How many of you exercise fairly regularly but still can’t seem to shift that weight from stubborn areas? Sure you’ve lost weight, you might even have gone down a clothes size but when you look in the mirror your body shape is still the same. Whether it’s bingo wings, saddlebags or a muffin top you just can’t seem to shift it.
Well, the answer could be as simple as changing the way you exercise.
The best exercises for fat and weight loss are compound exercises. A compound exercise is simply any exercise where the body engages several muscles or muscle groups at one time. The benefits of using multiple muscle groups are:
- Improved coordination, reaction time and balance
- Quicker full body workout
- Faster fat burn
Incorporating compound exercises into your HIIT circuits can really ramp up your results. Squats are the most commonly referenced example of a compound move but here are a five more you might not have considered.
Skipping. No longer just for little girls and boxers, skipping is an excellent example of a compound exercise and with the launch of Punk rope in the US skipping’s totally on tren
d! You can buy a rope for just a few pounds from Amazon or even Tescos. After a warm up get skipping as fast as you can. Once you’ve hit your max, recover and then repeat!
Hill Sprints. For any of you runners out there it’s time to embrace those hills! Sprint up that hill as fast as you can and jog back down for your recovery! You’ll improve your overall leg strength, endurance and finishing speed. The faster fat burn is a bonus!
Pad Work. If you’ve got a personal trainer ask for a padwork session. Pads are without a doubt the best way to release some of that natural aggression that builds up during the day! It’s fast, it’s fun and it’s a fat burner!
Crosstrainer. Ideal for those of you with aches or niggling injuries, the cross trainer puts minimal stress on your joints but still taxes the cardiovascular system. Increase the resistance levels when going ‘all out’ so you really can push yourself to the max!
Swimming. Many people overlook swimming as an exercise and think of it more as a leisure activity or something to be done on holiday. However swimming is a great all over body workout that uses every single muscle in your body at once!
Compound exercises performed as part of a HIIT routine are an essential tool for any of you looking to ramp up your fitness and burn fat fast.
So, what do you think – are you ready to give it a go? Will you choose one of the suggestions above or do you have your own ideas. I’d love to hear from you – you can reach me at julie@juliedennis.net
