4 Fat-Burning Exercises You Can’t Skip, According to a Trainer

When you’re trying to burn fat, you should prioritize strength training over cardio. It may sound counterintuitive, but strength training is better than aerobic exercise for fat loss because it burns more calories, helps you build muscle mass, and raises your metabolism.

However, with resistance training, selecting the right exercises is key. That’s where we come in with these fat burning exercises you shouldn’t skip. But before we get into them, here’s a bit more background.

What you don’t want to do is a fancy-looking combination of moves that don’t really get the job done. Getting fit means focusing on compound exercises that use multiple muscle groups at the same time. Your body has certain fundamental movement patterns: squat, hinge, push, pull, lunge, march, and twist.

Your workouts should incorporate an exercise with at least one of these movements. They are the ones that contribute the most and help you achieve the results you want.

If you don’t know which exercises to choose from each movement pattern, don’t worry, because we show you the best fat burning exercises that you won’t want to skip.

1. Dumbbell squat

Stand tall with your feet spread wide and your hips turned slightly outward.
Hold a dumbbell or kettlebell in front of your chest while keeping your elbows close to your body. Bend at the hips, knees, and ankles to squat down. Continue until your hips are slightly lower than your knees. To get up, push your feet toward the ground and return to the starting position. Complete 10 reps, rest, and repeat for a total of two to three sets.

2. Deadlift (with kettlebell or barbell)

You will need a heavy kettlebell that is relatively challenging to lift but does not cause any effort.
Place the kettlebell on the floor and stand directly above the bell with your feet a few inches shoulder-width apart. Brace your core and bend at the hips, pushing your butt back as if you’re about to sit down. As your hands reach the handle of the kettlebell, brace your lats and core, inhale, and push off the ground with your feet to rise up, bringing the kettlebell with you. As you stand up, exhale and keep your muscles active. When you’ve stood up, squeeze your glutes. That’s a repeat. You have to do 3 sets of 12 repetitions.

3. Overhead arm press

Stand tall with your feet shoulder-width apart.
Grab the dumbbells with your palms facing up. Raise both arms first to shoulder height and then up above your head. Carefully lower your arms back to the starting position. Do 20 reps.

4. Bench dumbbell row

Put your right hand and knee on a bench.
With the other hand, the left, he grabs a weight.
He raises the weight and lowers it again.
He performs 10 lifts with each arm.