Practice a sport is essential if you want to lose weight. Physical activity and a healthy and balanced diet are necessary to cope with extra pounds. But what sports should be practiced to lose weight as effectively as possible ? Discover our recommendation of the top 7 sports to lose weight !
What is the best sport to lose weight, lose fat or get a flat stomach ? We will tell you but first of all, to fully understand our approach, read the following. You will find right after the top 7 sports to lose weight. We also offer, at the end of the article, a list of dietary supplements that can help you in this process.
Lose weight without sports, eating better or less ?
If you want to lose a few extra pounds, know that it is essential to combine a healthy and balanced diet with physical activity. One can very well lose weight without doing sports, simply by eating less but this has some drawbacks. It is important to preserve your muscle capital on the one hand, on the other hand, a thin but flabby body is not necessarily very aesthetic. A little exercise helps to lose more calories, to tone your muscles to refine your figure and in addition, it is good for the heart, health and morale !
Lose weight only by doing sports ?
You can also lose weight without a diet, just by practicing sports. This method is nevertheless difficult because the easiest way to lose weight is still to decrease the calories absorbed rather than trying to spend them through physical activity. If you are not convinced, read our article : Does sports really make you lose weight ? In addition, regular physical activity leads the body to optimize the storage and use of its energy reserves. A trained sportsman stores more reserves in the form of glycogen than fat and his body draws more from fat than a person who is not very sporty. The interest of sports is therefore not only to expend calories but to make more effective the use of fats by the body.
Sport can make you gain weight !
Another important point to consider : a sport can make you slim down while making you gain a little weight. Muscle is indeed heavier than fat. When you do sports, whether it’s cardio training, endurance sport or strength training, you develop your musculature, so you gain a little weight. Fat will indeed be replaced by heavier muscle. We’ll slim down while gaining weight, at least temporarily ! Rest assured, this variation is minimal, and as the fats melt, the weight on the scale will eventually drop.
The ideal sport to lose fat
Knowing all this, concretely, which sport is most suitable for losing weight ? To answer this question, you need to know 3 things :
Cardio training is a very effective way to spend calories. You will spend mostly during the activity and the hours that follow. Depending on the sport practiced, cardio training will also make you gain muscle mass. Cycling, swimming, running, cross-country skiing, zumba, aqua aerobics are cardio-training activities that expend a lot of calories. Learn more about cardio training.
Bodybuilding, contrary to what one might think, is a great way to lose fat. By gaining muscle, one increases its basic metabolism, that is to say the minimum expenses that the body needs to survive. Our muscles basically burn fat in low intensity physical activities. The more you develop your muscles, the more fat you burn throughout the day, even at rest ! Do not underestimate this activity. Learn more about the benefits of bodybuilding to lose weight.
Calories spent: If you want to lose weight, do not rely solely on the number of calories spent or the intensity of effort. Our body consumes more fats at low intensity than at high intensity, in proportion to the calories expended obviously. Studies have shown that the most effective way to lose fat is to work at moderate intensity (read more) and even more by high intensity fractionation or fractionation including breaks.
To lose fat as efficiently and quickly as possible, it is better to orient yourself to a sport that combines the 2 activities: cardio-training and bodybuilding. So here are the best sports to lose fat !
Precaution
Cardio training makes the heart work and is not compatible with certain diseases, including heart and respiratory. Consult your doctor for an opinion or medical examination. Some of the activities proposed below should not be practiced in case of health problems (low back pain, neck pain, back or knee pain, etc.). Check with your doctor.