The best workout schedules to help you lose weight

10 July 2019

There are all sorts of reasons why people work out: to get active after sitting at a desk all day at work, to improve appearance, to socialise, to get fit or to lose weight, are some of the main ones. To lose weight, you will need to find a balance between eating right and working out because if you’re careless about one of the two, you’ll fail to see results.

6-week running challenge
Running can burn around 15 calories per minute depending on factors such as your weight, age, gender. Running is popular as it doesn’t require you to buy an expensive gym membership or any equipment, all you need is some supportive trainers, and you’re set.

This workout routine involves 5 days of workout with 2 days of rest per week. You should alternate between 2 interval sessions, 2 HIIT training session and one cross training session per week. Always make sure you warm up and cool down properly before and after sessions.

When you first start, your interval sessions should include running hard for one minute and running slower for one minute and repeating 5 times. The hard running should not be a sprint but should be around 8/10 intensity. In the third week, you can increase this to 1.5 minutes of hard running and then to 2 minutes of hard running in week 5, while always running slower for 1 minute.

HIIT training burns 6-15% more calories than other workouts, and the sessions are short but bring big rewards. Start with running hard for 20 seconds then slow down for 40 seconds and repeat 10 times. Week 3 you can increase to 30 seconds hard, 30 seconds easy and by week 5 you should be able to run hard for 40 seconds and 20 seconds easy. Lots of celebrities offer good HIIT training sessions on their workout videos, and a celebrity workout schedule will have you catwalk ready in no time.

Finally, you should be doing one cross training session a week. This is necessary if you want to keep up a busy workout routine but also give your joints a rest from the high impact of running. You could do rowing, swimming or cycling, and you should start with a 30-minute workout at a 6-7 intensity. Each week, keep the intensity the same but increase the time to 35 minutes in week 3, and 40 minutes in week 5.

6 week strength building
For a lot of people, nothing could be less appealing than running, so it is possible to adapt the above programme to suit your preferences. Cardio isn’t the only way to lose weight, strength training does also help to burn fat. A good programme to follow is to complete 3 strength training sessions per week, lasting 1 hour, one 35-45 minute cardio session (sorry, it can’t be avoided entirely!) and one 20 minute HIIT session. This leaves two recovery days.

The strength training sessions can be adapted to suit your preferences and could include squats, dead lifts, push ups, burpees and lunges. Try to do a full body workout every time, so it doesn’t matter as much if you miss a session. The HIIT training session and the cardio session can involve anything you prefer, running, swimming or cycling. Boot camps are a great way to push yourself to work hard during a HIIT session.

We hope these workouts have given you some inspiration about how to lose weight successfully. Remember to eat well, and don’t be too hard on yourself if you miss a session, just get back on track as soon as you can.