Getting rid of body fat and toning up does require some aerobic activity, but, if the idea of a lengthy cardio session fills you with dread, the good news is you can still achieve your dream physique with weight training instead.

Weight training has been proven to increase both your short-term and your long-term calorie burn. This means that after a weightlifting session, your metabolism will be boosted for up to 48 hours. Better still, weight-training helps you build up larger degrees of lean muscle mass, so your basal metabolic rate also improves.

So, although a weight-training session may not burn as many calories per minute as a cardio-heavy workout, the overall calorie-burning benefits after your workout is done completely outdoes cardio. But what exercises to choose?

The exercises below are the main ones I use with most of my clients to lose weight fast. Some might be more technical then others, some are much easier.

Barbell squat

“Show me how you squat, and I will tell you who you are”. That’s what Umberto Massimino would say at your first meeting.

Squat is a fundamental and functional movement that we all supposed to know from born how to perform. It works quads, hamstrings, glutes and core. It also requires a great amount of upper body stability and stiffness. In all it is a full body exercise that’s why it is so great for fat loss.

Learn how to execute a full depth body weight squat before hitting the barbell. Get the basics sorted, start the motion from the hips hinging back, get your knees out as you descend and keep your torso straight, once you reach the bottom push with your legs (push the floor away) to raise back up not tilting forward.

Deadlift

From many defined as “dangerous” the deadlift is another so called compound exercise (more then one joint involved). It works the entire back chain. Hamstrings, glutes, core and the entire back.

We divide this exercise in 2 parts, “the pulling” where the back has to prepare for the lift moving the chest towards the ceiling and get tension, and “the pushing” where the legs generate force through the floor to lift the bar up.

It does require a lot of light practice in order to spare the back but once you master the “hinge motion” you will have open doors to many other exercises like the next one.

Clean and press

The killer combo. It starts from a deadlift, it moves into a front squat and finishes with a push press. You cannot demand more from your body. It works on every single muscle you have. The power and the speed required makes this exercise highly metabolic and it is one of the most used in CrossFit.

To master this combo, you need to be very patient and practise all the transitions millions of times. It can be broken down in 3 individual parts for you to practice: the deadlift, the front squat and the push press.

Pull ups

Many can do deadlift and squats but can’t do pull ups. Simply because there is no much weight choice, you lift what you got.

The strength required for this exercise is enormous. It works mainly on your back and arms and it does take a lot of core engagement too, and I forgot to mention your grip.

If you have never done a pull up before you better start with an assisted version, using a machine or a lat pulldown and then move to banded pull ups.

Box jump

If you have watched some gym fails videos, I am sure you have seen someone failing the box jump too. It is scary and yes you can get hurt but that’s only on extreme cases.

The “plyo boxes” are used to develop speed and power that you can transfer on other exercises like the squat, deadlift and clean and press. It teaches your body to push hard against the floor generating maximum force to lift your entire body.

It works on all lower body muscles but mainly on your nervous system. Coordination and synchronization are essentials skills.

Need help?

Do you want to learn how to squat correctly for FREE? Do you live around Eastbourne area? Do not hesitate to contact us and book a free assessment and consultation. Take this chance to visit our private gym Umaxfitness and break the ice, meeting our personal trainer Umberto Massimino.