Being overweight can be really embarrassing, especially considering what society thinks about you, the criticism you get or hearing any comments about your physique! and that too when no one is there to guide and make your life easier. Although you were still looking for best workouts for overweight females
Your mind is filled with many presumptions that you can shed excess body fat by only going to the GYM! Well, that’s a big lie. The beauty of any workout is whether you are enjoying it or not, so right now you have a target in mind which is weight loss.
Stop searching any further, here are 15 best workouts for overweight females just like you. I have put together 15 workouts under five workouts categories, which will help you understand different aspects of those exercises, how you can perform them and the changes these workouts make in your body.
- Cardio
- Bodyweight Exercises
- Core Exercises
- Lower Body Exercises
- HIIT
So let’s unravel all these 15 workouts…
Cardio
It is a type of aerobic exercise which helps to improve your respiration and increases your breathing and heart rate. Cardio workouts are really beneficial for your heart, overall body strength, and reduces chances of several life-threatening diseases. There are a number of different types of cardio exercise which females can perform at home with ease, here I am discussing three of them which I find are the best one.
Jumping jacks
One of the perfect exercises for any beginner and especially for overweight females who can perform this at home or even at the workplace also if they can find time for themselves. This exercise works your whole body, especially legs and upper body parts. It also helps tone your muscles and reduce fat level from your body.
For obese females Jumping jacks can be a great starting exercise which can also help to warm up the body. It’s also a great exercise for overweight and unfit to start their weight loss journey in an easy way.
Method:
- First, stand upright with both legs together and keep your hands close to your thighs.
- Now jump in air keeping legs apart at shoulder width and take your hands over your head.
- Touch both your hands or clap and back to the original position.
- Repeat the steps 3-4 times.
Target Area:
- Jumping jacks works your arms, legs and core muscles.
- It works your biceps, shoulders and forearms muscles.
- Strengthens hamstrings, core, abs, glute and calves muscles.
Walking
One of the easiest and considered best cardio exercise that improves your quad muscles, hamstrings, tones leg muscles, and burn fat throughout the whole body. It’s great for overweight females to start their workout from walking, as it will help to be consistent from the beginning. Many females are quite confused about which exercise to start or what diet to follow. So, walking will help you begin your weight-loss journey and burn more calories to reduce the fat from your body.
Method:
- Always use well-cushioned light shoes for walking which fits perfectly.
- Start walking slowly and after 10-15 minutes increase your pace.
Target Area:
- Walking targets upper legs and lower leg muscles.
- It also works glutes, hamstrings and quad muscles.
- This also helps to strengthen the legs and tones it.
Skipping
It is one of the simplest and fairly cheap workouts which requires very little equipment. But the benefits are huge like it burns calories fast, improves balance, agility, increases stamina, bone strength etc. If you are chubby then it’s a perfect workout for you to burn that excess fat from your body and you can get improved fitness, that will reflect on your personality and will also improve your overall health and mind.
Skipping is also a great workout for female beginners at the home who is looking for an exercise which they can practice any time or wherever they want.
Method:
- Choose a jump rope (beaded rope), preferably a more long string if you are a beginner.
- And select a medium-hard surface; indoors, do it on a mat instead.
- Grip rope from fingers, keep hands in front of the stomach while keeping elbows close to your body.
- Put the rope behind and turn it over your head.
- Try to catch the line under your toes, jump your feet.
- And pass the string under your feet and complete one round.
Target Area:
- Skipping is the best full-body exercise.
- It works your whole body like chest, shoulders, biceps, triceps, forearms in the upper body.
- In the lower body, it works your core, abs, obliques, and calves muscles.
Bodyweight Exercises
These exercises are dependent on your body, and you can easily perform it from the comfort of your home. Your body weight is used to perform different types of workouts which helps to build strong muscles, reduces fat and helps to improve overall fitness. Bodyweight exercises are a necessity for women who can’t access gym because of work or household chores. These are the best exercise for an overweight female who is looking for a perfect combination of workouts which will help reduce excess fat.
