Simple Weight Loss Exercises for Men that Actually Work

While you can’t outrun a bad diet, exercise should still be a vital part of your weight loss goals. Fortunately, you’ll find it easy to get started with these simple weight loss exercises for men.

The real secret to achieving your weight loss goals is completing your exercises regularly.

Key Points

Start Small

It’s important to know your current limitations and build on them gradually.

Of course, you’ll need to push yourself to your limit, but this doesn't mean going too far and potentially injuring yourself. In addition, setting small achievable goals will help you stay motivated and get the right results.

Have a Spotter

Weight loss exercises are not just about cardio. Lifting weights can really boost your metabolism. But it’s a good idea to have a spotter or someone who can help if you get into difficulty. Spotters are also great for keeping an eye on your form.

Alternate Muscles

Giving your muscles time to repair themselves is just as important as doing these weight loss exercises for men. You should rest each muscle group for 48 hours between workouts.

Of course, this doesn't mean taking an off day. It just means choosing exercises that work different muscles.

Nutrition

It’s possible to lose weight simply by eating fewer calories than your maintenance amount.

However, you should also be looking at the nutrition you’re consuming. Each meal should be balanced; ½ vegetables, ¼ protein; ¼ carbohydrates.

This is known as the perfect plate approach to eating, and it can help to ensure your body has all the nutrients it needs.

Why You Need To Exercise

You've already heard that you can’t outrun, (or exercise), a bad diet. This is true. Committing to a new, healthier eating regime is essential if you’re serious about losing weight. This point really cannot be stressed enough. You must eat better to lose weight.

But, completing the right weight loss exercises for men can help you to achieve your goals in several ways:

• Motivation

Whenever you exercise your body will release endorphins, specifically serotonin; these make you feel good. Because you feel good you’ll start to want to exercise more and this is important when you first start exercising; it’s far too easy to quit!

• Calorie Burning

It’s a myth that fat can be turned into muscle or even that muscle weighs more than fat. A pound of fat weighs a pound and so does a pound of muscle!

However, muscle has been shown to burn more calories than fat does, even when resting. It doesn't matter if you’re doing cardio or weightlifting. You will be boosting your muscles and burning more calories, and that helps with weight loss.

• Heart Health

Exercise improves the strength of your heart and helps to keep your weight down. In turn, this will reduce the strain on your heart when exercising and make it last longer.

In addition, the increased blood flow when exercising can help to reduce plaque buildup in your blood vessels, helping to reduce your chances of stroke, heart attacks, and even diabetes.

Torch Fat With These Weight Loss Exercises For Men 

What's great about using specific weight loss exercises for men is the number of calories you can burn. If you do this alongside developing healthy eating habits, you can increase your daily calorie deficit, and that’s what will really help you to lose the weight. You can try our fat burning workout alongside these great weight loss exercises for men to get you started.

Cardio Exercises

Running

This remains one of the simplest and cheapest forms of exercise to get you started. Just put on a good pair of running shoes and hit the road.

To make it more fun and add an element of HIIT, you can try running fast from one streetlamp to the next, then slow down until the next streetlamp and repeat.

You’ll burn approximately 105 calories per mile. That’s between 300 and 600 calories in 30 minutes!

Get On Your Bike

Cycling is another easy to do activity which can also be done with friends, effectively increasing the level of fun. But you will need a bike.

You can expect to burn around 330 calories in 30 minutes if cycling at a moderate pace, (12-14mph).

Rowing

You don’t need to get on the river to start rowing. A rowing machine at home or the local gym will do. Just 30 minutes of rowing will burn approximately 300 calories.

Walking

This is the perfect way to start your weight loss exercises if you haven’t been active in a while. Start by walking the dog and work your way up to a vigorous 30-minute walk.

You’ll be aiming to go up and down some hills and get out of breath; this should enable you to lose 200-250 calories in an hour.

Jumping Rope

You may not have jumped rope since high school, but it’s actually a very effective way of burning calories and actually quite a fun weight loss exercise for men. This weight loss exercise will actually work all the muscles in your body and help you to burn approximately 400 calories in 30 minutes.

Elliptical Trainer

This predominantly works the muscles in the lower half of your body, but if you swing your arms and stand straight as you do it, you’ll be working your core and upper body at the same time. It’s all about the right technique. Use it, and you’ll burn approximately 400 calories after a vigorous 30-minute session.

Battle Ropes

Throwing around some battle ropes count as both cardio and resistance training. Again, they’re a lot of fun and extremely effective. Simply secure the ropes around a solid object and stand with feet shoulder-width apart. Then bend your knees slightly and keep your chest up as you send waves down each rope.
You’ll burn roughly 330 calories in 30 minutes.

