Female fat loss: 8 exercises to focus on in the gym

If your goal is to lose fat, here's a workout you can try in the studio and our top 8 gym exercises to consider including into your workout routine to help you achieve your goal. Watch PureGym Insider @marnipuregym perform the workout in the video below and give it a go!

Equipment

• studio bar
• two 5kg studio plates
• pair of dumbbells

Workout

Make sure to warm up properly before doing this workout.

1. Back squat
2. Barbell row
3. Lunges (check video what type of lunges Marni used)
4. Overhead press
5. Hip thrust

Complete 8-10 reps for each exercise. Rest 1 min. Complete 3 sets.

After you've finished this workout, don't forget to perform a cool down and some light stretching.

For more workout ideas to help you lose fat, check out our free workouts.

Top exercises for fat loss

When it comes to achieving fat loss, energy balance is key. Your body needs to be in a calorie deficit to lose fat. Increasing your daily activity can help you achieve a deficit but don't forget that your nutrition will also play a key part too.

Whether you're a beginner or an advanced gym goer if you're goal is to lose fat, here are our top 8 exercises to help you get stronger and fitter. Depending on how you like to train, you may wish to split these exercises into different training sessions over the week.

1. Back squat: The back squat is a key move to learn as it recruits multiple muscle groups at the same time, so it's great for building overall muscle and strength.
2. Barbell row: The barbell row is a fantastic exercise to work your back. Building a stronger back can help to improve your posture and can also help to make the appearance of your waist smaller.
3. RDL: The Romanian deadlift (also known as RDLs) is a great exercise to include as it works the entire body. This move can help you get stronger, build muscle and in turn, help to change your body composition.
4. Lunges: Lunges are great to help build lower body strength, improve single leg balance and address muscle imbalances. Working
5. Overhead press: The overhead press is a great move to work the arms and shoulders. 
6. Bicep curls: To target your biceps, bicep curls is a good exercise to strengthen your arms. 
7. Hip thrust: Your glutes are the biggest muscle group in your body so strengthening this muscle can help to develop strength, build muscle and help improve body composition. Make sure to use a barbell pad when performing this exercise, particularly if performing weighted hip thrusts to safeguard your hips.
8. Mountain climbers: Mountain climbers recruit the whole body, from your abs, arms and legs so it's a time-efficient move if you want to target your whole body. It's also gets the heart rate up and can help to improve your cardio fitness whilst working your muscles at the same time. Plus, you don't need any equipment for this so it can be performed anytime, anywhere!

Why should I lift weights if my goal is to lose fat?

Lifting weights a few times a week can help to offset the rate of muscle loss, which often occurs during weight loss. Your muscle mass can influence your basal metabolic rate, which influences how many calories you naturally burn at rest so you ideally want to retain as much muscle as you gain while losing fat. Weight training has been shown to increase the calories burnt after an initial exercise period. Plus, weight training also provides lots of other health benefits that you may not get from cardiovascular exercise, such as improving strength and bone density.

If you're unsure how to perform any of the exercises, don't be afraid to ask help from a personal trainer - they're here to help! Learning how to perform these exercises with proper technique and safely will be really beneficial in the long run so take the time in learning these moves before adding more weights.