Looking to lose weight this summer? We’ve spoken to two Aberdeen fitness experts who say you might be going about it all wrong.
Aberdeen Sports Village coaches Alex Bailey and Scott Woods share with us the best ways to tone up with their favourite exercises.
And some of their advice might even come as a surprise.
You might learn a more effective way to lose weight – and even discover you’ve not been weighing yourself the right way for years.
Best exercises for weight loss: Why you shouldn’t pound the treadmill
Scott recommends exercising all your muscle groups as often as possible – regardless of what your goal is.
He says: “You want to work out as many muscles as you can to help get your body moving and to build up your strength.
“Over time you can develop those moves and make them slightly harder, for instance, go for more reps or for a longer time.”
Eating less will also help if your ultimate goal is to lose weight.
Scott recommends an 80/20 rule where you eat the right food the majority of the time but allow yourself treats now and then.
But certain types of exercises can also help you lose weight.
Alex says: “All exercises will help you burn extra energy in your body and help you shape up.
“The best exercise for losing weight is to get stronger. A lot of people who are new to gyms have this fear that lifting weights will help you look like Arnold Schwarzenegger – I wish it did!
“But most of the people we look up to because of their physiques lift weights.
“They get strong and do lots of strengthening work. It doesn’t need to be about lifting heavy weights – you could use machines or dumbbells.
“Getting your body stronger will help you lose the weight.
“A lot of people pound the treadmill because they think it’s more effective.
“But it doesn’t do much to change your body shape and it doesn’t tone or shape up muscles at all.”
Charting progress: How lots of people are weighing themselves wrong
It’s important to keep checks on your exercise progress to see how you’re improving – it will help keep you motivated.
Alex says: “What I like to do with clients is to pick a few exercises we can use as key performance indicators, such as a squat or push-ups, and track how they’re coming along.
“It’s really motivating to find, when you first come in you can’t do any push-ups, that a couple of months down the line you can do sets of 10.
“Or you can always keep an eye on your 5k time, you might be able to reduce it from 35 minutes to half an hour.
“For losing weight there are a few ways to do it. You could use photos or take measurements of your arms, waist and legs.
“There’s also the scales, which a lot of people don’t like, but this can be because they’re using them in the wrong way.
“Some people only weigh themselves on a Monday but your body weight can fluctuate because of what you’re eating.
“It could be the case you’re eating salty meals, or women can find their weight goes up and down with their menstrual cycles.
“The best way is to weigh yourself a couple of times each week first thing in the morning before you eat or drink anything, and when you’re completely naked.
“If you do that four times a week and take an average reading, that’s going to give you a better picture.
“Then do the same thing next week and if your average weight is coming down then that’s a good sign.”
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