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The Twofer In the Gym That Beats All

There’s a new champ in the fitness ring with a one-two punch that would send Sugar Ray Robinson spinning. It’s an exercise combo that beats all the rest — zapping fat and lowering blood sugar better than either alone.

The dynamic duo? Aerobics and resistance training. Translation: Do two of our favorite things: speed walking and a little weight work. Even if you do the absolute minimum — five days of walking and two of strength training — for just 20 to 30 minutes a day, you’ll get more out of it than if you do just one or the other. Researchers watched diabetics who did the combo trim their waists, lower their blood sugar, cut back on their meds and (nifty bonus) lose 4 pounds of pure fat. (Hmm, are you thinking about where you’d like to see that much jiggly stuff disappear from?)

The beauty of combining both types of workouts is that it doesn’t have to take more time. The mix seems to maximize the benefits of whatever you do. And even though the combo plan was tested on people with diabetes, it will work for anyone, whether you need to lower your blood sugar or just want to get healthier, reduce cancer and heart disease risk and feel more energized. Who wouldn’t want that?

If you’re already walking 30 minutes a day, don’t cut back. Just substitute weight training on two of those days, or — even better — tack on 20 minutes of strength work to two speed walks. You’ll get an even bigger bang on your exercise bottom line.