What if you could burn calories and lose weight while resting? Here are five exercise combos that work

Holistic health expert Mickey Mehta on a most effective weight management plan with after-burn routines.

Exercises with free weights and resistance bands can help increase EPOC and speed up metabolism. (Representational)

Ideally your workout routine should be such that your metabolic rate, or the speed at which your body burns calories, can benefit you both at rest and during activity. In other words, your session keeps paying you dividends when you are resting and continues to burn your calories at an increased rate even up to 24 hours after you are done exercising. This way you lose weight consistently.

The after-burn effect is also referred to as excess post-exercise oxygen consumption or EPOC. This is a physiological response to vigorous physical activity that allows the body to continue consuming calories for a number of hours following rest. The after-burn effect guarantees an increased heart rate and respiration for a predetermined amount of time, extra hormone release and muscle cell regeneration and repair. Your body can replenish oxygen and ATP (a chemical that gives the body energy for activities like exercise).

Here are five after-burn routines for you.

1) Complex Movements: Complex movements incorporate several different workouts into a seamless flow. These complex exercises improve your strength, balance and coordination while boosting your metabolism to burn more calories. These include the lunge, burpee, side plank, push-ups, squat to lunge, lunge walk with hand expansion. All of these work on several muscle groups at once, keeping your intensity high throughout the workout. You may optimise the after-burn impact by doing these movements with good form and control.

Story continues below this ad

2) Strength training with bodyweight: These include knee push-ups, half-knee and quick push-ups. Exercises with free weights and resistance bands can help increase EPOC and speed up metabolism. This is due to the fact that resistance training causes tiny tears in your muscle fibres, which need energy to heal and rebuild. This increases your post-workout caloric expenditure.

3) Cardio activities: These include cycling, speed spot jogging, jumping jacks through shorter rest intervals or less strenuous exercises. Because this kind of workout increases your heart rate and metabolism, it has been demonstrated to greatly boost EPOC.

Also read | Weight loss: Are you making these three common mistakes?

4) Surya Namaskar, 10 in 10 minutes: With 10 Surya Namaskars, one can cover the entire gamut of forward and backward bends, side bends and twists. Surya Namaskar works on dimensions, on gravity with gentle movements and creates a kind of calibrated exertion, which is a great workout. It’s a great workout to energise yourself and bring in vitality.

5) Circuit training and compound body movements: These include lateral pulldowns, single-bar and parallel bar lunges with dumbbells. A combination of these exercises can ensure you have the same result of a one-hour session in one-third the time.

Story continues below this ad

📣 For more lifestyle news, follow us on Instagram | Twitter | Facebook and don’t miss out on the latest updates!

Uttarakhand rain: 12 in Chamoli go missing as buildings collapse, rescue ops underway

India2 hr ago

At least 12 people have gone missing in Uttarakhand after a rainfall-triggered debris slide hit Nandnagar of Chamoli district early on Thursday, bringing down several buildings. The administration and rescue teams have reached the spot to search for the missing individuals.

View all shorts

Live Blog