Which is the best exercise to lose weight?
Walking or Running?
Dead Lifts or Squats?
Each one has it’s own advantages and disadvantages.
My experience has been that walking is always something that everyone should be doing, at least thirty minutes to an hour a day.
We all have to keep moving.
Sitting for too long has been linked to too many illnesses.
Walking a half hour a day or even an hour a day will definitely help you take off some pounds, many pounds if you are making good food choices as well.
Walking is the best exercise to keep moving and stay healthy, because it is so sustainable, easy for most people and can be a great way to socialize and get into shape.
However, I am thinking about which is the best exercise to lose weight in a way that you will really see transformative results, not that you are just a smaller version of your former self, but your body has changed.
In that case, the best exercise to lose weight has to come from a variety of strength training options which will burn fat off.
The new muscle mass that you build is going to be the primary factor in your body taking on a different shape.
Lean muscle mass takes less space than fat and will give you a more youthful look, because you had higher muscle mass when you were younger and as we age, we slowly lose our muscle mass.
The best exercise to lose weight then, is an exercise that is going to build the most lean muscle mass.
The best exercise to lose weight will not necessarily be the easiest, but it will be an exercise that challenges large parts of your body that have the most muscle mass.
Which part of your body do you think has the most muscle mass, your biceps or your thighs?
Think about it.
You will know right off the bat that the best exercise to lose weight is going to be the one that builds the largest muscles in your body.
Clearly, the largest muscles are not your biceps.
The largest muscles are your legs, your thighs, hamstrings, quadriceps, back, latissimus dorsi.
Even your shoulders are not going to win in size when compared to your back and legs.
Which then is the best exercise to lose weight and change the shape of your body?
That exercise or those exercises that build the largest muscles of your body.
The best exercise to lose weight under this definition is a toss up between the squat and the dead lift.
Why?
The squat is going to build your legs, quadriceps and hamstrings.
As a result, the new muscle growth is going to spur on additional growth hormones as well as burning more calories.
Every pound of muscle that you build is like adding wood to a fireplace.
The fire will burn longer.
Every pound of muscle consumes about 75 to 100 calories, so if you build 10 pounds of muscle in the course of a year, you will be burning an additional 750 to 1000 calories every day, just to keep that muscle alive.
On the other hand, the best exercise to lose weight and change your shape when it comes to your next largest muscle, your back, will be between dead lifts and bent over rows.
I think dead lifts win because they also tax your legs to some degree, as well as your arms, essentially your entire body.
So now that we know that dead lifts are the best exercise to lose weight , at least to start, because we also know that Squats are the top, but might be a bit too challenging at this point, now what?
If you can, join a gym where you can start doing dead lifts or take out those old rusty weights in your garage and start dead lifting.
What if you don’t have equipment or do not want to join a gym?
Not everyone wants to join a gym, first because of price which can be up to $100 a month, second because of having to wait for equipment and third, sometimes we just want to play our own music.
Not to mention the time it takes to get to the gym and back.
What to do?
For dead lifts, there is an easy solution, all you need are a few pieces of great equipment to set up a home gym for dead lifts:
An Olympic Bar to reap all of the benefits of dead lifts. This bar can also be used for squats, bench press, shoulder press and barbell rows.
Olympic Plates from 5lbs to 45lbs should be enough for you to start doing dead lifts. Two fives, two tens, two twenty fives and two forty fives, a total of 170 pounds should be enough to get you started on dead lifts and more.
Olympic lock jaw barbell collar to keep your weights secure and prevent injury.
Olympic Fractional Plates set with 1/4 pound plates up to 1 pound plates, exactly what you need for gradual improvement to increase your weight safely by using fractional plates.
You might have some of these weights and bars available in your garage or basement.
The answer to the question of what is the best exercise to lose weight is two fold.
The squat and the dead lift are the best exercises to lose weight because you have to use your entire body during the exercise.
In addition, both of these exercises will have a profound effect on the larges muscles groups of your body.
When you want to find the best exercise to lose weight, forget about your handgrips, curls, triceps pushdowns, even shoulder presses.
Concentrate on doing the fullest body exercises that you can, and if you can do squats and dead lifts, you have found the best exercises to lose weight.
Best Exercise to Lose Weight Experiment
What better way to test the theory of which is the best exercise to lose weight than putting it into action.