Swimming

This is another great weight loss exercise. Focus on doing a set number of long laps. Then break for a couple of minutes before doing it again.

Using different strokes will ensure you are targeting an array of muscles and burning more calories.

You should be able to burn approximately 300 calories in 30 minutes.

To up the challenge and the amount of calories burned, try swimming in the sea or a lake. The coldness of the water and current will make your body work harder, as well as help with inflammation.

Strength Training Suggestions

The best idea with strength training exercises is to choose between 5 and 10 of the following weight loss exercises for men and then do one set of 10 reps of each exercise.

Take a break for 2-3 minutes before repeating and then do it all a third time. The whole routine should take about 30 minutes.

The important thing to remember is, that as you age, you shouldn't be focusing on different parts of your body on different days. Instead, do strength training that targets all of your muscles on alternating days. You can keep your weight loss exercises and motivation going on the other days by doing cardio.

Below is the calorie burn for each exercise if done for 30 minutes. You’ll want to mix several of these exercises together to complete a 30-minute workout. Try different exercises throughout the entire week.

Follow the links to get an in-depth guide to doing each exercise correctly. It’s impotent to take your time to learn the correct form for any exercise as this will give maximum results and minimal risk of injury.

Squats

The basic squat involves having your feet shoulder width apart and lowering your body until your thighs are parallel to the floor. Add in dumbbells or kettlebells, and the added resistance will help you to build lean muscle and torch the fat.

30 minutes of squats will burn in the region of 450 calories!

Deadlifts

The deadlift actually works nearly every muscle in your body. It’s a great strength trainer with cardio and weight loss benefits.

3 sets of 10 deadlifts will burn approximately 100 calories. The exact figure will depend on how much weight you’re lifting.

Bench Press

This targets your chest muscles and will help you to get the pecs that you wish you had, while burning fat. Using the correct form is essential to ensure you don’t injure yourself.

You should be able to burn 90 calories in 30 minutes.

Bent Over Row

You can use a barbell or dumbbells for this exercise; it targets your upper back muscles, shoulders, and your biceps.

Bent over rows will burn around 100 calories per half hour.

Overhead Press

It may seem that this exercise is working your shoulders, but if you do it properly, it will also target your core and even your legs. Using dumbbells won’t increase the calories you burn, but it will make your core work harder to keep your balance.

You can expect to burn 90 calories in 30 minutes with this exercise.

Weighted Lunges

There is no doubt that the lunge is designed to work the lower half of your body; it’s a staple exercise for many men trying to lose weight or even build muscle. Add in a pair of dumbbells, and it becomes infinitely more challenging.

You’ll burn approximately 40 calories when doing 3 sets of 10 weighted lunges.

Farmers Walk

You can do this with dumbbells, kettlebells, or anything else you can find that is heavy enough. The idea is to keep your back straight, take one weight in each hand and walk as far as you can for 30 seconds.

Then stop, rest for 30 seconds and do it again!

The farmers walk is a fantastic way to build your core strength and work nearly every muscle in your body.

You’ll burn roughly 200 calories if you can do this for 30 minutes, but it is important not to overdo this exercise.

Push-Ups

The classic push-up never goes out of fashion. It is an effective way to build strong shoulders, arms, and even your chest.

You may only burn approximately one calorie per push-up. But, that means you could burn 30 calories every minute; if you do one push-up every 2 seconds. That’s 300 calories in ten minutes and just part of your best weight loss exercises for men plan!

Planks

The plank is a great way to work your core, and it can be done anywhere. In fact, there are several different variations of the plank you should learn as they will target slightly different muscle groups. The plank can improve strength in your hips, shoulders, as well as your core.

You can expect to burn approximately 90 calories planking for 30 minutes.

Tricep or Bench Dips

Unsurprisingly this exercise predominantly works your triceps. It’s easy to do virtually anywhere and actually targets your upper arm muscles and even your forearms.

The tricep or bench dip will burn roughly 86 calories in 30 minutes, and you don’t have to wait until you get home to do them!

Final Thoughts

The common perception is that cardio work will burn more calories than strength training exercises.

While this can be true, you do need to be aware that strength training can actually boost your metabolic rate which allows you to burn more calories when resting.

That’s why it’s essential that you add strength training and cardio exercises to your routine. Check out our fat burning workout and start doing some of the weight loss exercises for men listed above. You will notice the difference in your weight and in the way you feel.

And, don’t forget, the Fit Father Project has helped thousands of men like you. We’re here to help you too, all you need to do is join us, ask any questions you have, and share your experiences!

Your new friend & health coach,

*Please know that weight loss results & health changes/improvements vary from individual to individual; you may not achieve similar results. Always consult with your doctor before making health decisions. This is not medical advice – simply very well-researched info weight loss exercises for men.