Dropping body fat can be tough. But with these best fat burning exercises for women you’ll be sailing to a leaner physique faster than you could ever imagine.
With the right eating plan you don’t actually need to exercise for fat loss. But a well-structured exercise program is a must when it comes to fast fat loss and fitness.
Cardio definitely helps in fat loss, as does strength training. But not all methods are built the same.
There is no secret sauce to staying lean and you have to put in the work to lose fat and build muscle. But you’ll be pleased to know that there are some methods of fat loss exercises that smash others out of the park.
So, here are some intense cardio and strength workouts and exercises that some of the top trainers at SpotMeGirl have picked to maximize your results in less time.
Let us show you the best fat burning exercises for women…
A Fast Note on Calories
Before we get into the sweat and heavy breathing of fat burning exercises we thought it was worth mentioning the most important factor in fat loss… calories.
As a measure of food energy, calories determine whether you lose fat, gain fat or stay the same. And it’s all down to balance between the energy you put in your body, and the energy you burn off.
- Calories in > calories out – you store the excess energy in your fat cells and gain weight
- If calories in = calories out – even energy balance means your body stays the same
- And then if calories in < calories out – you trigger fat loss by forcing your fat cells to release their stored energy
You can’t trick, fight or cheat your way to fat loss. The easiest and only way to get leaner and more toned is to balance calories in favor of calories out. And that’s where the best fat burning exercises for women come in.
Best Fat Burning Exercises for Women – Our Top Cardio Choices
The first few exercise programs on our list use cardio-based exercise to turn up the heat in your fat cells. Back in the day, many women relied solely on cardio to burn fat.
We’re not saying you should focus on cardio alone to change your body… but these exercises are fast, simple and effective.
#1. Swimming
Plodding along doing an ultra-slow breaststroke isn’t going to cut it for fat loss.
In this workout, you’ll be swimming regularly, but with different targets. It will tax your energy systems and won’t stress your muscles and joints as much as running or jogging. Also, there is no need to swim thousands of yards. We’ll be focusing on short sprints that will burn more calories, giving you better recovery time and ultimately burning fat faster.
We’ll be swimming for about 30 to 40 minutes max. Here is the plan you need to follow.
Swimming Workout
- Start with 100-200 yards for warm up.
- Next target 8 x 50 yards with only 20-30 seconds rest in between.
- Do another 100 yards but this time with a different stroke.
- Now, cover 12 x 25 yards doing the sprints with 15-20 sec rest in between.
- Cover another 1000 yards with the same or different stroke.
- Take a 2-minutes rest and aim for another 4 x 50 yards workout with 20-30 seconds rest in between.
- 50 yards more of swimming with relatively easy swimming strokes.
- 6×25 yards with sprints and rest of 20-30 seconds.
- 50 yards more swim with any stroke.
- Finally, 50-100 yards to cool down.
#2. Rope Jump
This workout uses your body weight to not only burn fat but also build toned and sexy muscle in your lower body and shoulders. The key here is to use your wrist while you turn the rope and keep your core braced without jumping too high.
Starting Phase
For a warm up you’ll start with steady jumping, briskly shifting to quick drills, and finally into the strength circuits. For each circuit, aim for 12-15 reps each and three to four sets. It’ll hardly take 25-minutes to blast your body through this workout.
Warm Up
Jump rope for about 5-7 minutes for warm up. It doesn’t have to be hard or heavy, so just build your heart rate up gradually until you feel warm.
Then do this for 3-minutes:
- Firstly, we’ll do the inchworm with an alternating arm lift. Stand while keeping your legs straight. Now lean forward and get your hands into a plank position. Finally, lift one arm. Now, walk hands back to start and repeat with your opposite hand. Do this for 1 minute.
- Next, we’ll do the inchworm with alternating arm and leg lift. Start by lifting one arm and then using both the hands on the floor, lift one of your legs. Now, gradually walk back and start and repeat the same on the opposite side for 1 min.
- Finally, do the inchworm with alternating arm and leg lift plus the spider lunge by stepping one of your foot forward and as close to your hand. Hold it for 1 count and then step back to start and repeat for the opposite side again for 1 minute.
Circuit 1
- Medicine ball slams
- Jump rope with double-unders
- Dumbbell shoulder press
- Barbell curls
Circuit 2
- Dumbbell stationary lunges
- Barbell sumo squats
- Medicine ball squall ball throws
- Jump Rope with double-unders for 1 minute
Circuit 3
- Renegade rows with pushups
- Jump rope with double unders
#3. Treadmill
To enhance your performance, strength, and fitness, you’ll be performing some intense intervals. This will help to elevate your heart into the fat-shredding anaerobic zone via an incline and speed burst. That way you’ll maximize calorie burn during and after the workout.
To assess the intensity of the workout, you’ll use the rate of perceived exertion or RPE on a scale of 1 to 10 while 10 being the most difficult.
Imagine 1 was the intensity of you sat on the sofa watching your favorite box set. You’re relaxed, chilled and comfortable.
