Back to Inside Track Blog

3 Non-cardio workouts guaranteed to blast away fat

April 06 2022 6 min read

Getting rid of body fat and toning up does require some aerobic activity, but, if the idea of a lengthy cardio session fills you with dread, the good news is you can still achieve your dream physique with weight training instead.


Weight training has been proven to increase both your short-term and your long-term calorie burn. This means that after a weightlifting session, your metabolism will be boosted for up to 38 hours. Better still, weight-training helps you build up larger degrees of lean muscle mass, so your basal metabolic rate also improves.

So, although a weight-training session may not burn as many calories per minute as a cardio-heavy workout, the overall calorie-burning benefits after your workout is done completely outdoes cardio.

So, if you’re looking to lose weight and tone up, follow these key weight-training workouts. These workouts can be done by both men and women - they have been designed to help aid weight loss and tone up - not to make you bulk up.

Before you begin, we recommend focusing on weights about 2kg heavier than you would usually choose, and progressively load as your strength improves.

WORKOUT ONE

For heavy resistance training, each exercise should be done as 5 sets of 5 or 4 sets of 6.

BARBELL SQUATS

- Choose a barbell that you can comfortably (but not easily) lift over your head and place it across your shoulders

- Place your feet about shoulder-length apart pointing at a slight angle

- Begin to bend your knees while moving your hips backwards and slowly lower yourself down until your knees are fully bent

- Stand back up without locking your knees

BENCH PRESS

- Lie on a bench with your feet on the floor and unrack the bar with your arms straight

- Lower the bar to your mind-chest

- Press it back up again until you’ve locked your elbows while keeping your body on the bench

- We would recommend always having a spotter with you while you complete your sets, even if you’re using a weight you find fairly easy

DUMBBELL DEADLIFT

- Grab a pair of dumbbells with an overhand grip

- Hold them at arm's length with your hands at your sides

- Stand with your feet hip-width apart and your knees slightly bent while bracing your core

- Keeping your knees slightly bent, hinge at your hips and lower your torso until it’s almost parallel to the floor

- Keep the dumbbells as close to your body as possible

- Pause, then raise your torso back to the starting position

WORKOUT 2

For heavy resistance training, each exercise should be done as 5 sets of 5 or 4 sets of 6.

LATERAL PULLDOWN

- Sit in front of the lateral pulldown machine facing the weights and adjust the knee pads of the machine to fit your height

 Grab the bar with your palms facing forward with your hands spaced out at a distance slightly wider than shoulder width

- Bring your torso back around 30 degrees and stick your chest out

- Bring the bar down until it touches your upper chest by drawing the shoulders and the upper arms down and back

- Squeeze your shoulder blades together and slowly raise the bar to the starting position with your arms fully extended

DUMBBELL LATERAL RAISES

-Pick up two dumbbells and stand straight with your arms at your sides with the palms of your hands facing you

-Lift the dumbbells to your side with a slight bend in the elbow and your hands tilted slightly forward. Continue to lift until your arms are parallel to the floor

- Slowly lower the dumbbells down into the starting position

HAMMER CURLS

- Stand upright with your torso straight and hold a dumbbell in each hand at arm's length with your elbows close to your torso

- While holding your upper arm stationary, curl the dumbbell forward while contracting the biceps

- Continue to raise the weight until the biceps are fully contracted and the dumbbell is at shoulder level

- Briefly hold the position and slowly bring the dumbbell down to the starting position  

WORKOUT 3

For heavy resistance training, each exercise should be done as 5 sets of 5 or 4 sets of 6.

TRICEP DIP MACHINE

- Sit in the dip machine and securely grasp the handles

- Keep your elbows at your sides and bent at a 90-degree angle

- Contract your triceps while extending your arms downwards as you exhale

- Slowly bring your arms back to the starting position as you exhale

HANGING KNEE RAISES

- Hang from a bar with an overhand grip and your body straight

- Bend your knees and use your lower abdominals to raise your legs until your thighs are parallel with the ground

- Hold for a second and slowly lower your legs back down

SEATED MACHINE CHEST PRESS

- Sit down at the chest press machine and choose your desired weight

- Grab the machine’s handles with a palms-down grip and lift your elbows so your upper arm are parallel to the floor

- Pull the handles back towards your body

- Push the handles away from you as your flex your chest and hold for a second

- Bring the handles back to starting position

If you’re looking up your weightlifting game, why not take out a three-day pass for one of our brilliant gyms today? In the meantime, take a look at our 10-minute core workout video or read about the top gym workouts professional footballers swear by.