10 Effective Indoor Exercises For Weight Loss........

• 15th September 2022

For most people, nothing tops off their new year list than being fit. The idea of being in perfect shape, being aware of mental health, and being able to battle any psychological or physical stress; all this is really inspiring. If you're in the same boat of aiming for an upgraded physical and mental wellness, exercise is one of the two keys you need; the second is a balanced diet.

Why is exercise important?

We all know that exercise is vital for our health. However, let's ignore the why(s) and how(s) and briefly examine the significant health benefits of regular exercise.

• Exercise helps maintain a healthy weight.
• Being active keeps your blood running smoothly, which helps you avoid heart diseases.
• Regular exercise can prevent major health problems such as obesity, diabetes, high blood pressure, cancer, metabolic syndrome, arthritis, depression, and anxiety.
• Exercise works as an excellent booster for mental health. It also strengthens memory, coordination, and learning capability.
• Studies show that exercise can relieve stress and help you sleep better. According to one study, 150 minutes of moderate-to-strenuous exercise per week can improve sleep quality by 65 percent.
• Exercising daily can boost your immune system and help combat diseases. A good workout increases blood flow, decreases stress and inflammation, and strengthens antibodies.
• A daily dose of moderate exercise prevents oxidative stress in your body, leading to healthier-looking skin and delaying ageing signs.
• Exercise has also proven to be very helpful for a healthy sex life. It can enhance sexual pleasure and performance, along with the increased sexual activity.

Exercises that don't need you to step out of the house

If going to a gym or finding time for it is not possible for you, this should not be a problem in your weight loss journey because several indoor exercises are just as practical as any outdoor sport. Here are 10 super effective indoor exercises that can help you get in shape quickly.

1.     Jumping rope

Jumping rope is a classic cardio workout that all famous athletes and trainers practise. It is a full-body exercise so that you can burn lots of calories in a short time. An average-sized person can burn more than 10 calories per minute.

Although jumping rope is an intense and efficient exercise, it isn't as effective for weight loss if you jump for a solid block of time. The key is its role in high-intensity interval training (HIIT) as an aerobic exercise. That means you jump rope at a fast rate for short bursts of time, followed by rest periods.

Apart from helping you lose weight, jumping rope strengthens your heart and prevents the risk of potential cardiac diseases. It also improves your balance and brain-to-muscle coordination. In addition, jumping rope is very useful for shedding belly fat, developing abs and trunk muscles.

2.     Climbing stairs

Stair climbing, like jump rope, is an intense aerobic exercise that affects your whole body. You burn twice the amount of fat in half the time compared to running and three times more than walking.  

Climbing stairs not only burns fat faster but is also beneficial in improving balance and stability. Since you move against the force of gravity while climbing, your muscles need more energy to resist that force while maintaining body balance and equilibrium simultaneously.

3.     Yoga

Yoga is widely practised for stress relief and meditation.

Though it's not usually considered for weight loss, you use a fair amount of energy and concentration during yoga. According to Harvard Health, it is estimated that a 70 kg person can burn approximately 149 calories per 30 minutes of yoga. Regular yoga not only promotes weight loss but also improves metabolism, flexibility, focus, coordination, and body balance.

4.     Plank

The plank is one of the best exercise postures you can practice to lose stubborn belly fat. It is a simple yet highly effective core exercise that promotes strength and stability throughout the body. It is also considered an excellent cardio workout that improves blood regulation, endurance, and breathing.  

Getting into a plank pose is easy, but holding that pose for more than a few seconds is the real challenge. Its difficulty level can range from short-duration planks to painfully long-duration ones as it is an exercise position. As a beginner, you can start with a 30-second plank, followed by 45 seconds, then a minute, thus slowly extending the seconds as you progress.

5.     Crunches

Crunches are one of the prominent workout postures to get slim and develop abs. They build up your rectus abdominis, the six-pack muscle running along the front of your torso. Developing your rectus abdominis helps improve your performance, flexibility, and stability.

Like the plank, crunches are also a bodyweight workout. Such workout positions use the weight of your own body and can be exercised technically anywhere at any time.

6.     Squats

Squats are known as the 'king of weight loss exercises' by fitness experts.

Squats target your core muscles, particularly thighs, calves and glutes. Since most of the excess fat is present in these regions, squatting is an ideal exercise that also helps develop better posture and increased strength.  

While practising squats or any other exercise pose, knowing the correct way to position and breath during reps is very important.

7.     Boxing

In the past, boxing was only treated as a form of self-defence. But recently, it has also become a popular means of weight loss.

Boxing is an intense cardio exercise that burns a lot of calories in a short amount of time. It is also an excellent choice to build lean muscle, improving your speed, strength, and balance.

Furthermore, boxing makes your heart stronger and healthier. A strong heart can regulate blood more efficiently, resulting in better energy management.

8.     Running on a treadmill

The role of running in weight loss is known to everyone. Running doesn't target a specific area, it instead helps you to lose weight in general.

Hitting a treadmill for 30 minutes daily is a good start to reaching your desired weight, though you must be consistent in your effort. On average, a 60kg person will use 240 calories at a comfortable pace of 5 mph in a 30-minute treadmill run. Similarly, an 85kg person will lose about 355 calories since heavier people burn more calories. 

9.     Zumba

Zumba is a rigorous type of aerobic training inspired by Latin dancing. It is enjoyable and burns a copious amount of calories quickly.

To reduce weight, you'll need to make a calorie deficit by burning more calories than your daily intake. A single, intense Zumba session can help you burn about 300 to 900 calories an hour.

Combining Zumba with other forms of weight loss exercise and a balanced diet will help you reach your weight loss goals much faster.

10.  Weight lifting

Weight lifting is an effective weight loss exercise but is not as efficient as a cardio workout. Instead, it has other critical long-lasting benefits that prevent you from gaining extra fat in the future.

For instance, you develop more lean muscle through weight training than cardio, which is great because muscle consumes more energy at rest as compared to some other tissues, including fat.

Due to this, having more lean muscle is the key to having a better resting metabolism. The better the metabolism, the more calories you burn at rest.

You're not just burning calories during weight lifting, your body may keep using them for hours or days ahead.

 

Final Word:

A perfect exercise plan for a fit and well-proportioned body involves cardio and weight training. Practice both, along with a balanced diet, to get the best results.

However, the most vital key to achieving your ideal weight is to remain consistent and dedicated to the weight loss plan.