What follows is a strength table of what I believe are the best exercises to lose weight, specifically squats, dead lifts, pushups, bench press, shoulder press and barbell rows.
Along with walking every day, that should give us a good view into fat loss using full body compound weight lifting exercises.
Best Exercise to Lose Weight Update on April 25, 2014
After several weeks of doing dead lifts, squats, bench press, rows and overhead presses, I have made some good gains to approximately double the weights that I started with, just about there.
In terms of which is the best exercise to lose weight, as of today, I am still 193.2lbs, 7 lbs down from when I began a few weeks ago, but I have not been able to cross into the 180’s.
Good thing that I just reviewed this post, I have a bit of a way to go to get back to where I was in April, but I feel confident that I can get there pretty soon.
Today, November 24, 2014, I did squats with 80lbs and dead lifts with 135lbs and was 199.2lbs, just six over April.
The Best Exercise to Lose Weight Strength Table
| Date | Squats | Deadlifts | Bench Press | Shoulder Presses | Barbell Rows |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Monday April 7, 2014 | 5 sets 5 Reps 45lb, 50lb, 55lb, 60lb & 65lbs | 1 set of 5 Reps with 95lb | |||
| Tuesday April 8, 2014 | 5 sets of 5 reps | 5 sets of 5 reps | |||
| Wednesday April 9, 2014 | 5 sets of 5 Reps using 50lbs, warm up with 45lb | 1 set of 5 reps using 95lbs | 5 sets of 5 reps using 50lbs | ||
| Thursday April 10, 2014 | Rest | Rest | Rest | Rest | Rest |
| Friday April 11, 2014 | 5 sets of 5 Reps using 55lbs, warm up with 45lb Sets and Reps were solid, so can go up to 60lbs on Monday | Plan:5 sets of 5 reps using 50lbs, ended up using 70lbs | Rest | Plan:5 sets of 5 reps using 50lbs | |
| Sunday April 13, 2014 | |||||
| Monday, April 14, 2014 | 5sets5reps using 60lbs, warm up with 45lbs felt good with 60 , so will go up to 65lbs on wed | 1 set of 5 reps with 105lbs felt good with 105lbs so will go up to 115lbs on friday | 5x5 using 55lbs - felt good, go up to 60lbs on Friday | Rest | |
| Wednesday April 16, 2014 | Plan is 5 sets of 5 reps with 65lbs, warm up with 45lbs..actual was with 65lbs...felt strong enough and can go up to 70lbs | 1 set of 5 reps with 115lbs, squats are the warm up...115 was too much too soon...going back to 110lbs next monday | Plan is 5 sets of 5 reps using 75lbs : actual was 70lbs...can go up to 75lbs | Plan 5 sets of 5 reps using 55lbs: actual was with 55lbs 5x5 | |
| Friday, April 18, 2014 | plan 5x5 with 70lbs, warm up with 45lbs Actual: warm up with 45lbs 5 sets of 5 reps using 70lbs...can go up to 75lbs on Monday | Rest | Plan :5x5 using 60lbs Actual:5x5 using 65lbs on Monday | ||
| Wednesday, April 23, 2014 | play warm up with 45lbs and then 5x5 with 75lbs actual: warm up with 45lb 2 sets, 1 set with 65lbs and 5 sets with 75lbs Go up to 80lbs on Friday | warm up with squats and then 1 set of 5 reps with 110lbs or 115lbs...probably would be smartest with 110! actual...did these last..warmed up with 5x5 of 75lb squats and did 1 set of 5 reps deadlifts with 110lbs, felt better than last week.. | Plan warm up with shoulder dislocations and 45lbs....5 sets of 5 reps with 65lbs actual: 2 sets with 45lb warm up shoulder presses...then 5x5 using 65lbs for shoulder presses..can go up to 70lbs next shoulder press workout which should be on Monday | ||
| Friday, April 25, 2014 | plan: warm up with 45lbs then 5x5 with 80lbs actual: squats warm up with 45lb and 65lbs 5 sets of 5 reps of squats with 80lbs go up to 85lbs on monday or wed | Plan is warm up with 45lbs then 5x5 bench presses with 75lbs or 80lbs warm up with 45lbs 2 sets 5x5 bench presses with 80lbs go up to 85 or 90lbs on monday or wed | Plan warm up with 50lbs then 5x5 barbell rows with 60lbs actual: 5x5 barbell rows with 65lbs go up to 70lbs on wed |
