How Can Compound Exercises Help Burn Fat?

Fat loss is often the No. 1 reason why people hit the gym. Of course, health improvements are important, too, but who doesn't want to fit into a smaller size of jeans? While single-joint exercises can help fine tune your physique, compound exercises, exercises that use more than one joint, are the way to go if you're looking to shape up and burn fat.

  1. Compound Exercise Selection

    • Although there are countless types of compound exercises, there are a handful you can focus on that will get you headed down the path of fat loss. Upper-body exercises include the variations of the bench press, the shoulder press and all types of rows. Squats, lunges and step-ups will target your hips, thighs and calves. If time is of the essence, give deadlifts, cleans, thrusters or snatches a go to work your entire body in one shot.

    Oxygen and Energy Use

    • The larger the muscle mass you have working at any one time, the more oxygen you will take in and the more calories you will burn during exercise. Take, for example, a biceps curl. You can perform a set of 15 and not feel winded. Fifteen squats, on the other hand, might leave you sucking air. The reason for this is that the multiple large muscle groups of the legs require much more energy than the single muscle of the arm. Your body gets this energy by using oxygen to break down energy substrates. To put it simply, compound exercises require more energy to perform, which results in more calories used and eventually more fat burned.

    Changes in Body Composition

    • Over time, compound exercises can burn fat by altering your body composition. According to the National Strength and Conditioning Association, resistance training can increase fat-free mass and reduce body fat by 1 to 9 percent. This increase in fat-free mass results in a higher resting metabolism and higher energy expenditure during exercise, which can mean more fat burning throughout the day.

    Intensity Component

    • You can perform compound exercises all day long, but if you don't work out with some level of intensity, you'll do little to burn fat. Giving yourself long breaks in between exercises will give your body time to recover, which is a good thing if you're lifting for strength but not if you're lifting for fat loss. For optimum fat burning, perform one compound exercise after the other with little to no rest between exercises. Aim for two to three sets of eight to 12 repetitions of each exercise on two to three nonconsecutive days per week.