Exercise for Weight Loss 4-Week Advanced Weight Loss Program By Paige Waehner facebook linkedin Paige Waehner is a certified personal trainer, author of the "Guide to Become a Personal Trainer"; and co-author of "The Buzz on Exercise & Fitness." Learn about our editorial process Paige Waehner Fact checked by Fact checked by Adah Chung on August 08, 2020 linkedin Adah Chung is a fact checker, writer, researcher, and occupational therapist. Learn about our editorial process Adah Chung on August 08, 2020 Print Shestock/Getty Images If you want to lose serious weight, you know you need to do two important things: exercise and eat a healthy, low-calorie diet. But, just how much exercise do you really need to lose weight? Usually, it's more than you think. For weight loss, The American College of Sports Medicine recommends accumulating 200-300 minutes of exercise each week to lose weight, and that's without changing your eating habits, which translates to about 30-60 minutes of exercise every day. That's a pretty broad definition, so you may wonder what those workouts actually look like. That's the question this 4-Week Advanced Weight Loss Program answers, giving you four weeks worth of high intensity, advanced workouts that will help you build strength and endurance, and lose weight. This name of this program says it all—very tough, high-intensity cardio workouts, strength training, and circuit training. Before starting this program you should be well-versed in exercise and have at least a good six months of consistent exercise under your belt. If you're a beginner, ease into a more basic exercise program to allow your body to get used to exercising before trying these intense workouts. What You Need A cardio machine or a favorite activity you can do for up to 30-45 minutesA few sets of dumbbells—5-40 lbs.An exercise ballA resistance band A mat A BOSU balance trainer. You can also substitute a step or do the moves on the floor.A medicine BallSix days and 30-60 minutes of time on each of those days to complete your workouts Overview Week 1: Your first week starts with six days of workout with a mix of steady state cardio, total body training, high-intensity cardio and core, and flexibility workouts.Week 2: This week introduces a bit of a different schedule with a couple of new workouts to try. Listen to your body and take extra rest days as needed.Week 3: This week is the same as last week, so there's nothing really different...just tough workouts to help you get fit and burn calories. Pay attention to how you feel this week since too many high-intensity workouts can lead to burnout or overtraining.Week 4: For your last week, you'll have one new workout, plus you get an extra rest day this week, something that is well deserved if you finished all the workouts. No matter how many you finished, give yourself a reward for working so hard. How to Find Time to Exercise Tips for Better Workouts Make it work for you: This is a very tough workout schedule, so take extra rest days and skip workouts if you need to. It's perfectly fine to stay at one week for a while rather than moving on if that's what you need to perfect the exercises. Make this schedule work with your life and your fitness levelSee your doctor if you have any medical conditions, illnesses or injuriesSubstitute your own workouts if you have other activities you enjoy Week 1 Week 2 Week 3 Week 4 Mon~ 45-Min Cardio~Upper Cardio Circuit 1-2 sets Mon~Tabata Cardio~Upper Cardio Circuit-1-2 sets Mon~Tabata Cardio~Upper Cardio Circuit 1-2 sets Mon~Tabata Low Impact~Upper Cardio Circuit 1-2 sets Tues~Total Body Superset - 2 sets Tues~45-Min Cardio Tues~45-Min Cardio Tues~30-60-90 Intervals Wed - Choose 1~Tabata Cardio WedActive Rest WedActive Rest WedActive Rest ThursActive Rest Thurs~Lower Body/Core Circuit-1 set Thurs~Lower Body/Core Circuit-1 set Thurs~Lower Body/Core Circuit-2 sets Friday~35-Min Boredom Buster Friday~Choose one 10-Min Cardio-2 sets~Total Body Stretch Friday~Choose one 10-Min Cardio-2 sets~Total Body Stretch Friday-Choose 1~Free Cardio-Whatever you like~Total Body Stretch Sat~Total Body Superset - 2 sets Sat~Total Body Superset - 2 sets Sat~Total Body Superset - 2 sets Sat~Cardio Strength Circuit Sun~Choose one 10-Min Cardio~Core and Flexibility Sun~35-Min HIIT Cardio Sun~35-Min HIIT Cardio SunCelebrate! Was this page helpful? Thanks for your feedback! Looking to lose weight? Our nutrition guide can help you get on the right track. Sign up for our newsletter and get it free! Sign Up You're in! Thank you, {{form.email}}, for signing up. There was an error. Please try again. What are your concerns? Other Inaccurate Hard to Understand Submit Article Sources Verywell Fit uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read our editorial process to learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy. Donnelly JE, Blair SN, Jakicic JM, et al. Appropriate Physical Activity Intervention Strategies for Weight Loss and Prevention of Weight Regain for Adults. Med Sci Sports Exerc. 2009;41(2):459-471. doi:10.1249/MSS.0b013e3181949333