The 4 Best Exercises to Lose Weight

Incorporating the right kinds of exercise can amplify the profound weight loss benefits of a Healthy Keto® lifestyle. 

Discover the four best exercises for weight loss, learn why optimizing recovery and making the right dietary choices are vital for long-term success.

How does exercise impact weight loss? 

Exercise supports weight loss through several mechanisms that go far beyond simply burning calories. 

Physical activity influences the way your body manages hormones, uses energy, and maintains muscle tissue–all of which affect how well your body burns fat.

One of the most powerful effects of exercise is its impact on insulin sensitivity. When your muscles are active, your cells respond more effectively to insulin. 

As a result, insulin levels remain lower between meals, which is essential for weight loss, as high insulin levels promote fat storage and directly block fat burning.  

Exercise also stimulates the release of growth hormone and adrenaline, which support muscle growth and facilitate the release of stored body fat for energy.

In addition, exercise positively influences mental health by affecting key neurotransmitters, such as endorphins, dopamine, and serotonin. These chemicals help regulate sleep, cognition, appetite, and focus–all factors that support long-term metabolic balance and weight management.

Building muscle with strength and weight training also helps increase the body’s metabolic rate, as lean muscle is the most metabolically active tissue due to its high concentrations of mitochondria. 

The more mitochondria you have, the better your body converts fat into energy, supporting endurance and metabolic flexibility, which is associated with improved weight management and a lower risk of developing chronic diseases.  

Watch the video below to learn the best form of exercise for weight loss.

4 best exercises to lose weight

To promote weight loss, focus on exercises that engage all major muscle groups and help you build lean muscle mass, while supporting hormone balance and fat burning. 

Here are four of the best exercises to support healthy weight management.

1. High-intensity interval training

High-intensity interval training (HIIT) alternates short bursts of maximum effort exercises–such as sprints, burpees, or kettlebell swings–with brief recovery periods. 

A single session may last only 10 to 20 minutes, yet its impact on metabolic processes can continue long after the workout ends, promoting fat breakdown and muscle repair for up to 48 hours post-exercise. This is known as the afterburn effect or excess post-exercise oxygen consumption (EPOC).

HIIT also strengthens mitochondria, enhancing your body’s ability to convert fat into usable energy. This helps explain why shorter, more intense workouts tend to produce better body composition results than long sessions of moderate exercise.

2. Aerobic exercises

Aerobic exercises, such as brisk walking, cycling, or swimming, engage large muscle groups through steady, rhythmic motion. 

This type of physical activity offers a joint-friendly way to build muscular endurance and metabolic flexibility, encouraging fat utilization without overexerting the body.

Because aerobic workouts combine endurance and controlled breathing, these exercises promote steady oxygen flow and fat utilization and strengthen your cardiovascular system.

This form of exercise also helps reduce cortisol, the body’s primary stress hormone, which has been linked to increased belly fat and weight gain. 

Gentle, sustained movement activates the parasympathetic rest and recovery system, supporting relaxation, improved sleep quality, and overall hormonal balance that supports fat burning. 

3. Circuit-based resistance training

Circuit-based resistance training involves performing a series of back-to-back strength or body-weight exercises, each targeting a different muscle group. This allows you to maintain a high heart rate while strengthening major muscle groups. 

Exercises are typically performed for a short period–about 1 to 2 minutes–followed by a brief rest before moving on to the next. 

A typical circuit might include exercises such as squats, push-ups, rows, lunges, and planks, repeated two to three times per session. Free weights, machines, or resistance bands are often incorporated to gradually build controlled strength and muscular endurance.

Building and maintaining lean muscle mass is an essential part of effective weight management. Muscle tissue requires more energy than body fat, even when the body is at rest. This helps support effective metabolic processes and greater fat-burning capacities over time.

4. Body-weight and core training

While they’re not primary drivers of weight loss, core stability exercises–such as planks, dead bugs, bird dogs, hollow holds, and slow instability drills–engage small stabilizer muscles that improve core strength, posture, and balance.

Strengthening these muscles helps make your high-intensity workouts safer and more productive, promoting better movement control, injury prevention, and greater overall power and endurance.

