How to Trick Your Body Into Losing Weight While Exercising

Your body naturally begins the weight-loss process during exercise by burning fat as a source of energy. In the short-term, you may lose water weight through sweating. Diet and nutrition strategies will also influence how much weight is lost during a training session. By combining fat-burning nutrition with a few advanced training techniques, you can trick your body into losing more weight while exercising.

Instructions

    • 1

      Eat a very small pre-workout meal to encourage your body to burn fat as a source of fuel. For example, you might have a scoop of whey protein and a small piece of fruit. More advanced trainees can burn even more fat by abstaining from eating prior to workouts, according to “Man 2.0 Engineering the Alpha” by John Romaniello and Adam Bornstein.

    • 2

      Take 5 to 10 grams of branched-chain amino acids, or BCAAs, before working out. According to “Natural Anabolics” by Jerry Brainum, these are special amino acids that energize muscles cells, turn on protein synthesis, inhibit muscle protein breakdown and help you burn more fat. Consult your physician or other fitness professional for guidance.

    • 3

      Do 30 to 60 minutes of resistance-training three to five days per week. “Xtreme Lean” author Steve Holman says this is the best way to burn body fat.

    • 4

      Add 20 to 30 minutes of cardiovascular exercise immediately after your resistance-training. According to “The Abs Diet” by David Zinczenkio, cardio helps burn extra calories to lose weight.

    • 5

      Perform 20 to 40 seconds of brief, but intense cardiovascular activity between each set of your resistance training workout. “Metabolic Surge” author Nick Nilsson says you can use this to replace traditional cardio or do both. Examples include walking lunges, jumping rope, and bench step-ups.

    • 6

      Incorporate one “NA” -- negative-accentuated -- set per exercise. Holman explains that this six-second lowering tempo on every repetition causes extra damage to muscle fibers. The body then draws from body fat stores for up to 72 hours following a workout to repair the damaged muscles.

    • 7

      Add drop-sets and super-sets to your workout program to increase time under tension, workout intensity and fat-burning. Drop-sets are when you immediately decrease the weight slightly following a set and do another set to exhaustion without resting. Super-sets refers to performing two exercises back to back with little or no rest between them.