opinions

I asked Eglė Zarembe, a wellness and fitness instructor, and Sandra Vigelienė, a science researcher with a background in nutrition, to comment.

Eglė says, “Weight loss is a very complex process, but usually, the first thing to do is to master your sleep — follow a balanced sleep protocol to have better rest at night. It has a huge impact on your ability to take action regarding weight loss. Secondly, limit ultra-processed foods, eat enough protein (at least 0.8 g of protein per body kilogram a day), and do resistance training at least two times a week.”

While Sandra highlighted that “there is a common misconception that a caloric deficit requires a bland and highly restrictive diet. In reality, a calorie-controlled diet can be both satisfying and sustainable when it is balanced and varied, which only improves adherence to the weight loss regimen, making the process more efficient. Incorporating fiber-rich foods such as whole grains and legumes, along with a range of animal and plant-based protein sources, ample fruits and vegetables, and experimenting with herbs, spices, and diverse cooking techniques, can support a more pleasurable journey towards achieving weight loss goals.”

Maximizing weight loss through exercise

Here are some tips to get the most out of exercise for weight loss:

Consulting professionals

It is advisable to consult a professional to get personalized fitness advice, plan, learn proper techniques, and avoid injuries or generic advice. However, there are several fitness professionals, so here is a quick overview of what each does and tips on picking a good one.

Besides reaching out to exercise professionals, it is also smart to seek guidance from a dietician or a nutritionist for a personalized meal plan. Your calorie deficit should not cut out food groups or leave you starving, but it can be confusing without proper support.

Bottom line

If you were hoping to see a single-sentence answer to the question of what is the best exercise for weight loss, you must be disappointed. I must conclude that the best exercise is the one you enjoy and can stay consistent with.

Regular exercise has a myriad of health benefits for your physical and mental health. I encourage you to explore until you find something you enjoy and want to progress in, even if it is tough. Aim to increase movement throughout your day by adding a short walk after work or opting for stairs, and you will see the little changes add up to significant improvements. Do not make weight loss and exercise more complicated than they have to be.

However, if you are new to exercise, I highly recommend getting professional advice and a personalized plan that takes into account your history, goals, and any injuries you may have. Learning proper technique and not over-pushing yourself is crucial. Also, do not skip rest days, as otherwise, you will burn out, get injured, and lose your motivation.