15 Easy Aerobic Exercises to Lose Weight and Get Back in Shape

If you are on the journey to fitness and are trying to lose a bit of weight to get back in shape, aerobics may be just right for you. While the journey may seem hard at first, once you do enough research and make your mind up, you will see the much-awaited results. This is because aerobics is often considered to be a fat-burning exercise due to its ability to use fat as fuel rather than using carbohydrates.

How Does Aerobics Help to Lose Weight?

Here are some benefits of aerobic exercise for weight loss:

• Regular aerobics will lead to your body being lighter and you feeling more energetic, thus allowing you to be more active than sedentary. Being active and energetic will prevent you from putting on weight that you would otherwise gain from a sedentary life.

• Aerobics reduces your blood pressure and prevents clogging of the blood vessels. This will also help to lessen the risk of fat accumulation in the blood vessels and in the body’s cells. Thus, aerobics helps in weight loss by reducing the chances of fat getting deposited in your body.

• Daily aerobics will aid in weight loss as a huge amount of calories are burnt during these exercises. Intensive aerobics burn a lot more calories in one session than other types of exercises.

• Aerobics will make your heart and lungs work harder and increase the amount of oxygen in your body. The extra oxygen helps in burning the fat deposits of the body.
• Choosing aerobics as your exercise will also improve your mood and leave very little chance to develop anxiety, depression or stress. This will prevent you from stress-eating or binge-eating, thus aiding in weight loss.

Best Aerobic Exercises to Reduce Weight At Home

If you don’t have the time to hit the gym, here are some of the best aerobic exercises you can do to reduce weight at home:

1. Sprinters Sit-ups

Here is how it works:

Muscles Targeted : Obliques and rectus abdominis

How to Do

• Sit with your legs outstretched before you, and your arms at right angles.
• Lift your left knee and bring it towards your chest and move your right elbow to meet the knee.
• Revert to the starting position and repeat with your right knee and left elbow.

2. Corkscrew

Here is how it works:

Muscles Targeted : Obliques and abs

How to Do

• Place your hands under your lower back, and lay flat on your back.
• Slowly lift your legs, keeping them straight, and rotate them one way, and then the other.

3. Butt Kicks

Here is how it works:

Muscles Targeted : Glutes and hamstrings

How to Do 

• Stand in the jogging position.
• Bend your right knee back, such that when you lift your leg, your heel kicks your buttocks.
• Jog in place using this movement and alternating legs.

4. Jumping Lunges

Here is how it works:

Muscles Targeted : Hamstrings and quads

How to Do 

• Stand straight with your arms outstretched in front of you.
• Bending at the knee, bring your right leg forward.
• Keep your left knee unbend, leaving the leg to stretch out behind you.
• Now with a small jump, switch legs and repeat the movement.

5. Donkey Kick

Here is how it works:

Muscles Targeted : Hips and glutes

How to Do

• Get on your hands and knees, keeping the hands apart at shoulder’s width.
• Kick back with one of your legs, keeping the knee bent and heel aiming for the buttocks.
• Do this eight times and switch legs.
• Repeat.

6. Flutter Kick

Here is how it works:

Muscles Targeted : Lower Abs

How to Do 

• Lie down flat on your back and place your hands under your lower back for support.
• Lift both your feet up off the ground and then bring one up to form a right angle with the rest of your body
• Bring it back down while moving the other leg to form a right angle with your body.
• Keep moving your legs up and down, never letting them rest on the ground.

7. Plank Jacks

Here is how it works:

Muscles Targeted : Hips, hamstrings, and glutes

How to Do 

• Start in the plank position.
• With a slight bounce, move your feet apart and bring them back together.

8. High Knees

Here is how it works:

Muscles Targeted : Glutes and quads

How to Do 

• Stand with your feet shoulder-width apart.
• Jog in place by bringing your knee as high as you can towards your chest.

9. Mountain Climber

Here is how it works:

Muscles Targeted : Abs and hamstring

How to Do

• Start in the plank position.
• Bring your leg forward, so your knee is facing your arms.
• Move the leg back and bring the other forward.
• Repeat this quickly.

10. Stairs

Here is how it works:

Muscles Targeted : Calves, glutes, hamstrings and quads

How to Do

• This is the most straightforward exercise of them all – run up and down the stairs for at least ten minutes, maintaining a steady pace.

