Weight Loss Workout Plan For Men To Make Those Extra Pounds Fly Off The Scale

A Weight Loss Workout Plan For Men That Really Works

There are many workout plans designed to help women lose weight, which means that men struggling with weight-related issues can feel left out. To counter this, we have come up with a weight loss workout plan especially for men. This plan includes ideas on how to fix your diet as well as examples of upper body, lower body, and core workouts to help you lose fat and tone those muscles.

How To Lose Weight In A Week?

Before figuring out which tips and tricks can help you lose weight in a week, it is best to determine how much weight you can lose in this amount of time. Some blogs and videos out there can promise to help you lose five pounds in five days or even ten pounds in two weeks. While this is possible in some cases, it is not the best practice for long term results.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), gradual and steady weight loss translates to losing 1 to 2 pounds a week. This is not done through a diet but rather through a life-long lifestyle of eating habit improvements  and exercising (11).

So how do you lose this much weight in a week?

1. Go On A Calorie Deficit

A calorie deficit means consuming fewer calories than your body burns on a day to day basis. It is advisable to cut about 500 to 1,000 calories a day (3500 to 7000 a week) from your typical diet to enable you to lose 1 to 2 pounds a week (7).

2. Count Your Calories

This is best done through a reputable calorie counting app. Please note that men should not consume less than 1500 calories a day, except under the direct supervision of a medical professional (5).

Read More: Calories In Calories Out: When Weight Loss Turns Into A Balancing Act

3. Drink More Water

Water can help you lose weight by reducing your overall liquid calorie intake, acting as a natural appetite suppressant, helping burn fat, and boost your metabolism by burning more calories (6).

4. Eat More High-Fibre Foods

Not only do high-fibre foods help normalize bowel movements, help control blood sugar levels and lower LDL cholesterol levels, but they also help with weight loss because they are more filling, thus keeping you satiated which prevents you from snacking (8).

5. Learn How To Portion Control

This is done through using smaller plates for your food and practicing intuitive eating. Calorie control is better achieved through portion control.

6. Cut Down On Alcohol And Sugary Drinks

Soda, energy drinks, and alcohol all fill your body with empty calories, which will mess with your calorie intake for the day. They also do not have any nutrients that benefit your body.

7. Try Meal Prepping

Meal prep or food prep keeps you from sinking the ship and then snacking or consuming more unhealthy foods when you are too hungry or too tired to cook. It also helps you to plan your week ahead and make sure that all ingredients are available at home when you will need them.

8. Eat More Fruits

Fruits are beneficial to your health, and they are also great snack options. They can also be used to avoid any sugar cravings.

9. Eat More Vegetables

They are low in calories meaning that unlike with other foods, you can eat a lot of them without going over your recommended calorie intake.

10. Avoid All Junk Foods

They are high in calories , as well as in saturated and trans fat, three major things that will hinder your weight loss goals.

11. Start Working Out

This is where a workout weight loss plan for men comes in. Other than fixing your diet, physical activity is one of the best things you can do to help you lose weight.

Also note that the best weight loss workout and meal plan for men should include all foods groups (carbs, protein, and healthy fats), be not less than 1500 calories, and include exercises that are fun and effective.

Whether you’re a workout beast or just a beginner making your first foray into the world of fitness and dieting – BetterMe has a lot to offer to both newbies and experts! Install the app and experience the versatility first-hand!

How To Choose The Best Workouts For Weight Loss?

Trying to choose the best and most effective weight loss workout plan for men can be a daunting affair. There are multiple recommendations for workout plans, and this can be quite confusing. So how do you ensure that you are picking the best weight loss plan for yourself?

• Choose exercises that you enjoy – If your weight loss workout plan is fun for you, then you are most likely to do it.
• Choose more than one workout – This will exercise more muscles leading to weight loss and toning. It also negates boredom in your routine.
• Choose a workout plan that suits your lifestyle – Some people workout in the morning, others during their lunch break while others prefer to exercise after work. Choosing a weight loss workout plan for men that fits perfectly into your lifestyle means that you will have a consistent time for doing it.
• Find a community that has the same goals as you – More often than not, surrounding yourself with a supportive fitness community can help you achieve your weight loss goals.
• Choose exercises that fit into your day to day routine – This includes options that will seamlessly fit into your busy schedule. These are options such as walking and taking the stairs.
• Allow time for recovery – This prevents overtraining and gives your muscles and joints some time to recover and repair.

