How Much Exercise Do You Really Need To Do To Lose Weight?

Exercise is a necessary part of any healthy lifestyle. It can boost your fitness, fend off illness and disease, and keep your weight under control. Scientists from the London School of Economics revealed this week that a brisk 30-minute walk every day is more effective for weight loss than running or going to the gym.

Dr. Grace Lordan and her team compared the measurements of people who spend a half hour walking at a fast pace to people doing the same amount of heavy housework, manual labour and sports. The waistline and BMI measurements of those who did the walking were smaller and lower than those who engaged in other regular exercise.

So what exactly do personal trainers think you need to do to lose weight? The Daily Mail turned to five of Britain’s top trainers to see what they had to say.

JUSTIN MAGUIRE, founder of FE Gym
3 hours a week

“To lose weight you need to think of it on a weekly scale rather than a daily scale,” he said. For optimal results, that is at least 3 hours a week. “This does not just mean three hours in the gym it means three hours of actual work time,” he explains. “People can spend an hour and a half in the gym but actually only be doing 40 minutes work.” He suggests making your ratio of active time to rest time 2:1. “This would mean if you are spending forty seconds working you should only be spending 20 seconds resting.”

MATT HODGES, at The MPH Method
18 minutes of high intensity interval training, three times a week 

“You can’t say to someone there is a set amount of time to lose weight. Everybody is different, you want to maintain muscle and therefore lose fat not weight,” he also notes that faster cardio burns body fat more rapidly. “I’ve found that 18 minutes is the optimal amount of time to perform HIIT. Thirty seconds should be pure intense work, like you are running the 100m sprint, and 30 seconds of rest. This actually means you are only doing nine minutes of active intense exercise. If you do any more than 18 minutes your body will more than likely start to slip into a catabolic state and anything under 18 minutes is simply not optimal.”

LLOYD BRIDGER, personal trainer at LDN Muscle
25 minutes of HIIT, up to four times a week

Bridger believes that two to four HIIT sessions a week is best. “To lose fat, high intensity interval training is the best way, you should be opting for 10-20 second intervals for eight reps with one minute rest,” he said. He believes the ideal session length is 25 minutes and suggests introducing a small calorie deficit as well if you’re looking to lose weight. Nothing major, just 300 to 400 calories below your typical intake.

ANYA LAHIRI, head trainer at Barry’s Bootcamp
Cardio and resistance training, three times a week 

Lahiri says, “high intensity interval training is an excellent way to improve fitness, combining HIIT with resistance work and bodyweight is a great way to burn fat. Ideally I would recommend trying to combine half an hour of cardio and half an hour of resistance training three times a week minimum.”

CHRIS HALL, founder of Hall Training Systems
30 minutes of HIIT, one to three times a week 

“I strongly believe in the benefits of shorter workouts, to keep motivation levels up and consistency within your training,” Hall says. “I’ve seen tremendous results in getting my clients fit, lean and strong with 30 minute training sessions.” He suggests starting with one HIIT session a week and working up to three. “HIIT training gets the heart rate up high in the session, therefore burning more calories per minute than the old steady state cardio methods of the past,” he said.

So while the study may say that walking at a brisk pace 30 minutes a day is enough, the people who are paid to help you lose weight, say it takes a little more. It seems a high intensity workout for 25 minutes, three times a week is more likely the answer.

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Source: Daily Mail

 

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