Exercise Routine for Women to Lose Weight Fast in a Gym

Doing your workouts in a gym can be an effective way to lose weight--you never have to worry about inclement weather affecting your workout. However, you want to go in with a specific plan in order to make the most of your time there. To lose weight fast with a gym workout, you should be sure to incorporate both cardiovascular exercise and a strength training program.

High Intensity Interval Training

When you don't have a lot of time to workout, high intensity interval training, or HIIT, is the way to go. To do this type of workout, you should exercise at a high intensity level for a short period of time, then recover for a slightly longer period.

For example, you can start with a short warm up on the treadmill at 3 mph for five minutes. Then, increase the speed to 6 mph for 30 seconds for the high intensity part. Recover at 4 mph for 2 minutes. Work at your own pace, though--if 6 mph is too fast for you, slow down; if you can go faster, increase the speed. You can also increase the intensity of a treadmill workout by increasing the incline. On other exercise machines, such as the elliptical or the stationary bicycle, you can increase the resistance or go faster.

When doing HIIT, the important thing is that you are really working yourself during the intense part. You should only be able to do this type of workout for about 30 minutes.

Weight Training

An exercise routine for women to lose weight fast in a gym should include a weight training program. Building muscle helps you to lose weight, because muscle burns additional calories. Don't be intimidated by the weight machines. Schedule gym time to focus on muscle building exercises.

If you aren't sure how to use the machines, you may want to hire a personal trainer for a few sessions to teach you how to use the machines. A trainer can also give you an exercise routine that will work for you.

Changing Workouts to Prevent Plateauing

Occasionally, you'll find that your weight loss stalls, even though you're doing the same things that you've been doing all along. This is actually the problem. As you do one type of exercise repeatedly, your body becomes more effective at doing it, thus burning fewer calories during each workout.

To prevent this from happening, change your workouts periodically. For example, you may want to do one type of exercise for 6 weeks, then switch to a different type. Alternatively, you can simply do different exercises every day of the week.