Plank
This exercise really works out your core and thighs muscles, really puts enough tension in those muscles that burn maximum fat. The plank works your full body especially upper and lower body, performing it initially will be a little tough, but as soon you master it, you will reap benefits later.
Females having a high-fat level in the abdomen and thighs muscles will find that this workout burns those fat really fast. Plank also improves overall balance and flexibility, if you have really put this workout into your daily regime you will see the benefit very soon.
Method:
- It’s similar to the regular push-up where you lie down parallel to the floor.
- And keep your hands and feet on the floor.
- But here the difference is you have to keep hands on the ground at rest, while your elbows are on the floor.
- Also, your toes touching the floor and try to hold that position as long as your set demands.
Target Area:
- The plank works your whole body from shoulders to abdominal region as well as legs.
- It works abs, strengthens your spine, improves back muscles.
- Improves overall balance and flexibility.
- Your arms and shoulders muscles are also worked out while performing it.
Side Lunges
A great body-weight exercise which helps builds strong leg muscles and reduces fat from the lower body. After working out for few you will realise that side lunges are for your fitness and you can perform it while listening to music and have fun also. If your hip, ankle and groin muscles are not properly stretched or if there is a slight tightness you will find this exercise little bit difficult to perform initially.
Method:
- Stand with feet shoulder-width apart, and take your right leg to the extreme right side.
- Get down on your right leg to while bending knees and make 90 degrees with the floor.
- Try to engage your hips while keeping left leg straight.
- Keep both your feet touching the floor and pull your self to the starting position.
- Now repeat the same steps on your left leg. Do 12-15 repetitions.
Target Area:
- Side lunges work your lower body especially leg muscles.
- It works on your glutes, hamstrings, quads, groin muscles.
- They work on outer and inner thighs muscles also called “abductor & adductors”.
Chair Pose
One of the perfect bodyweight exercises which really strengthens your legs and core. It is very helpful workouts for obese beginners, this exercise helps in improving the strength of arms and legs. Chair pose is also known as Utkatasana, that helps to stretch chest and shoulders muscles, improves body balance, strengthens the ankles which are considered good for athletes.
Method:
- Stand straight and keep your hands parallel or perpendicular to the floor.
- Breath-in and bend your knees and try to take thighs parallel to the floor.
- Hold this position for 20-25 seconds and come back to starting point.
- Do 3-4 repetitions.
Target Area:
- Chair pose strengthens thighs and improve your knees mobility and helps to stabilise it.
- It also works your arms, shoulders and powers them.
- Improves your breathing and works the core muscles.
- This exercise also works glutes and quad muscles.
Core Exercises
Well, ladies, there are some exciting workouts discussed in this section, which burns more calories and helps to reduce your belly fat. Core exercises are generally considered best workouts for overweight females and you can easily perform it from your home or even at the workplace also. Your abdomen muscles are generally very hard to work but gaining fat around that area is very easy, isn’t it? it’s quite funny, you never realise that eating junk or highly processed food will develop such kind of belly! just trying to lighten things up, as I was discussing core workout, so are you ready to try these workouts?
Let’s find out…
Crunch
This is the most common workout for the core, and great for back also. If you are regularly performing this workout, it will strengthen the core and your abs will be visible. As a beginner, crunches can be performed as a daily workout for an overweight female, which will reduce fat and will burn more calories. You never realise that this day will come, when you have to search for weight loss workouts, you must be thinking, damn! if I have controlled myself on time, I would have avoided present-day situation!
Method:
- Lie down on the floor, squeeze your abdomen in and tighten your back muscles.
- Put your hands behind your head, lift your legs, but keep your feet straight at the floor.
- Lift your shoulder and upper body slightly of the floor and make at least 45 degrees with the floor.
- Hold it for a few seconds, then go back to starting position and repeat it.
Target Area:
- It targets your abdominal muscles mainly rectus abdominis and obliques muscles.
- Crunches targets both upper and lower abs effectively.
Knee High
Knee-high are great exercise for lower body and it also helps to tone leg and engages your core muscles. It improves your momentum, helps to improve the metabolism, breathing rate and enhances flexibility in the lower body.
