Best Exercises For Dealing With A Weight Loss Plateau

Strength Training

Cardio is one of the most common methods used to burn weight. It burns the most calories, after all, and is a go-to for easy and effective health improvement. However, if you’re hitting the track five days a week and still find yourself plateauing, swapping some of your cardio days for strength training days can be just what your body needs to start losing again. Straight cardio is great for losing weight, but it doesn’t help maintain lean muscle mass, and you’re just as likely to lose lean muscle as well as fat when you’re losing weight. While muscle weighs as much as fat, focusing on building it ensures your entire body stays healthy and lean while keeping your metabolism from slowing down too much. Muscles need energy to function, after all, so having more means you will be burning more even while you’re doing mundane, day-to-day tasks. The great part? While you might worry building muscle will increase your numbers on the scale again, muscle burns more calories than fat. Any short-term increase in weight will lead into your numbers dropping again. Promise.

It's time to reveal the next exercise for beating a weight loss plateau.

Jump Rope

What may seem like a cheap and childish way to entertain yourself with some friends is actually an effective plateau-breaking tool. As a relatively cheap and extremely portable piece of exercise equipment, a jump rope session can give you the burn of an eight-minute mile in just fifteen or twenty minutes. Why? The motions needed to manage this exercise are surprisingly complex, especially if you haven’t done it since childhood. Jumping isn’t something most adults do, and it requires more muscle work than running a step. It also helps tone both the upper and lower body, improves balance, and forces you to work on your coordination. Make sure you’re fit before you start, though, as repeated jumping can put a lot of stress on the knees and ankles. Don’t be afraid to work in other exercises, either; it’s hard to do it more than a few minutes at a time. Alternating jump rope with marching in place, jogging, or calisthenics will keep your heart rate up and your muscles engaged.

Keep reading for more ways to beat a weight loss plateau quickly.