How to Lose Weight Fast: Build your Ultimate Fitness Routine

Whether you are just starting your journey into the fitness world or are a seasoned fitness veteran, you have probably asked yourself, 'what is the best way to lose weight fast?' only to find that there is no simple answer. When looking for the ultimate weight loss exercise, the key part to focus on is consistency—exercise is meant to improve your life, so it should be fun! 

Building fitness consistency stems from creating an exercise routine that is great for you. It shouldn't be something you are dragging yourself to do each day but something you look forward to. When building this fitness routine, there are three key areas you can focus on: cardio, strength training and recovery—incorporating these increases your likelihood of creating a comprehensive exercise regime that targets your whole body. Keep reading to see the exercise options you have available when looking to improve your health.

Cardio

Cardio exercises benefit your overall health for many reasons—getting your blood pumping, improving your sleep and contributing towards your weight goals, whatever they may be. When you are thinking of a way to add cardio into your daily life, you can think of exercises like running, cycling or boxing! 

Running

Running can be done without equipment apart from running shoes—if you are willing to brave the elements and potential rainy days. If you would like to avoid the impacts of unpredictable weather on your exercise routine, then perhaps you should consider a treadmill for the full running experience or an elliptical as a lower impact option. 

An excellent treadmill is the Nautilus T626 Treadmill from Southern Cross Fitness; with in-built training programs, tracking tools and premium features, you will feel challenged to push yourself to the limits. You can even add interval training to your workout using this machine by playing with the intensity of the run through varying the set speed.

Cycling

Similar to running, cycling can also be done with minimal equipment, but some of us don't want to spend more time outside the house than we have to. If that sounds like you, you should consider adding a spin bike to your home gym set-up. A great option is the Schwinn 700IC Indoor Cycling Spin Bike. It's a serious offering of value—an LCD console, wireless heart rate monitoring, and variable resistance mean that you can always have a challenging workout within your home.

Boxing

Boxing or kickboxing is great to add cardio into your workout routine, with strength training elements to help build that muscle. Whether it's signing up for a gym membership, looking into a local class to setting up boxing equipment like a punching bag in your home, this is a great option to increase your heart rate and give yourself some needed stress relief. 

Strength Training

Like cardio, strength training is just as important to achieving weight loss goals. Not only does it make you stronger, but it is an efficient way to burn calories and improve your heart health. Building strength can come from simple bodyweight exercises like push-ups, sit-ups and squats—no equipment is needed, meaning you can start immediately.

However, if you want to increase the effects of your strength training, you can look into adding weights to your routine. Just picking up a single pair of dumbbells can add more resistance to your body weight exercises and add more exercises to your routine like deadlifts, overhead presses and dumbbell rows—that's right, you don't need a rowing machine to get the benefits of rowing in your exercise routine. You can even look into the Adjustable Standard Dumbells available at Southern Cross Fitness so that no matter the exercise, you can find the right weight to complete it effectively. 

Recovery 

Taking regular rest days is an important part of any fitness routine. It reduces the risk of injury and can even improve your performance. You can opt for an active rest exercise like a walk or yoga if you prefer to keep moving. And maybe consider investing in a foam roller or theragun to aid in muscle repair and reduce any pain you may feel due to an increased fitness routine.

So there you have the three key areas to focus on when building your fitness routine. You can do these each on separate days of the week or even combine them to create your own daily full body workout routine. Happy exercising!