Good fat-burning workout - any suggestions?

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ECR1989
ECR1989 Posts: 158
in Fitness and Exercise
Ok so as far as I know (i'm not weighing myself this month) I weigh about 145lbs and am 5'5 tall. I want to lose another 6 or 7 lbs but am not obsessing at this point about the actual numbers - right now it's more about getting fit, and losing fat.

At the moment, I go to the gym about 4/5 times a week, and walk on average about 70 mins a day (not in one go) at a moderate to fast pace. I do cardio 2/3 times a week either running on the treadmill (1.0 incline, at 9kph for 5k) or fat-burning option on the crosstrainer for 45 mins. At the gym we have a class called hot iron where we do a series of squats and lifts with barbells and dumbbells ( i use 10-14kg for the barbells and 4kg for the dumbbells).

Whilst I enjoy working out, I am getting a little bored with my routine and think I should switch it up a bit, and maybe I'd see better results? I'm not sure what to do though... People say lift heavy, but to me, what I do in hot iron is as heavy as I can go - obviously if I keep going I'll get up to even higher.

I'm eating 1800 calories a day too - eating my main meal at lunch and eating light in the evening, and trying to keep off alcohol midweek.

Do you guys have any suggestions about workouts I could do to burn fat? I know you can't spot reduce, I'd just like to reduce my overall fat percentage by 5% or so.... It's at 24.6% now apparently. I am better off mixing cardio with weights? Should I switch my cardio to something more intensive? Like trying HIIT or swimming? I've tried asking the trainers at my gym, but I live in Germany and my german isn't really good enough right now to be able to understand everything they're saying to me...

I'd really appreciate any suggestions re: workouts I can do that would burn fat and tone me up a bit! Thanks in advance! :)

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  • CNYGAL
    CNYGAL Posts: 5
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    You could try doing intervals on the treadmill or elliptical. Look up info on "HIIT" for some routines. This will kick up your cardio burn and it makes the time go fast. You can also do this when walking outdoors. I add hill climbs at a local park to my walking routine to pump up my heart rate too.
  • ECR1989
    ECR1989 Posts: 158
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    Thanks ill look HIIT up for sure!

    Anybody else got any workout suggestions? :)
  • ECR1989
    ECR1989 Posts: 158
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    bumpity bump
  • jacksonpt
    jacksonpt Posts: 10,413 Member
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    Workouts don't burn fat. They burn calories. Where those calories come from is based on a variety of factors (recent diet probably being the biggest).

    But more to the bigger picture...

    Fat loss = weight loss + muscle retention
    weight loss = calorie deficit
    muscle retention = heavy lifting and sufficient protein intake

    So...
    Fat loss = calorie deficit + heavy lifting + sufficient protein intake


    But more to the answer you probably want to hear... whatever workout you do with the greatest intensity will likely be the most effective. For some that's something like insanity, for others it might be kick boxing or running or whatever else. Bust your *kitten* and you'll be fine.
  • DavPul
    DavPul Posts: 61,406 Member
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    Curious about the 70 mins of walking. Are you saying you take three 23 minute walks per day for exercise reasons, or is this the accumulation of your normal day to day walking activities?
  • ECR1989
    ECR1989 Posts: 158
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    Curious about the 70 mins of walking. Are you saying you take three 23 minute walks per day for exercise reasons, or is this the accumulation of your normal day to day walking activities?

    It's my accumulation of walking activities - i walk to my german class and home again every morning which is 35 minsish total, and then to my college and back which is 30 mins each way...


    I'm going to start the SL 5x5 workouts and intersperse it with HIIT and different classes at the gym when i go with friends.... they don't really like to workout alone so we do a class together once a week or so...

    Thanks for the advice - i'm just bored with what i'm currently doing and looking for something different yet effective so i'll stick with the SL 5x5 for 12 weeks and see how I progress!

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