You would think that if you were exercising, it would make a dent in your fat loss. But that’s not always the case. Not all exercises are made equal, or labelled as best exercise to burn fat .Moreover some are literally useless at helping you burn any significant calories.Here’s a list of the top 5. But before we get into those infamous 5 exercises, let me explain to you the basis of calorie burning through exercise.Get to know more about ways to burn 100 calories in 20 minutes. For you to lose weight, you need to burn calories. To burn the most calories, you need to move big muscle, and move it through a large distance.As a simple example, take running. You move each muscle in your body through the distance that you run. And you move it fast. That is the trifecta of calorie burning- move big muscle, move it further, and move it fast. Read to know more about tips on running form.
Now, let’s start with the useless 5:
1. The Sit Up: This exercise is probably the ‘favourite’ among those trying to lose weight or trying to reduce their belly. While there is no question that the mighty sit-up does work those abdominal muscles, but the calories burned from doing sit ups is so small, that you would need to do hundreds of thousands of sit ups to make any dent in your weight loss.
Why it doesn’t work: Abs are little exercise in your torso, and this exercise targets those muscles. If you look at the amount of muscle that you move in this exercise, it’s not much, and you move it only through a small distance. So, the effective calorie burn is small. Researchers at the University of Virginia found that it would take 250,000 sit ups for you to burn 1 lb, that’s less than half a kg of fat.
2. Twisting: A really common sight in gyms is people twisting vigorously on those round little platforms or with a bar across their shoulders, because their gym trainer told them it would help loosen the fat on their sides. More than burning fat, they’re putting people at risk of injury
Why it doesn’t work: When you twist around your waist, you are using some of your core muscles, but since your muscles are not working against gravity, so it’s easy to keep doing it, but you’re not burning many calories. And in some cases of vigorous twisting, you might be putting your back at risk of injury.If twisting was really going to help people burn fat, then we could solve world obesity problems by distributing those ‘twister machines’.
3. The Vibrating Machine: This one is fortunately waning in popularity. In the 80s and 90s, the vibrating machine was a huge rage. You stand on this platform, with a belt around you, and when you turn the machine on, it shakes the belt vigorously. Another ‘magic fat melter’ machine that failed to live up to its promise.
Why it doesn’t work: In this one your whole body’s muscles may be vibrating, but there are two problems, 1: Your muscles are moving through tiny distances, so its minimal work 2: The machine is doing the work. You’re just resting on the belt. So, where’s the calorie burn?
4. Toe Touching: The toe touch is a popular yoga exercise. Every school kid does 100s of these during PT class. Somehow the word’s spread, that toe touching helps you lose weight. While being a yoga exercise, I’m sure it has its physical and physiological benefits, but if you’re doing toe touching just to lose weight, please stop!
Why it doesn’t work: Okay, so it seems like you’re moving a lot of muscle, and you are moving your whole upper body up and down, but the muscle that you’re really work are some of those abs, which are tiny muscles, so resulting in little calorie burn. And if you’re short on flexibility, this exercise might actually put your lower back at risk of injury.
5. Morning Walker: This machine is a really popular gadget being sold these days. From the late night TV shopping shows to the hottest e-commerce sites are doing brisk business with the ‘morning walker’ machine, but it’s not making anyone lose weight. Imagine lying down in the room, while the machines moves you legs. How much of a calorie burn are you really expecting? If you’re trying to lose weight, you can’t be that lazy. Learn to know more about ways to lose weight. The only people that may be allowed to really use this kind of a machine are those who may be medically immobile, but if you can walk, then you better be walking or better yet running!
Why it doesn’t work: This one is really not even worth explaining why! You’re lying down, you’re not really moving- that’s why!Hence the best mantra to stay fit and healthy is to bring change in your eating habits and simultaneously to your exercise routine.
Having said that,don't let any of the market gimmicks play with your health in long run. Be aware of what you are practising in your lifestyle, have certain logic behind it because "A little knowledge is a dangerous thing." which can deteriorate your health.