The Fastest Way to Burn Fat in a Small Room

Living in an apartment or working long hours in a small office doesn’t have to limit your ability to burn fat and lose weight. Martica Heaner, M.A., M.Ed., writing for MSN Healthy Living, suggests the best way to burn body fat is to sustain a low-impact activity over a period of time. Your own body weight or portable versions of exercise machines provide all you need to pump up your heart rate and tone muscles. No matter the size of your space, a combination of cardiovascular and strength training solutions will help you burn body fat in a small room.

  1. Get an Aerobic Workout

    • Aerobic exercise, which burns more fat calories, is the fastest way to lose body fat. A 150-pound person can burn about 200 calories an hour walking around the apartment or office or burn 500 calories an hour running in place. The same person jumping rope for ten minutes will burn almost 115 calories. Pull out the aerobic DVDs and burn between 300 and 500 calories an hour, modifying moves as needed for your space. For example, if the workout calls for a side-step walk, take smaller steps or simply cross your legs alternately without traveling.

    Use Portable Exercise Equipment

    • If you don’t have the space for bulky exercise equipment, try the portable versions of treadmills, bicycle exercisers, ellipticals and stair climbers. You may store these compact devices in a closet or under your bed. A 150-pound person can burn about 200 calories an hour walking 3 miles per hour on a portable manual treadmill. They can be as small as about 4-by-2 feet when in use and then fold up to store behind the couch, in a closet or under your bed. You can double that burn by using a treadmill with a 5-percent incline. A portable bicycle exerciser can help the same person burn almost 400 calories an hour when pedaling at a light pace. Working out on the stair climber will burn about the same number of calories.

    Weights You Can Lift and Store

    • Along with cardiovascular exercise and a good diet, the final key to reducing body fat is strength training. The most compact resistance-training tool you can use is a resistance band. They may be five-feet long, but you can fold one up and hide it in a drawer. If you prefer free weights, there are a number of adjustable compact solutions available on the market. Some types allow you to adjust weight up to 90 lbs. and they take up less than four square feet of space. You could also burn calories by rearranging furniture once a week. The weight of the furniture provides resistance for building muscle and a 150-pound person can also burn about 400 calories an hour moving furniture around.

    Let Your Body Be the Machine

    • Calisthenics use your body’s weight to provide resistance. These compact exercises include jumping jacks, pushups, pullups, situps, squats, lunges, heel raises and plank poses. Doing calisthenics for 30 minutes will burn about 100 to 200 calories in a 150-pound person, depending on intensity. You can use a stair, step-stool or sturdy box that is at least 10 inches high to burn more than 300 calories stepping up and down in the same amount of time.