11 Easy Exercises to Lose Weight Fast at Home

Try these 11 easy exercises to lose weight fast from the comfort of your home. For even better results, follow healthy diet tips and see those pounds melt away.

Exercise has many benefits for our health. It can help us lose weight, boost strength, reduce stress, and improve our overall well-being. When coupled with a nutritious diet, exercise can be your best bet to achieving a healthy body weight. 

If you are just setting out on your weight loss journey, choosing the right exercises can give you amazing results. But, it isn’t always easy to find out which exercises are the most effective for weight loss. In this article, we have listed easy exercises to help you lose weight quicker. 

All the exercises being recommended here, will help with weight loss depending upon the calories being burnt. Before starting, please read through the rate of calorie burn from each of our selected exercises below.

Exercise	Calories burned
Walking	133 calories in 30 minutes
Running	280-500 calories in 30 minutes
Skipping	1000 calories in an hour
Squats	57-1440 calories in 5-60 minutes
Lunges	32-794 in 5-60 minutes
Push-ups	36-900 calories in 5-60 minutes
Pull-ups	10 calories per minute
Jumping jacks	40-80 calories in 5 minutes
Burpees	10 calories per minute
Planks	2-5 calories per minute
Basic Crunches	3-6 calories per minute
Mountain Climbers	7-10 calories per minute
Yoga	149 calories in 30 minutes

11 easy exercises to lose weight fast

Listed below are 11 best exercises for weight loss. These exercises can be done at home without any equipment. These will help you achieve your fitness goals without even stepping out of your house or using any fancy equipment.

1. Aerobic exercises

Aerobic or cardio exercises are among the best and easy exercises for losing weight at home. Research ^[1]PubMed Central: Health benefits of aerobic exercise has proven that these exercises can boost mood, strengthen the immune system, lose weight, help regulate blood sugar, and improve cardiovascular health.

People with an average weight of 155 pounds walking at the speed of 3.5 mph for 30 minutes can lose up to 133 calories. Aerobics is counted among the top easy exercises to lose belly fat. A study ^[2]PubMed Central: Effect of walking exercise on abdominal fat, insulin resistance and serum cytokines in obese women conducted on 20 women suffering from obesity found that walking for 50–70 minutes thrice a week decreased overall body fat and waist circumference by around 1.5% and 1.1 inches respectively.

How to do a basic Aerobic Exercise Routine

• Walking – 15 minutes.
• Jogging – 15 minutes.
• Running – 15 minutes.
• Back to jogging – 10 minutes.
• Return to walking – 5 minutes.

Tip: If you want an even more intense and integrated cardio workout, you might want to try jogging or running instead. The calories burnt from a good 30-minute run can be anywhere between 280-500 calories depending on your weight and intensity(speed).

2. Skipping or jumping rope

Skipping is a wonderful full-body workout to lose weight. It is often combined with high-intensity interval training (HIIT) routines. It increases heart rate, and pumps oxygen-rich blood across your entire body. Along with your heart, this exercise takes care of your lungs by keeping them healthy.

How to do a rope-jump workout

• Start with one minute of skipping
• 30 seconds of rest
• Increase the timing to 2 minutes next
• Rest again for 30 seconds
• Repeat this cycle 10 times.

Tip: It is estimated that you can burn close to 1000 calories or more if you jump rope for an hour. It is unlikely that you will be able to achieve this level of stamina or burn calories when you are starting out. Do not worry, you can gradually increase the intensity and duration, and torch more calories as you progress.

3. Squats

Squat exercises are not just great for losing weight but also for strengthening the lower body muscles. It targets the quads, glutes, and hamstrings. This exercise also helps to improve your mobility and balance.

While doing squats maintaining the correct squat position is the key to avoiding unnecessary injuries. Since it all depends on an individual’s level of mobility and comfort, you should bend only to the extent that your body allows.

How to do squats

• Stand with your feet hip-width apart
• Push your hips down till your thighs are parallel to the ground
• Hold the position for a second
• Stand back up to complete one rep.
• Repeat for 3 sets of 15 reps.

Tip: Squats can help you burn an average of 57-1440 calories depending upon duration and body weight. A beginner should aim for at least 2-3 sets of 15 reps of at least one type of squat.

4. Lunges

Lunges are an easy and effective way to tone your legs and butt. Including them in your interval training workouts will not just promote weight loss, but will also strengthen the lower back, leg, and abdominal muscles.

Lunges also help in building lean muscle mass and reduce body fat. The leg movements involved in this workout stabilize muscles to develop better balance and improve coordination.

