4 Fat Burning Exercises

Not all exercises are created equal and in this workout you will discover just which 4 exercises must be included in any workout in which you want to burn fat fast.

 

 

Below are 4 simple exercises to follow along with one additional superset that you may choose to include if you want a little more burn in your workout.

The first superset will start with a dumbbell split squat. Get into your split squat stance and drop your hips straight down and drive off your lead leg to come back up. This is really going to work your glute, hamstring and quadricep of your lead leg. This will work your lower body hot zone and a little bit of your upper back as well. Do all reps on one side and immediately switch to the other side.

Move immediately into a pushup with your hands on a stability ball. This will work your pressing muscles in your chest, but also your abdominals to keep you in a straight line.

Rest 1 minute and repeat that superset 2 more times.

In this second superset, you're going to work your upper back and your abdominals directly. The first exercise is a dumbbell chest supported row on the bench. Put the bench in an incline position and lean with your chest on the bench. Grab your dumbbells and row them up, making sure you are squeezing your shoulder blades together. This will really isolate your upper back.

The next exercise is a cross body mountain climber. Get into a pushup position and pull your knee up into your opposite elbow while keeping your abs braced, alternating sides. These are very similar to a regular mountain climber, but you will get some diagonal movements which will really target your obliques.

Rest 1 minute and repeat this superset 2 more times.

In this particular workout, the 2 previous supersets are the only mandatory ones. Seems rather easy, yet this is all you need for the strength training portion of the workout because you have hit your 4 hot zones. It's a really efficient program.

If you have time, however, you can move onto the optional superset.

We're going to go a little outside the hot zone muscle groups for the first exercise. This is a 1-arm dumbbell standing shoulder press. This really works your abdominals and your shoulders as well. Place your hand at your side to brace your abs and press up with your other arm. Finish all reps and repeat on the other side.

Move immediately into a stability ball jackknife plank on the bench. You aren't going to be doing any movement here; you will just hold the plank position with your elbows on the bench and your feet on the ball.

 

If you want to make this harder, position your feet so only your toes are on the ball. If you need to make it easier, position your feet so the laces of your shoes are on the ball. Brace your abs and hold this for 1 minute. If you can't hold for the full minute, just go as long as you comfortably and safely can.

Rest 1 minute and repeat this superset 2 more times if you have enough time.

You can now finish your fat loss workouts off with an interval training session and that's it for a powerfully, highly efficient fat burning workout.

Craig Ballantyne, CSCS, MS
Author, Turbulence Training for Fat Loss