Method:
- Stand straight with legs hip-width apart.
- Lift your right knee up to your chest at slowly running pace and come back to starting point.
- And then perform this with left leg, do 12-14 repetitions in 3 sets.
Target Area:
- It targets all your lower body important muscles like abdomen, hamstrings, calves, and quad muscles.
- Knee-high also works your shins and joint muscles.
- It strengthens them and helps to burn more calories in a short time.
Bicycle crunch
Well, this exercise really focuses on the abdomen and hip muscles, so if you have fat stored on your thighs and hips don’t worry. Females gain weight due to many reasons like pre-post pregnancy, doing household chores daily and not taking care of their body, eating unhealthy & oily food etc.
It is a really helpful exercise for overweight females looking for losing fat. Bicycle crunch helps in the pumping of abs and making them stronger. You can easily perform it from the comfort of your home and reach your target by maintaining a healthy and perfect schedule.
Method:
- Lie on the floor and keep your lower back pressed onto the floor.
- While keeping raised head and shoulders slightly off the floor.
- Place your hands on the back of your head and lift right leg off the floor.
- And bring left leg close to your chest, then twist your core towards the raised knee.
- Then repeat with alternate legs.
Target Area:
- It primarily targets abdominal muscles i.e rectus abdominis, external obliques.
- External obliques are muscles around your waist area.
- Bicycle crunch also targets upper thighs muscle quadriceps.
Lower Body Exercise
A female lower body develops fat around waist and thighs area and as you all know, so for keeping it in shape there are certain workouts which you can perform. The lower body helps you to do your daily routine works, like walking, jumping, these are important for basic body movements. Your muscles in thighs, glutes and hamstrings are very important for the proper functioning of your lower body. These are also considered best lower body workouts for overweight females, that will help to reduce fat level.
Squats
If you are looking for a perfect workout for weight loss then there isn’t one, there are different workouts which you can combine to get the desired results. The squat is a great strength training workout that works on the upper and lower body. These muscles are involved in day-to-day activities like walking, jumping, bending, climbing stairs etc.
Overweight females will benefit the most because their maximum fat stored is in the thighs and legs region. Squats improve your balance, stability, and flexibility that are vital for simple body movements.
Method:
- Stand straight and facing forward with chest up.
- Keep your feet at shoulder-width and lift your hands up in front of your chest to balance your body.
- Then start going down, keeping your back straight and butt squeezed out.
- Just imagine your self sitting in a car while you go down.
- Go down as low as you can and come back to the starting position.
Target Area:
- Squats mainly target quadriceps, hamstrings, and glutes.
- It also strengthens the knees, heel, and thighs muscles.
- The back muscles also get strength while performing it.
Jumping squats
This exercise works both upper and lower body and burns calories very fast. It’s an advanced form of the regular squat exercise, that also strengthens your legs and thighs. Jumping squats improve your ankles flexibility and strengthen it to reduces the chances of any injury, also it makes you quicker and you move a lot faster after performing it consistently. If you have mastered regular squat then this will be very easy for you and you will burn maximum fat in less time.
Method:
- Start out as a regular squat and keeping your feet wider than shoulder-width apart.
- Keep your toes pointed forward.
- Then squat all the way down and bring your arms forward.
- After that jump-up and push your arms back behind you.
- So that it gives you extra power from your legs.
Target Area:
- Jumping squats targets your calves, hamstrings, quadriceps, glutes muscles.
- It also works lower back, abs, oblique and shin.
Wall Sits
This exercise works your quad, the muscles in your thighs, they are very hard to tone. It builds your strength and endurance while working out and this is also very easy for overweight females, as they can do it much easier than regular squats. Many people sometimes do wall sits the wrong way, so let’s find out how to do it correctly.
Method:
- Stand against a wall keeping back towards it and feet shoulder-width apart.
- Keep your feet1-2 feet away from the wall.
- Try to squeeze your abdomen and slide your body down until your thighs are parallel to the floor.
