Why can’t I lose weight? This “fat loss” exercise causes weight gain

The problem with cardio, especially intense cardio workouts, is that cardio elevates the stress hormone cortisol, which makes it even harder to lose fat. The other problematic issue with cardio, is that it makes people hungrier and eat more. Too much cardio has been shown to strip muscle, making your body less effective at burning calories. If you want to lose weight, and love cardio, walking, short bursts of moderate to intense cardio, and strength training, are the types of workouts you want to do.

I picked exercises that lower cortisol and stress, but are cardiovascular, that are similar to walking, such as marching in place; strength exercises that build muscle, with various squats, and moderately intense cardiovascular exercises that strengthen the heart, such as rope pull-downs, butt kicks, and mountain climbers.

Try these exercises, in the order below, for a quick, mini cardio-strength workout, that will elevate your heart rate, burn some calories, make you feel energized, and increase muscle tone.

• Alternating calf raises with shoulder mobility clocks
• Single-leg chair squats with elevated heels
• Double-leg chair squats with elevated heels
• Rope pull-downs
• Marches
• Goblet squats
• Prisoner squats
• Overhead squats
• Butt kicks
• Chair mountain climbers
• Step side-to-side

I made a video of these exact exercises so you can see how the exercises are performed, and, you can follow along with me. This cardiovascular workout will elevate your heart rate and make you nice and warm. With the strength exercises, you are using only your own bodyweight, to burn even more calories. The last two exercises work the abs, so stay all the way to the end.

Play the YouTube video below to start the workout:

When you do cardio, you burn calories during the workout, but strength building exercises are superior because you burn calories after your workout too. I added both cardio and strength, so you’ll burn calories during this workout and days afterwards.

Let me know in the comments below which of these exercises you tried, which ones you like, and which ones you found most challenging.

Exercise burns a lot fewer calories that we are all led to believe, so you want to combine exercise with calorie reduction. Focus on smaller portion sizes and healthier choices.

Losing weight is hard, so I wrote a book, with step-by-step instructions to help you. You can buy my weight loss books and cookbooks from my site: thehighfivediet.com