Best Skinny Fat Resistance Exercises

There are five main types of resistance exercises: weightlifting, calisthenics, yoga, Pilates, and isometrics. Weightlifting is the gold standard (1, 2, 3). Resistance exercise helps maintain muscles/mass, improve muscle strength, build muscle mass, increase endurance (tone), lose regular white/yellow fat, and reduce skinny fat. As well as enhance core strength, flexibility, balance, and posture.

What is the best skinny fat resistance exercise for you?

It depends on your goals and resources. If you have consistent, regular access to proper weight training equipment at a gym, at home, or the like, then lift weights. If you do not have such equipment and access, then calisthenics, yoga, Pilates, and isometrics can be done with minimal equipment following professional training videos that we will post here regularly.

Best Skinny Fat Resistance Exercises

Check back regularly as we will add new links to specific resistance exercises.

Weightlifting (Gold Standard) – the activity of lifting heavy objects to strengthen muscles, build muscle mass, tone muscles (endurance), and maintain muscles/mass as well as improve core strength, posture, flexibility, and balance, either as a sport or for exercise; examples include diverse free weights (barbells, plates, bars, etc.) and machine weights (4, 5, 6)

Calisthenics – a type of workout that uses a person’s body weight (and sometimes added weight) to maintain muscles/mass, build strength and muscle mass, and increase endurance (tone muscles) with little or no equipment as well as improve core strength, posture, flexibility, and balance; examples include pushups, squats, crunches, Russian twists, burpees, pullups, and lunges (7, 8, 9, 10)

Russian Twists (Core: Love Handles, Lower Back, Abdominals)

Yoga – a series of 84 asanas — poses (varying degrees of difficulty) — that maintain muscle/mass, build strength (and some mass), and tone muscles while improving core strength, posture, flexibility, and balance; examples include easier poses like Mountain Pose (Tadasana), Tree Pose (Vrksasana), Triangle (Trikonasana), Warrior I (Virabhadrasana I), Upward-Facing Dog (Urdhva Mukha Svanasana), Downward-Facing Dog (Adho Mukha Svanasana), and Seated Forward Fold (Paschimottanasana) as well as the hardest poses like the Handstand (Adho Mukha Vrksasana), Crow Pose (Bakasana) or Crane Pose, Scorpion Pose (Vrschikasana), Eight-Angle Pose (Astavakrasana), and King Pigeon Pose (Kapotasana) (11, 12, 13, 14)

Pilates – a combination of approximately 50 repetitive exercises designed to maintain muscle/mass, increase muscle strength (and some mass), and enhance endurance (tone) as well as improve core strength, flexibility, posture, and balance; examples include easier poses like the Pelvic Curl, Chest Lift, Chest Lift with Rotation, Spine Twist Supine, Single Leg Stretch, Roll Up, and Roll-Like-a-Ball along with harder poses such as Advanced Thigh Stretch on the Reformer, Back Bend on the Ladder Barrel, Control Balance Off The Reformer, Candlestick on the Cadillac, Thigh Stretch on the Cadillac, Advanced Mat Teaser w/ Boomerang, Star on the Wunda Chair, and Handstand on the Wunda Chair (15, 16, 17)

Isometrics (Isometric Exercise) – a system of physical exercises that cause muscles to act against each other or against a fixed object to maintain muscle/mass, increase muscle strength (and some mass), and enhance tone (endurance) as well as improve core strength, posture, flexibility, and balance; examples include planks, wall sit, glute bridge, dead hang, and isometrics squat (18, 19, 20)

References

1. NIH, National Library of Medicine: Effect of blood-flow restricted vs heavy-load strength training on muscle strength: Systematic review and meta-analysis, May 30, 2020, Birk Mygind Grønfeldt, Jakob Lindberg Nielsen, Rune Mygind Mieritz , Hans Lund, Per Aagaard. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/32031709/
2. Cleveland Clinic: Want to Lose Weight? Build Muscle, August 6, 2020. https://health.clevelandclinic.org/build-muscles-lose-weight-by-adding-strength-training-to-your-workout
3. ABC News: More women are discovering the health benefits of weightlifting at the gym, January 29, 2024, Mary Lloyd. https://www.abc.net.au/news/2024-01-30/women-strength-training-shredded-at-gym-for-health/103376798
4. Cambridge Dictionary: weightlifting, https://dictionary.cambridge.org/us/dictionary/english/weightlifting
5. Live Science: What is weight training?, August 3, 2022, Dan Cooper. https://www.livescience.com/what-is-weight-training
6. Mayo Clinic: Weight training: Do’s and don’ts of proper technique, November 29, 2022, Mayo Clinic Staff. https://www.mayoclinic.org/healthy-lifestyle/fitness/in-depth/weight-training/art-20045842
7. MedicalNewsToday: What is calisthenics?, February 28, 2020, Shannon Johnson (Medically reviewed by Daniel Bubnis, M.S., NASM-CPT, NASE Level II-CSS, Fitness). https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/calisthenics
8. Men’s Health: Your Comprehensive Guide to Calisthenics for Beginners, June 28, 2023, Alyssa Sparacino. https://www.menshealth.com/fitness/a44348102/calisthenics-for-beginners/
9. Health: What Is Calisthenics?, July 7, 2023, Sherri Gordon (Medically reviewed by Barbie Cervoni, RD). https://www.health.com/calisthenics-7372164
10. Wikipedia: Calisthenics. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Calisthenics
11. MedicalNewsToday: How does yoga work?, April 26, 2023, Hannah Nichols (Medically reviewed by Courtney Sullivan, Certified Yoga Instructor). https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/286745
12. Wikipedia: List of asanas, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_asanas
13. John Hopkins Medicine – Health: 9 Benefits of Yoga, https://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/health/wellness-and-prevention/9-benefits-of-yoga
14. Healthline: 16 Benefits of Yoga That Are Supported by Science, December 14, 2021, Sarah Ezrin (Medically reviewed by Micky Lal, MA, CSCS,RYT). https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/13-benefits-of-yoga
15. NIH, National Library of Medicine: Pilates: how does it work and who needs it?, December 29, 2011, June Kloubec. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3666467/
16. WebMD: Pilates, May 2, 2024, Kara Mayer Robinson and Alyson Powell Key (Medically Reviewed by Jabeen Begum, MD). https://www.webmd.com/fitness-exercise/a-z/what-is-pilates
17. Cleveland Clinic: Pilates 101: What It Is and Health Benefits, March 10, 2023. https://health.clevelandclinic.org/everything-you-want-to-know-about-pilates
18. Wikipedia: Isometric exercise, June 26, 2023, Aaron Kandola, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Isometric_exercise
19. MedicalNewToday: 5 isometric exercises for people to try, https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/isometric-exercises
20. Mayo Clinic: Are isometric exercises a good way to build strength?, November 18, 2023, Edward R. Laskowski, M.D. https://www.mayoclinic.org/healthy-lifestyle/fitness/expert-answers/isometric-exercises/faq-20058186