Simple Beginners Weight Loss Workout Plan For Men

As a beginner, you do not need to have fancy workout equipment or do some incredibly complicated calisthenics moves as part of your workout plan. While workout equipment and complicated moves can help in faster weight loss and muscle growth, they could also lead to injury, especially with beginners. Remember that you should always start slow before gradually increasing your intensity or the amount of workouts done.

Here are some simple yet effective exercises that should always be included in any beginner weight loss workout plan for men.

• Walking

This is a low impact exercise that can be done by men of all ages as it  does not put stress on your joints. It is also a convenient and easy way for beginners to start exercising without feeling overwhelmed or needing to purchase equipment. A 12-week study done in 2014 showed that walking for 50 to 70 minutes, 3 times a week helped reduce belly fat and insulin resistance (9).

Read More: A 21-Day Walking Plan For Fat Loss

• Running

This is another exercise that can enable beginners to lose weight easily without making a dent in your budget. All you need is a good pair of running shoes. According to Harvard Medical School, depending on how much you weigh and how fast you run, you could lose 240 calories to 733 calories in 30 minutes (4).

• Cycling

This can be done outdoors on an actual bicycle or indoors using a stationary bike or an airbike. A 185-pound man can lose up to 311 calories riding at a moderate pace on a stationary bike (4). A 6-month controlled trial also showed that cycling was also great for cardiometabolic health and improved insulin sensitivity by up to 20% to 26% depending on how often the subjects rode their bikes (10).

• Swimming

Like walking, this is a low-impact, low-risk exercise that will help you lose weight and is a great option for people of all ages and even those with knee injuries. In 30-minutes, a 185-pound man can lose (4)

266 calories through general swimming

355 calories while doing the backstroke

444 calories while doing the breaststroke, laps, or through vigorous swimming.

488 calories while doing the butterfly

• Resistance Training

This is also known as weight training, as it incorporates weights in your workout routine. Resistance training will not only aid in fat and weight loss, but it also helps with your posture and balance, improves mental health, and can help control blood sugar levels, builds stronger bones, and strengthens your heart, among other factors (1).

The Best Exercises For A Weight Loss At Home Workout Plan For Men

Most men might avoid working out because it involves going to the gym. Not only can a trip to the gym be an unnecessary inconvenience on a busy day, but also not everyone has the money to pay for a gym membership.

To avoid this, here is a workout plan for weight loss and toning for men. Please note that if you do not have any of the equipment mentioned below, you can just use your bodyweight or improvise by using soup cans or water bottles.

Upper Body Weight Loss Workout Plan For Men

Adding these exercises to your workout plan for weight loss and toning for men will give you great shoulders and chest muscles (2)

Bicep Curls

• Stand holding a dumbbell in each hand with your arms hanging by your sides.
• Ensure your elbows are close to your torso and your palms facing forward.
• Keeping your upper arms stationary, exhale as you curl the weights up to shoulder level while contracting your biceps.
• Hold the weight at shoulder height for a brief pause, then inhale as you slowly lower back to the start position.
• Do this 15 to 20 times

Push-Ups

• Get on the floor on all fours, positioning your hands slightly wider than your shoulders.
• Extend your legs back so that you are balanced on your hands and toes. Keep your body in a straight line from head to toe without sagging in the middle or arching your back.
• Contract your abs and tighten your core by pulling your belly button toward your spine. Keep a tight core throughout the entire push-up.
• Inhale as you slowly bend your elbows and lower yourself until your elbows are at a 90-degree angle.
• Exhale as you begin contracting your chest muscles and pushing back up through your hands to the start position. Don’t lock out the elbows; keep them slightly bent.

Shoulder Press

• Stand upright and keep the back straight.
• Hold a dumbbell in each hand at the shoulders. Your thumbs should be on the inside and knuckles facing up.
• Raise the weights above the head in a controlled motion while exhaling. Pause at the top of the motion.
• Return the dumbbells to the shoulders while inhaling.
• Repeat this 12 to 15 times.