- Keep back against the wall and try to hold this position for 15-20 seconds.
Target Area:
- It targets quadriceps, glutes and calves muscles.
- This exercise creates maximum strain in your thighs and helps to tone it.
HIIT
HIIT is an acronym for High-Intensity Interval Training, it is highly promoted by many fitness professionals and people who are looking to lose weight, as it will help to lose weight without even going to the gym. This workout has become popular because it has two unique methods which it follows in workout i.e hard work and short rest. It follows this method to give result faster, though it’s not very easy to sustain it for a long period, as it burns, maximum calories in a very short time.
Obese women will benefit the most from it because it burns maximum calories in very less time and it takes less than half an hour to perform it. HIIT also uses maximum oxygen while performing, it burns more calories and even after your workout, continues burning fat. A 20-25 minutes workout of HIIT is equivalent to your normal 1-hour weight-training exercise, as it easily burns 600-700 calories.
Plank Jack
It is becoming very popular core strength training exercise in recent times, if you are looking to burn your belly fat this workout is a must for you. This works your upper and lower body muscles and strengthens them, it is a combination of the plank and jumping jacks exercise which really helps to burn more calories.
The plank jack is somewhat similar to mountain climber exercise which also engages your core and helps to tone leg muscles. It increases your heart-rate that helps in faster blood circulation which ultimately leads to burn more calories, plank jack put less strain on your knees or back unlike burpees or knee-high.
Method:
- Start with a plank position and kneel down, place hands on the floor.
- Place your elbows directly underneath shoulders, try to tighten your core and back straight.
- Keep your whole body parallel to the floor and hold your body on your toes.
- Then keeping your body straight move your both feet outward as you do in jumping jacks.
- And then bring them back to the original position. Repeat it 10-12 times.
Target Area:
- Plank jack works the whole body especially your core and lower muscles.
- It engages your core, creates enough tension in the forearms, shoulders, biceps.
- This helps to tone your hips and legs muscles.
- Like internal & external obliques, rectus abdominis, and core muscles.
- It also works and strengthens the hamstrings, glutes, spinal cords, rhomboids muscles.
Push-up
It strengthens the arms and chest muscles of the upper body, performed while lying parallel to the floor, and using both arms to lift the body up and down. Push-ups are great exercises for increasing the upper body strength and overweight females will find that this workout is really helpful in shedding your arms and shoulder fat.
Push-ups can be used as a daily workout for overweight female, which will not only burn more calories but will improve your upper body strength. It is a really high-intensity workout which increases your blood circulation and respiration.
Method:
- Lie down on the floor and lift your body with your hands and hold this position.
- Make your whole body parallel to the floor while keeping your hands shoulder-width apart.
- keep your back straight, now touch the floor with your chest and lift your body off the floor.
- Perform it 15-20 times, do 3-4 sets.
Target Area:
- It is basically strength training exercise that engages your arms, shoulders and triceps.
- Push-up works your chest muscles, pectorals, back of arms and triceps.
- This also works your shoulders and abdominals muscles.
Mountain climber
A very popular exercise for shedding excess fat around the waist area, strengthening core, shoulders, and hips muscles. Also termed as running planks that helps in increasing the blood circulation which is good for the lungs and for respiration. Mountain climber is a great exercise for overall strengthening of the body and best exercise in terms of cardio endurance, agility, core strength.
Method:
- Start with the plank position and try to straighten your back and hips.
- Try to squeeze your abs and hold that position.
- After this pull your left leg up to your chest while remaining in the plank position.
- Then take back your leg to the original position and pull the right leg up to your chest.
- Repeat it alternatively, while maintaining a slow climbing speed.
Target Area:
- It targets your full body, especially your arms, shoulders, quads, and core.
- Your neck and joint muscles are also worked up extensively throughout this exercise.
The Bottomline
So finally, I think that’s a great list for you to start your weight loss journey and now I will love to hear from you how these 15 workouts for overweight females pans out for you.
If I missed something or you have any workout that helps to lose weight, do let me know by leaving a comment below.
Cheers.