How to do lunges

• Stand straight with your legs together
• Bend your knee by keeping your right leg in the front
• Your right knee should be at a 90-degree angle and the left knee is grazing the floor
• Hold the position for 2 seconds
• Stand back up
• Switch legs and repeat
• Repeat for 30 reps.

Tip: Lunges can help you burn 32-794 calories depending upon your body weight and the duration or intensity of the performance of the exercise. It is important to push yourself and include lunges in a high-intensity workout routine with the help of weights.

5. Push-ups and Pull-ups

Push-up exercise is very useful for weight loss. It promotes healthy fat loss by focusing on many muscle groups in the upper body (chest, shoulders, back, biceps, and triceps). Practicing push-ups regularly will help to build lean muscle mass, which in turn will help your body expend more calories with every workout.

How to do push-ups

• Start from the plank position
• Place your hands facing forward and slightly wider than your shoulder width
• Lower your body towards the floor
• Return to the plank position
• Repeat for 3 sets of 10 reps each.

Pull-ups also work out different muscle groups. This boosts your metabolic rate and increases your ability to burn fat. A basic pull-up works out nearly 15 muscles, primarily the biceps, triceps, shoulders, and back.

How to do pull-ups

• Grip the pull-up bar with your arms
• Pull yourself up till your chin is above the bar
• Return to the original position
• Repeat for 4 sets of 10 reps each.

Tip: Based on your body weight and duration, you can burn anywhere from 36 to 900 calories doing push-ups whereas a pull-up workout can help you burn an average of 10 calories every minute. Combine it with some other exercises or do pull-ups as part of HIIT workouts.

6. Jumping jacks

Jumping jacks are one of the best exercises for weight loss, and a great cardio workout to tone the arms, legs, and core muscles. The jumping movement involved in this exercise helps to increase your heart rate quickly and promote healthy weight loss.

How to do jumping jacks

• Start from a standing position with your feet together and arms by your sides
• Jump up and spread your legs wide while bringing your arms above your head
• Return to the original position
• Repeat for 1 minute.

Tip: On average, 5 minutes of jumping jacks can burn anywhere between 40-80 calories depending on the body weight. If you do several sets of jumping jacks of 5 minutes each, as part of your workout session or throughout the day, you can hope to burn as many as 500 calories.

7. Burpees

Burpees are the most effective calorie-burning exercises. They target multiple muscle groups and get your heart rate up quickly. The jump involved in this exercise helps to tone the legs, arm, and shoulder muscles along with the core muscles.

How to do burpees

• Start from a standing position
• Bend down and place your hands on the floor in front of you
• Jump back to the plank position
• Immediately jump back up
• Repeat for 1 minute.

Tip: This exercise is sure to make you sweat a lot and help shed those extra pounds quickly. An average person can do 20 burpees per minute which comes to burning 10 calories in a minute. So, a person can burn anywhere between 140 and 250 calories in 30 minutes.

8. Planks

Plank pose or plank exercise is yet another effective exercise for weight loss. It targets the core, shoulder, arms, chest, back, and hips. It also improves your focus and concentration. Research ^[3]National Library of Medicine: Effects of Resistance Exercise on Bone Health has shown that practicing planks regularly can increase bone mineral density.

Practicing planks regularly can lead to significant improvements in the upper body and abdominal muscle strength. It will increase your strength and stamina to go about your day-to-day activities as well.

Different variations of plank exercises target multiple muscle groups in different parts of the body. Each variation improves your core strength, body balance, endurance, and posture. 

Plank exercise variations: Standard plank, forearm plank, mountain climbers, side plank, reverse plank.

How to do a basic forearm plank

• Keeping your body in a straight line from head to heels, rest on your elbows and toes
• Elbows should be placed directly under your shoulders
• Tighten your abs and hold the position for 30 seconds to a minute
• Release and repeat.

Tip: Planks burn calories at the rate of 2-5 calories per minute. At this rate, 6 sets of planks held for 3 minutes each can burn calories at the rate of 70-90 calories in 20 minutes.

9. Basic crunches

Basic crunches are a classic core exercise that works the abs and oblique muscles. They are beginner-level exercises. The oblique muscles are the muscles on the sides of your pelvis, hips, and waist. The benefits of crunches include body posture and balance.

How to do a basic crunch

• Lie on your back on the ground with your knees bent and your feet flat on the ground.
• Place your hands on the ground beside you or behind your head.
• Keeping your core engaged, slowly lift your shoulders off the ground and towards your knees, then lower back down to the starting position.
• Repeat for 3 sets of 10-12 reps.