Side Lateral Raises

• Stand tall, a dumbbell in each hand with your arms at your sides and palms facing in.
• Keep your feet roughly hip-distance apart and engage your core.
• Breathe in and slowly raise your arms simultaneously, just a couple inches out to each side and pause. Continue lifting your arms to the side while keeping your arms almost completely straight.
• Stop once your elbows reach shoulder-height, and your body is forming a “T” shape. Pause at this position and hold for a second at the top of the movement.
• Lower your arms slowly and bring them back down to your sides. Be sure to lower your arms much slower than you raised them to ensure that you are engaging your muscles. Breathe out as you lower the dumbbells.
• Repeat this 10 to 15 times.

Lower Body Weight Loss Workout Plan For Men

These lower body exercises will give you fantastic glutes and will leg muscles (3)

Squats

• Begin by standing straight and slightly tucking your pelvis.
• Inhale, then exhale, contracting your abdominal muscles.
• As you inhale again, slowly lower yourself into a squat by bending at the knees and hips and sending your butt out behind you, as if sitting down into a chair. Remember to keep your core engaged.
• You can squat to the floor or as far as your knees allow you. Do not push too far so as not to hurt yourself.
• Exhale as you begin to rise, pushing through your feet and extending through your knees and hips all the while maintaining the abdominal contraction.

Deadlifts

• Begin by standing with your right leg in a slight bend at your knee, holding a dumbbell or kettlebell in your left hand.
• Keeping your hips straight, push them back as you extend and lift your left leg behind you.
• Keeping your back flat, lower the weight toward the ground as you extend the left leg.
• Once your hand reaches the floor, slowly come back up using your right leg or balance
• Switch sides and repeat. Do this ten to 15 times

Mountain Climbers

• Begin in a traditional plank position with your shoulders directly over your hands and wrists.
• Be sure to keep your back flat and your butt down, maintaining a neutral spine – do not curve your back or sag your hips.
• Engage your core and lift up your right knee, bringing it toward your elbow (or as far as you can). Return the right leg back to the starting position as you simultaneously drive your left knee up toward your left elbow
• Return to the starting position and continue switching legs as you pick up the pace. It should feel like you are running in place in a plank position

Lunges

• Stand with right foot forward, left foot back about 3 feet apart.
• Hold weights in each hand and bend the knees so as to lower the body towards the floor. Keep the front knee behind the toes, and be sure to lower them straight down rather than forward.
• Keep the torso straight and abs in as you push through the front heel and back to starting position.
• Do this 12 to 15 times on one leg before switching to the other leg

Kettlebell Swings

• Stand with feet slightly wider than shoulder-width apart as you hold a kettlebell in front of your body with both hands, arms straight.
• With a slight bend in your knees and a flat back, swivel at your hips and swing the kettlebell back through your legs.
• Use that momentum to stand and swing the kettlebell out in front of your body, up to shoulder height. Thrust your hips forward, and engage your glutes and core as you stand up straight.
• When the kettlebell hits shoulder height, your knees should be straight, and glutes contracted in a full hip extension.
• Allow the kettlebell to swing back down through your legs.

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What Are The Best Exercises To Lose Belly Fat?

Belly fat is something that bothers many men a lot. If part of your goals is to get rid of this, here are some exercises that should be included in your weight loss workout plan for men (12).

Burpees

• Start in a standing position with your feet shoulder-width apart
• Squat down with your back straight and your hands on the floor between your feet.
• With your weight on your hands, kick your feet back so you’re on your hands and toes, and in a pushup position.
• Do one push-up before launching your feet back to their starting position.
• Vertically jump from this position with as much force as you can, ejecting your arms straight up above your head.

Burpees are considered a pretty hard workout even by gym veterans. If you are a beginner, here are somethings you can do to make this exercise easier

1. Omit the push-up entirely or do it on your knees.
2. Instead of jumping, just stand and stretch your hands in the air

Abdominal Crunches

• Lie on your back and place your feet on a wall. Your knees and hips should bend at a 90- degree angle. Tighten your abdominal muscles.
• Place your hands behind your head and raise your head and shoulders off the floor, moving towards your knees. Do not use your hands to help lift your head.
• Hold this position for three deep breaths, then drop down and repeat.
• Do this twelve to fifteen times

To avoid straining your neck or using your hands to push your head up, cross your arms on your chest. Hold for three deep breaths.

