What’s the whole idea of burning calories and fat? It’s simple science that says your output should be higher than your input. First, your nutritional input has to be super vital and not super voluminous. With the right diet, your body can use its fat reserves as fuel and potentially as a source of muscle growth if you can maintain a lifting regimen and eat in a caloric deficit. The body burns fat to provide the extra energy it needs for exercise. To provide the muscles with the energy they require, fat is released into the bloodstream, prying them off from their stubborn positions on the skin. By improving muscular function and assisting fat cell reduction, you can maintain a healthy weight. Following exercises help in this process. 1) Swimming: This is a good exercise to begin with as a calorie burner. This is more effective than running or elliptical training because your entire body is used to swim against the soft resistance of water as opposed to gravity. 2) Surya Namaskar: It can be a good body workout and a metabolism booster. This yoga asana engages every muscle group and limb. If done in 15, 20 and 30 sets, it has shown discernible results. Surya Namaskar is also a vertical exercise which involves going on the floor. So it works on dimensions and gravity with gentle movements and results in a calibrated exertion that makes for a great workout. 3) Jumping Jacks: People believe that burpees cause a great calorie burn but they could bust your knees. Instead mountain climbing and jumping jacks are two good combinations if done with breaks for recovery and forward-backward bending. Jumping jacks, which involve softly bouncing over the ground and gently landing back down, are an excellent cardiovascular workout that should be performed slowly and in sets combined with mountain climbing. 4) Squats to Lunge: Body weight exercises help in burning calories. Combining squats and lunges is best for the lower body as they aid in mobility and balance. Not only do they develop leg strength, they also work on your core, stabilising muscles. The stability it takes to combine these two moves means extra credit for your core and a chance to work more of your butt muscles at once. Perform 10 on each side, then continue to your next move, resting as needed. After you’ve finished all of your exercises (three total), repeat the entire workout twice more for a total of three rounds. 5) Plank: This is a great body weight core workout and a calorie burner. In between sets, recover by twisting, bending, forward bending, and side bending. If performed properly in a well-regulated, measured manner, these four to five sets can actually improve your circulation, oxygenation and caloric output. 6) Dancing: This is not only a mood uplifter, it addresses blood circulation, improves lung capacity, oxygenation and conditions the heart. 7) Cycling and jogging: Done in challenging terrain, these not only burn calories but also offer benefits of being in nature. These flavours will add more value to just the emotions, mood and psychological well-being. Bringing in more variety obviously brings recreational value to your regime. This is always very good for early beginners so that they don’t get bored or drop out. Lastly, rest is most important, as calorie-burning happens when you relax, not when you are doing workouts. Ideally, I don't want people to become accountants and count steps, reps and calories. Instead I want to help people collect great experiences and great memories of fulfilling workouts which bring a lot of joy. When exercises are focussed on burning calories, they become a punishment and when exercises are focused on recreation and joy, they become a fun activity. (Dr Mehta has trained Bollywood superstars Akshay Kumar, Preity Zinta, billionaires, politicians, Miss World/Miss Universe candidates and the Maharashtra Police. A best-selling author, his latest book is called 'Weightless.' He has been appointed FIT India Movement Champion by the Sports Authority of India)
