7 Low Impact Exercises to Burn Fat and Build Muscle

Discover These Low Impact Exercises to Burn Fat and Build Muscle!

We all know that eating right and exercising can help us not only stay in shape but also feel good. The difficult part is knowing how to build muscle and burn fat with specific activities. Depending on your personal health, knowing the right exercises to reduce belly fat is not only beneficial when it comes to fitting in your pants but also can help lower the risk of type 2 diabetes.

Why Belly Fat is Bad

Having excess fat in around your stomach can inhibit your organs that play a large role in regulating glucose in the blood stream. For example, when the liver is below a heavy layer of fat tissue, it’s difficult for the insulin in the body to make the liver start moving the extra blood glucose to keep for future energy needs.

In 2002, a study of individuals with pre diabetes were able to reduce their risk of diabetes by not only losing weight, but also eating healthier and exercising over 2 hours per week. They were able to reduce the risk by 58%.

7 Exercises to Burn Fat

The best types of exercises to burn fat are aerobic exercises. These are considered to be any type of exercise that is repetitive, long and difficult enough to make the heart and lungs use its oxygen as it’s drive to keep the body going throughout the activity.

If you are wondering how to build muscle while doing aerobic exercise, it’s totally possible, below are 7 exercises to burn fat and begin building muscle.

Walking – walking is a great exercise to begin with when you are first getting into exercising especially if you are overweight and/or have any sort of injury. Walking offers low intensity and can help overweight or obese individuals burn fat, gain confidence and start to build up to higher levels of aerobic exercises.
Running – running is great way to burn calories and doesn’t need to be done at a fast pace. Even if you run for short amounts of time while going for a walk, it is still good. Take your time while building up the distance you are able to run and make sure to stretch both before and after running. Running is how you can build leg muscle and add definition and the more you do it, the better you will become.
Cycling – the great thing about riding a bike, either stationary or around the city, is that almost anyone can do it. You can add difficulty by adding resistance, making your heart beat faster while building leg muscle and reducing belly fat.
Rowing – after working your way through some of the lower body exercises, like running or cycling, you can then practice rowing. This is a whole body workout and is how to build muscle all over the body. It also burns the most calories per hour, you will know this because you will sweat, a lot.
Swimming – this low impact total body workout is a great way to burn calories in the water. It has less risk for injury, as long as you’re wearing goggles, and allows you to work various muscles in your body including your lungs.
Jump Rope – as long as your body allows it, jumping rope can burn high amounts of calories per hour. It is a more difficult aerobic exercise and it is worth noting that if it is done for too long can cause certain injuries.
HITT – High Intensity Interval Training is a type of fat burning exercise that is very popular. It usually takes less time and has great results. The best way to a simple version of a HIIT exercise is, if you are walking, walk at a brisk pace for around 2 minutes and then begin to run, fast, for around 30 seconds and then repeat. This can be repeated anywhere from ten minutes to thirty minutes at a time. Start low and work your way up when it comes to time. You can adjust it to whatever works for you and it can be used with any of the 7 exercises to burn fat.

Ways Aerobic Exercise Can Benefit The Body:

Breathe better because the muscles involved in breathing are used
Allow Oxygen to flow more freely because of the increase of red blood cells
Pump more blood because the heart muscles are strengthened
Feel better mentally and physically because exercise reduces stress and tension
Have better circulation

Getting fit is not always an easy journey but it’s important to remember that exercising on a regular basis is great for your heart, your body and your well-being. If you are not an “exercise person” but want to be, start out slow and work your way up. You can reach your goal by doing what is within your limits but pushing yourself at the same time.