Tip: A beginner should aim for 10-15 reps. This helps you burn about 3 to 6 calories per minute. Thus, performing the recommended reps, a set would give you a calorie burn of approximately 50 to 60 calories depending on the intensity. As you get stronger, you can hold a weight in your hands or place your feet on an elevated surface to make the exercise more challenging.

10. Mountain climber

The mountain climber is a great full-body workout. It not only works your quads, hamstrings, and glutes but also your serratus anterior, which is a muscle in your chest.

Additionally, these are effective for the core muscles. They help to improve balance and coordination while also working the abdominal muscles.

How to do mountain climber exercise

• Get into a pushup position with your hands planted firmly on the ground and your feet in a wide stance.
• Engage your core and glutes as you lift your right foot off the ground and bring your knee towards your chest.
• Quickly switch legs and repeat the motion with your left leg.
• Continue alternating legs for 30 seconds.
• Repeat 2 to 3 sets of 10 to 15 reps.

Tip: Mountain climbers are a great workout for the whole body. Plus, they’re low impact, so they’re easy on the joints. The recommended reps would help you burn approximate 50 calories in each set which amounts to roughly 7-10 calories burnt in a minute.

11. Yoga

A gentle form of exercise, yoga can be one of the easiest at-home workouts for beginners. Yoga builds a stronger connection and coordination between your body and mind. If healthy eating and yoga go hand in hand, Yoga can help in burning calories and can improve overall health.

Practicing yoga every day helps in weight reduction, and increases flexibility, respiration, muscle tone, blood circulation, and cardio health. You can also lower your blood sugar levels by practicing some forms of yoga regularly.

Best yoga poses for weight loss

Some of the best yoga poses that can be easily done at home for weight loss and burning fat are:

• Plank pose
• Warrior pose
• Bridge pose
• Downward dog pose
• One-legged downward dog pose
• Cobra pose
• Bow pose
• Camel pose

Tip: Yoga poses are an integral part of the weight-reduction plan. A study ^[4]American Association of Retired Persons: How Many Calories Do You Need? shows that an average 155-pound individual can hope to burn around 149 calories in a 30-minute yoga session.

Best time to exercise

Ideally, early mornings are the best time to exercise. A morning workout aids in better digestion and metabolism throughout the day. It also helps to keep you energetic and motivated. Moreover exercising on an empty stomach is the best way to burn stored fat.

It is quite possible that you hate the idea of waking up early and working out. You can try to slowly move your timings for working out. Start with waking up just 15 minutes earlier than usual and doing some light exercises like stretches or jogging on the spot. You will slowly get used to the idea of waking up and working out.

However, there have been studies that suggest that working out in the evening can be beneficial as well. You can try to work out in the evenings if that suits your routine and your body rhythms but make sure you don’t eat anything immediately after a workout. Your focus should be on working out at a time that suits you the best and feels convenient to you. 

Diet tips for weight loss

No amount of working out will help you lose weight if your diet is not in check. Apart from performing these exercises for weight loss, you should be conscious of your diet. 

You should follow a healthy meal plan that includes 50% veggies and fruits, 25% protein, and 25% whole grains. Your comprehensive daily diet should consist of at least 25 grams of fiber. Remove trans fats from your diet and cut down on saturated fats.

Follow these tips to make sure your weight loss program at home is more effective:

• Eat a balanced diet filled with nutrient-rich foods.
• Avoid foods and drinks that provide empty calories and no nutrients.
• Limit your sugar and salt intake to moderate amounts of natural sugar and healthy salts (sea salt, pink salt, etc).
• Never starve yourself. This form of dieting is bound to backfire in the form of health problems.
• Beware of fad diets that promise unrealistic results in a short time.

Conclusion

Weight loss exercises can be done at home, without equipment, and in a short time. Remember to choose exercises that suit your fitness levels and focus on a healthy diet to see lasting results.

Try to spread your workouts throughout the week so that you’re exercising at least 3-4 days per week, and try not to go more than two consecutive days without a workout.

Start with the 11 exercises mentioned above and combine them to give yourself a full-body workout. Remember to focus on your form and breath while you’re exercising, and be sure to stay hydrated throughout your workout. Continue adding new exercises to your workout regime to get better results. Most importantly, seek guidance from a certified fitness trainer before starting any new workout routine.

FAQs

We have put together a list of frequently asked questions (FAQs) about the easy exercises to help you lose weight fast at home.