11. Bear Crawl

Here is how it works:

Muscles Targeted : Deltoids and triceps

How to Do 

• Begin in the plank position.
• Slowly crawl across the floor.
• Try to place more of the weight on your arms rather than legs.

12. Jumping Jacks

Here is how it works:

Muscles Targeted : Calves, deltoids, glutes and lats

How to Do 

• Stand straight with your arms at your sides and feet together.
• Jump and bring the arms up and the legs out.
• Repeat the jumping, moving your arms up and down, and legs, from side to side.

13. Burpees

Here is how it works:

Muscles Targeted : Chest, deltoids, hamstrings, quads and triceps

How to Do

• Stand straight and keep your hands at your sides.
• Quickly squat and place your hands on the ground.
• With the weight on your arms, push your legs out into plank position.
• Do a push-up and then jump back into a squat, and then return to the standing position.

14. Jump Squat

Here is how it works:

Muscles Targeted : Hip flexors, glutes and quads

How to Do 

• Stand straight with your feet apart at shoulder’s width.
• Move into the squat position.
• To move up and out of squat position, use a jumping motion.
• Upon landing, immediately move into a squat position.
• Repeat.

15. Skipping

Here is how it works:

Muscles Targeted : Calves, glutes, quads and shoulders

How to Do

You can actually mimic this exercise even if you don’t have a skipping rope!

• Stand with your feet apart.
• Hold the skipping rope handles in one hand each and using the flick of the wrist, fling the rope over your head and under your feet.
• Jump over the rope as it comes towards your feet.

FAQs

Here are some frequently asked questions about aerobics:

1. Does Aerobic Exercise Help Lose Belly Fat?

Stomach fat is usually visceral fat, which is bad fat that can even be found around or in the organs in your abdomen. Managing the fat around the belly area will not just make you look good, but it will make you feel good too. Your health condition improves; it reduces the risks of certain types of cancers, and even cirrhosis can be prevented. A full body cardio routine can help you lose weight around the belly, but your diet matters a lot too, so reducing the number of calories you eat every day will make a huge difference. Keep in mind that simply losing the weight around the stomach may not give you the result that you want, since toned abs will require some additional strength training. Even the side-to-side plank is a great way to tone the ab muscles; hold the plank position for about 30 to 40 seconds for the best results.

2. How Much Weight Can I Lose With Aerobics?

The key to losing weight with aerobics is in burning a higher amount of calories than you consume. You can start slow, but a balanced diet and regular exercise with a slow and steady increase in intensity will help shed the kilos better. There is a good chance that the weight you are currently at will have a direct impact on the amount of weight you will be able to lose. If you weigh more, you will lose more with physical activities. For example, you are 90 kgs, and you have not consumed any extra calories in a month and have been exercising regularly, you will be able to lose 2 kgs in that time. However, if you weigh 58 kgs and don’t make changes in your diet or exercise, you will lose only 1 kg.

High-impact aerobics results in weight loss taking place faster and you will lose more weight as well. Low-impact aerobics will result in slower weight loss. With regard to an aerobics workout for weight loss, 30 minutes of high-impact exercising for at least five days is important.

3. Can a Pregnant Woman Perform Jumping Jacks?

Jumping jacks definitely falls under the high-impact category in aerobic exercises, and while it is a welcome addition in the regular aerobics routine, for women who are pregnant, it is bound to make you feel very uneasy. Women who are not used to exercising should start off very slowly and carefully if they chose to exercise during their pregnancy. Swimming or brisk walking is a great way to ease into the fitness routine. For those women who have been doing high-impact workouts regularly, even before becoming pregnant, continuing a more high-impact routine may be alright for you, but it is still better to check with your doctor so that you will know for certain if there is anything specific you need to follow or be cautious about. You must always listen to your body to find out how much you can handle or are comfortable with and you should never over-exert yourself or push yourself too hard. Keeping the body well hydrated while exercising is also a very important part of working out during pregnancy. If you find that you are putting on additional weight during pregnancy, you can always check your diet and join an aerobics dance exercise for weight loss at this time, IF your doctor gives you a ‘go-ahead’.

No matter the type or frequency you choose to start with, remember that remaining consistent and slowly increasing the challenge and intensity of your workout will be the best way to ease into the world of fitness and aerobics, while still having an impact on your weight loss. Stick it out and see the results for yourself.

Also Read: Tips for Losing Weight Without Diet and Exercise Naturally
Ways to Lose Weight With Perfect Diet Plan
Psychological Tricks That Help You Losing Weight