Planks

• Start on your hands and knees, and come up into a push-up plank position.
• Balancing on hands and toes, align wrists under shoulders. Be sure to keep your back straight and the abs and glutes tight. Do not sag your body to the floor or curl up your spine.
• Tighten your abs, keep breathing, and hold this position for at least ten seconds to a full minute.

Advanced plank variations are done on the hands and knees, but you can do it on your elbows and toes or elbows and knees if the original variation is too hard for you.

Bicycle Crunches

This is another fan favourite among the best exercises to lose belly fat.

• Lie flat on the workout mat on your back and place your fingertips at the back of your head.
• Tighten your abdominal muscles, bring your knees up to a 45-degree angle, and lift your shoulder blades off the ground.
• Rotate your upper body to the left, bringing the right elbow toward the left knee while extending your right leg. Switch sides and bring the left elbow toward the right knee. This action is where the workout gets its name from.
• Continue this pedaling motion, slowly, ten to 15 times.

Russian Twists

• Start in a sitting position and lean back slightly with your knees bent and heels touching the floor.
• Engage your core and hold the weight of choice close to your body. It can be a medicine ball, dumbbell, kettlebell, or heavy water bottle.
• Slowly twist your torso to one side. Pause for two to three seconds before rotating to the opposite side.
• Contract the abs deeply as you twist. Repeat this 12 to 15 times.

How To Plan A 2 Week Workout Plan For Weight Loss Men?

As we have stated above, for any weight loss workout plan for men to be effective the person must love the exercises that they are doing. With this in mind, pick any five (or more workouts from the above list and add them to your routine. Make sure to have enough variety in them to ensure that you are effectively working out all the muscles in your body. For better variation, try dividing your workouts by days. That is

1. Monday – Cardio – Running or swimming for 30 minutes to an hour
2. Tuesday – Walking up the stairs and upper body workouts
3. Wednesday – Jump rope for 30minutes to an hour
4. Thursday – Do both upper and lower body weighted workouts
5. Friday – Do some light cardio and some yoga to stretch your muscles
6. Saturday and Sunday – These are rest days to help your muscles relax and repair themselves.

The Bottom Line

Having a weight loss workout for men is a great way to help you shed some fat and live a longer and healthier life. However, you must remember that an effective workout plan for weight loss and toning for men must include a healthy diet as well as exercise.

To figure out the best diet for you, please speak to a doctor or dietitian. You should also speak to a doctor before attempting any of the workouts listed above, especially if you have any underlying illness.

DISCLAIMER:

This article is intended for general informational purposes only and does not address individual circumstances. It is not a substitute for professional advice or help and should not be relied on to make decisions of any kind. A licensed physician should be consulted for diagnosis and treatment of any medical conditions. Any action you take upon the information presented in this article is strictly at your own risk and responsibility!

SOURCES:

1. 12 Benefits of Strength Training That Will Convince You to Lift Weights (2020, livestrong.com)
2. 25 Strength Training Exercises for the Best Upper Body Workouts of All Time (2020, menshealth.com)
3. 30 Best Leg Exercises and Workouts of All Time (n.d, mensjournal.com)
4. Calories burned in 30 minutes for people of three different weights (2018, health.harvard.edu)
5. Calorie counting made easy (n.d, health.harvard.edu)
6. Can water help you lose weight? (2018, medicalnewstoday.com)
7. Counting calories: Get back to weight-loss basics (2020, mayoclinic.org)
8. Dietary fiber: Essential for a healthy diet (2018, mayoclinic.org)
9. Effect of walking exercise on abdominal fat, insulin resistance and serum cytokines in obese women (2014, pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov)
10. How does 6 months of active bike commuting or leisure-time exercise affect insulin sensitivity, cardiorespiratory fitness and intra-abdominal fat? A randomised controlled trial in individuals with overweight and obesity (2019, pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov)
11. Losing Weight (2020, cdc.gov)
12. Slideshow: The Best Flat Abs Moves for Men (2020, webmd.com)