Divide and conquer! Breaking your weight loss fitness program into individual muscle groups

Getting rid of that excess body fat is always a challenge, especially just before summer. But like any battle, it is often best to divide and conquer. Your body is made up of a variety of muscle groups, all of which function differently and therefore need to be treated differently during your weight loss workout routine.

For the most effective gym workout, divide your weight loss fitness program into exercises targeting your body’s various muscle groups. Remember that exercises that burn the fat off your hips, glutes and thighs won’t always work on your biceps and triceps – and visa versa. Sometimes, it is only necessary to tone up the parts of your body that don’t get enough exercise during your average day’s/daily activities. The best exercise for weight loss greatly depends on which part of your body you feel needs to lose some flab.

Legs, thighs and glutes

Start your fitness and weight loss regime by focusing on the lower half of your body: your legs, thighs and glutes. Squats and lunges are equally effective at burning the excess fat off your hips, thighs and glutes.

There are many different types of squats that are just as effective as the traditional kind, preventing your workout from becoming too boring. Give your weight loss workout routine some variety by integrating chair squats, assisted squats, medicine ball squats and tiptoe squats.

Lunges are also excellent for burning body fat in your hips, thighs and glutes, and they are incredibly easy to do. You can add props like a medicine ball or dumbbells for even more fat burning power, and to give your arms a workout at the same time.

Back, chest and shoulders

Burning fat in the back, chest and shoulder area is more time consuming than working on the legs because there are so many different muscles that you need to target. There isn’t a simple exercise that targets them all at once, so your weight loss fitness program should include a variety of different exercises to get a well-balanced fat burning effect.

A full weight loss workout routine should include back extensions, dumbbell rows and dumbbell pullovers, all of which focus on the back. Chest exercises include chest presses, push-ups and chest flies, while overhead presses, lateral raises and standing dumbbell upright rowing will burn fat from your shoulders.

Biceps and triceps

The most common bicep exercise is the basic bicep curl, which is great for burning fat, but there are many other exercises that can be done for a little bit of extra variety. Try mixing in some concentration curls and hammer curls to get a greater fat burning boost. Virgin Active has a range of bicep-specific workouts available online, including beginner, intermediate and advanced exercises.

The triceps are a notoriously difficult area from which to burn fat and tone muscle, but there are exercises that are effective. Kick-backs and triceps dips are a good place to start and should make a difference fairly quickly. There are also triceps exercises for beginners, intermediates and advanced health club users.

And finally… those abs

It is often our belly that starts to show the flab first and it’s a good indicator that we aren’t taking care of ourselves like we should be. For losing belly fat, it is best to combine some reliable ab crunches with a variety of other simple ab exercises.

Though exercise is excellent for fast weight loss, it should be accompanied by a healthy weight loss diet. Always consult your Virgin Active personal trainer at your local Virgin Active Branch for the healthiest way to burn fat.