A short five-minute core routine, performed before or after your main workout session, can prime your nervous system, helping your muscles activate more efficiently during intense training and recover more quickly afterward.

Common mistakes that slow progress

Even with the best exercise plan, a few key mistakes can quickly block fat burning and hinder weight loss.

Here are three common mistakes that slow progress. 

1. Overtraining

One of the most common mistakes is overtraining by pushing through frequent, intense workout sessions without adequate rest. 

While exercise is a form of controlled stress, lack of adequate recovery can lead to elevated cortisol and stalled weight loss. 

Cortisol promotes fat storage around the midsection, increases food cravings, and breaks down muscle tissue, potentially slowing your metabolism and making it harder to lose weight.

2. Following a high-carb diet

Another major barrier to weight loss is a poor diet. Many people assume that as long as they burn calories through exercise, they can eat whatever they like. However, this overlooks the fact that nutrient balance significantly influences fat burning.

For example, on a high-carb diet, glycogen stores are continually replenished from dietary glucose. This means the body doesn’t need to convert stored fat into energy, as it always has a steady supply of glucose available. 

Continuous glycogen replenishment through dietary carb and sugar intake keeps your body primarily in a carbohydrate-burning state rather than a fat-burning state.

This explains why a nutritious, low-carbohydrate diet, such as the Healthy Keto plan, which prioritizes organic whole foods, including leafy greens, pasture-raised protein, and plenty of healthy fats, is one of the most effective strategies for achieving lasting weight loss.  

3. Ignoring food quality

A lack of nutritious foods can take a significant toll on your body, and even when following a low-carb diet, choosing low-quality food can hinder weight loss.

“You can’t out-exercise a bad diet,” explains Dr. Berg. “Without clean, nutrient-rich meals and the right fats, your body will resist burning fat and instead rely on glucose or even muscle protein for energy.”

Research published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences analyzed data from more than 4000 adults and found that consumption of ultra-processed foods, rather than inactivity itself, is a primary driver of weight gain.¹ 

This underscores that while exercise enhances fat oxidation, mitochondrial health, and insulin sensitivity, diet plays the most pivotal role in sustainable weight loss.

Fueling the body with nutrient-dense whole foods, avoiding sugar and seed oils, maintaining regular exercise, and following Healthy Keto significantly enhances the body’s ability to burn fat and supports healthy weight loss.

Tips to make the most of your workout

Getting the most out of your exercise routine isn’t necessarily about working out longer–it’s about being strategic to achieve maximum health benefits.

Here are five tips to help you optimize your workout results.

1. Alternate workouts 

Research published in the Journal of Food Innovation, Nutrition and Environmental Sciences highlights that combining aerobic and resistance training remains one of the most effective ways to enhance fat loss, maintain lean muscle, and prevent weight plateaus.²

For optimal results, aim to alternate workouts throughout the week, targeting different energy systems while allowing the body time to recover and continue burning fat efficiently.

2. Workout while fasting

Exercising in a fasted state, such as before your first meal, can help enhance fat oxidation as the body is forced to tap into stored body fat for energy. 

Additionally, exercising after you eat may lower growth hormone release, minimizing the benefits of workouts for muscle growth and metabolic efficiency. 

3. Support recovery

Gentle stretching, core stability sessions, walking, cold plunges, and sauna sessions help clear lactic acid, reduce inflammation, improve circulation, and facilitate efficient recovery.

Adequate recovery allows muscles to repair and adapt, supports consistent training, and helps maintain metabolic efficiency, all of which are important for long-term weight loss.

4. Monitor heart-rate recovery

The rate at which your heart rate returns to normal after exercise is a simple indicator of cardiovascular and metabolic efficiency.

To support healthy recovery, allow your heart rate to return close to baseline before starting the next circuit or HIIT session, and include adequate rest days between intense workouts.

5. Maintain electrolyte balance

Exercise naturally increases the loss of fluids and minerals through sweat, which can affect muscle function and energy levels. 

To stay balanced, regularly consume mineral-rich foods–especially those high in potassium, magnesium, and natural sea salt–or opt for a sugar-free electrolyte powder before, during, and after workouts.

FAQ

Sources

1. https://www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/pnas.2420902122 
2. https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Ruba-Musharbash/publication/392295239