10 is the intensity of you sprinting when you find out there’s one pair of Louboutin’s left in the sale and they’re 90% off! That’s a fast sprint right ladies?
Treadmill Workout
-
- Incline 1%, RPE 5 and time 4 minutes.
- Incline 1%, RPE 6 and time 1 minute.
- Incline 4%, RPE 7 and time 1 minute.
- Incline 6%, RPE 8 and time 1 minute.
- Incline 1%, RPE 6 and time 1 minute.
- Incline 1%, RPE 5 and time 1 minute.
- Recovery walk.
- Incline 1%, RPE 7 and time 1 minute.
- Incline 1%, RPE 9 and time 3 minutes.
- Now you have to increase the pace for this phase.
- Incline 1%, RPE 7 and time minute.
- Incline 1%, RPE 5 and time 1 minute.
- Full recovery walk.
- Incline 1%, RPE 7 and time 1 minute.
- Incline 1%, RPE 9 and time 3 minutes.
- Once again, increase your pace.
- Incline 1%, RPE 7 and time 1 minute.
- Incline 1%, RPE 5 and time 1 minute.
- Full recovery walk.
- Incline 1%, RPE 9 and time 1 minute.
- Incline 1%, RPE 5 and time 1 minute.
- Incline 1%, RPE 10 and time 30 seconds.
- Incline 1%, RPE 5 and time 1 minute.
- Incline 1%, RPE 10 and time 30 seconds.
- Incline 1%, RPE 5 and time 2 minutes.
Best Fat Burning Exercises for Women – Our Top Strength Exercise Choices
Cardio will ramp up your calorie burn and help you shred body fat like there’s no tomorrow. But it won’t help you build shape and curves like strength training would. So to give you a treat we’ve also added in these muscle shaping strength drills.
Double the exercises, double the gains…
#1. Burpees
Undoubtedly, one of the most effective body weight training exercises ever invented (thanks Dr Royal H Burpee), that targets all major muscle groups and raises your heart rate instantly for maximum calorie burning.
It’ll help torch more of your belly fat compared to doing hours and hours of cardio alone. But they definitely will be tough in the beginning. Don’t worry though; you’ll get along once you know the right technique.
How to Burpee
- Firstly, stand with your feet at shoulder-width apart and your body weight on your heels. Keep the arms by your sides.
- Now, push your hips back and bend your knees. Finally, lower the body in a squat position.
- Next, place your hands on the floor, just inside your feet and shift the weight on them.
- Quickly jump your feet back in such a way that they land just outside of your hands.
- Now, reach your arms overhead and jump into the air explosively.
- Land with a solid stance and immediately go for another rep.
#2. Pull-Ups
Another powerful exercise that involves more of your back muscles but works out the entire body and helps in strengthening the core. If you can’t do full pull-ups don’t panic – jumping or assisted pull-ups work just as well in the beginning.
How to perform the perfect pull-up
- Hang on the pull-up bar with your hands at shoulder-width apart.
- Now, pull your body weight up using your back muscles until your chin reaches the bar.
- Take a small pause here.
- Gradually lower your body to your starting position and for another rep.
- You can do the same with your hands less than shoulder’s width apart and your hands facing you to make it easier.
#3. Squats
There’s no other exercise that’ll target your lower body like squats. And to help burn maximum fat you won’t be taking any rest in between your reps.
Just go full on without any pause.
How to squat
- Place your feet at shoulder-width apart and extend your arms in front of you with the palms facing downward.
- Now, lower your body by putting the weight through your heels and hips.
- Keep on lowering until your thighs are parallel to the floor or you can’t get any lower.
- Now, push yourself back to your starting position and immediately lower again for another rep.
You’ll be building a poppin’ booty in no time.
#4. Push-Up
These are tough! But we’ll use the conventional method to increase the heart rate, engage more muscles and burn calories fast. If you can’t quite hit up the full-position push-up you can drop your knees to the ground until you get stronger – it works just as well.
How to push-up
- Position yourself in a traditional push-up position (hands and feet only in contact with the floor) but your hands must be placed at than shoulder-width apart. This will make the exercise intense for your chest as well as your arms.
- Now, lower your body till your chest is an inch or half above the ground. And then push your body back up while keeping your core rock solid.
- Do as many reps as fast as you can until failure.
#5. Plank
This exercise may seem pretty simple, but it’s easier said than done. For beginners, you should hold the plank position for 30-60 seconds, intermediate for about 60-90 seconds and advance players can shoot for a timely 90+ seconds.
How to plank
- Lie on the floor in a push-up position but this time your weight should be on your forearms. Close your fist.
- Keep the core tight and your hip slightly up.
- Hold this position for as long as you can. You’ll feel a great contraction in your abdominal and core area.
Summary – Best Fat Burning Exercises for Women
There you have it, our guide to the best fat burning exercises for women. The emphasis is now on you to apply the expertise we’ve given you. Bring your A game effort and you can’t fail.
We’ll see your new, lean, strong and downright sexy self soon.
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