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| Monday, April 28, 2014 | plan warm up with squats of 45lbs then 65lbs, then 75lbs try 5x5 reps of squats with 85lbs Actual: Warm up Squats with 45lb, 65lbs and 2 reps of 75lbs 5 sets and 5 reps of Squats with 85lbs. The squats are getting tougher, but I think I can go up to 90lbs on Wed or Friday. | deadlifts - warm up is squats - try deadlifts of 115lbs Actual: Squats were the warm up. Did one set of 5 reps Deadlifts using 115lbs. Felt better than last week when my back felt some strain. Go up to 120lbs on Friday. | plan warm up with shoulder dislocations and press with 45lbs 5x5reps of shoulder presses with 70lbs Actual: Warmed up with 45lbs. Did 5sets of 5 reps shoulder presses with 70lbs. Can go up to 75lbs on Friday. | ||
| Wednesday, April 30, 2014 | plan to shoot for 45lb warm up/65/80lb/ squats and then 90lbs actual: 45lbs 3 reps 65lbs 2 reps 85lbs 2 reps 90lbs 5sets 5 reps Squats Surprisingly felt pretty good. I did not think it would since I overindulged earlier in the evening, but actually felt stronger. Can go up to 95lbs for Friday, either 5x3 , 3 x 3 or 3x4 will see how I feel. | Bench press warm up with 45lb/60/60 and shoot for sets with 75lb or even 90lb Actual: 45lbs 5 reps 65lbs 2 reps 85lbs 5x5 reps bench press | barbell rows shoot for 5x5 of 60lbs or 65lbs did not have time for barbell rows, will try to get that in tomorrow |
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| Thursday, May 1, 2014 | shoot for 60 or 65lbs barbell rows did 65lbs barbell rows 5x5 can move up to 70lbs next tuesday |
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| Friday, May 2, 2014 | warmup with 45lbs 3 reps 65lbs 2 reps 85lbs 2 reps then 95lbs squats for 5 sets of 5 reps move up to 100lbs on Monday | Warm up was with squats 1 set of 5 reps using 120lbs for deadlifts move up to 125lbs on Monday or Wednesday | |||
| Monday, May 5, 2014 | Squats warmup with 45lbs 3 reps 65lbs 2 reps 85lbs 2 reps 95lbs 1 rep then actual workout 100lbs 5 sets of squats with 5 reps can go up to 105lbs on wed! | bench press warm up 45lbs 5 reps 65lbs 3 reps 85lbs 2 reps then actual workout bench press 95lbs 5 sets of 5 reps can go up to 105lbs on Friday | |||
| Tuesday, May 6, 2014 | Plan warm up 45lbs, 65lbs do sets with 75lbs | rows warmup with 55lbs do sets with 65 or 70lbs |
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| Wednesday, May 7, 2014 | Plan for Squats warm up with 45, 65, 85, 95 actual 105lbs see sets and reps possible did 105lbs | warm up with squats shoot for 125lbs deadlifts today did 125lbs 1x5 | |||
| Friday, May 9, 2014 | squats warm up 45, 65, 85, 105 actual 110lbs squats 5 sets of 5 reps felt good enough to go up to 115lb on monday | warm up bench press with 45, 65, 85, 105 actual 4x5 of 115lbs | |||
| Monday, May 12, 2014 | Squats warmup 45lb 3 reps 65lb 2 reps 85lbs 1 rep 115lbs 5 sets of 5 reps everything was good except slight tinge in left knee..hmm...see how it feels on wed...if good, then go up to 120lb! | warm up was with squats deadlift with 135lbs 1 set of 5 reps | |||
| Tuesday, May 13, 2014 | Warm up with 40, 50, 60 Actual with 70lbs 4 sets of 5 reps | warm up with 40, 50, 60 actual with 70lbs, 4 sets of 5 reps |
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| Wednesday, May 14, 2014 | Squats warmup 45lbs 4 reps 65lbs 3 reps 85lbs 2 reps 105lbs 1 rep actual 120lbs 5 sets of 5 reps, definitely getting harder, but knee felt good! Shoot for 125 on friday if possible | warm up bench press with 45, 65, 85, 105 actual 4x5 with 120lb shoot for 130 or even 135lbs next week | |||
| Thursday, May 15, 2014 | warm up with 40, 50, 60, 70 plan for 75lbs 5x5 | same warm up as presses plan for 75lbs 5x5 |