In order to achieve weight loss, what sports training should be put in place and how do you keep motivated? Develop your personalised program and find advice on how to choose the right exercises and succeed in establishing good habits over the long term, without forgetting your happiness!

How to lose weight?

A weight loss goal is generally motivated by an improvement in health in the medium to long term or by a desire to reshape your figure in order to gain tone and slim down. In both cases, the tools to be used are nutrition and physical activity, both of which will help to obtain a lasting result and the adoption of a healthy lifestyle.

The main principles of weight loss

Weight management is largely ensured by the energy balance, that is to say the balance between calories consumed by the body and those expended over a given period. The body expends energy when playing sports and during each process of its various functions: digestion, blood circulation, sleep, thinking …

In other words, in order to lose weight, you must make sure that you are using more energy than that provided by your diet. Practising a sporting activity is, therefore, an ideal complement to a balanced diet. To maximise your chances of success, be sure to adhere to the following principles during your weight loss program:

• Drink plenty of fluids as your new exercise program will cause more water loss during exercise.
• Choose a varied diet, including fats mainly from vegetable sources or fish such as salmon which is rich in omega-3.
• Limit salt, which promotes water retention, as well as sugary or overly rich foods.
• Try, as often as possible, to cook your own meals at home, in order to manage every aspect of your menus with fresh and seasonal foods: vegetables, fruits, fish, lean meats…
• Indulge yourself above all with varied and healthy dishes: your new program is an opportunity to try new recipes.

What sports activities should you do to lose weight?

To force the body to draw on its reserves and burn calories, cardio activities performed over long periods are ideal. Cycling, running, fitness or swimming are great options. If you are a novice athlete, the elliptical trainer is perfect for starting a physical activity smoothly. Ergonomic and designed to reproduce the natural movements of walking, it preserves the joints and perfectly meets a weight loss objective.

To create a great body shape, cardio workouts will be completed with muscle strengthening exercises. Performed without equipment, with exercises based on the weight of the body, or on a fitness device such as the rower, the treadmill or an exercise bike. They can affect the whole body or be targeted to certain muscle groups depending on your needs.

If you are already a sports person but have little time, do not hesitate to turn to interval training of the HIIT type. Practised at high intensity over short sessions, it burns calories during exercise and also afterwards, and will produce great results!

The basics of a special weight loss sports plan

The key to the success of your weight loss program lies in a few good habits, which are easy to put in place. The most important thing is to stick to your training schedule and to keep track of your progress over every session to maintain your motivation.

Plan ahead for your menus, as well as your sports activities: this is the best way to monitor the progress of your program and to obtain the very best results over a period of time. Take into account your constraints, your pace of life and your preferences to maintain a happy, well-balanced lifestyle in order to make sure you create a comfortable routine, entirely adapted to your goals. Sticking to one hour sessions on a regular basis will benefit you far more than a program of 3-hour sessions which are not maintained over time.

Likewise, list the obstacles to consider and find solutions to get around them, thereby ensuring your success. For example, if you are short on time, home fitness is an interesting option, allowing you to train without limits and without travelling, whilst still enjoying time with your family. You may prefer to exercise at your own pace, in the comfort of home, away from prying eyes with your equipment always close at hand.

Define your typical week by scheduling your first session at the beginning of the week, for example, on a Monday. Pick the perfect time slot for you and save it no matter what: write it down in your calendar, along with your goals and progress. This meeting of health and well-being will quickly become essential to you!

iFit® technology: your ally to losing weight

What if you could have the advice of sports trainers, to benefit from real coaching at home? IFit® technology includes several virtual coaching applications including sports nutrition, hundreds of themed video workouts and tracking that follows your progress day by day.

Virtual coaching for a follow-up adapted to your objective

With the iFit® Coach application, you can take thousands of sports sessions on your phone, to be done without equipment or a fitness device, wherever you want: at home, on vacation, at work … iFit® Bluetooth technology is integrated into all NordicTrack home fitness equipment, with motivating indoor and outdoor sessions filmed around the world.

A personalised workout with iFit® SD Weight Loss cards

iFit® SD Weight Loss cards are specifically designed to help you reach your goal. With two intensity levels, brisk walking and moderate activity for level 1 and more intense activity for level 2, they contain personalised monitoring carried out by a personal trainer and targeted sessions for treadmills, bike and elliptical trainer. The intensity, resistance and incline of your device are automatically managed based on your training program. You know the number of calories burned at all times and can control every aspect of your workout.

Check out our Health & Fitness page for more advice.