If you want your body to be a fat burning machine, you need to consider two things.

1. Am I getting out of my comfort zone and getting my heart rate high?

2. Do I have lean, strong, toned muscle?

High intensity training creates a metabolic effect and the more lean muscle we have, the more efficient our metabolism is at rest. So to create a metabolic effect and build lean muscle, you need to make sure your training includes (but is not exclusive to) some form of HIIT and resistance training.

So, here are 5 of my favourite moves that do the job:

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5 best exercises to get your body into fat burning mode

1. Burpees with push-up

Burpees are a killer exercise because they work your arms, back, chest, core, legs and glutes. This full body move will get your lungs pumping, heart racing and muscles burning- it’s an ultimate calorie burner.

2. Squat and Press

Individually, the squat and press are epic exercises. Combine the two and you’ve got a calorie torching exercise that engages your glutes, quads, shoulders and lats. This is one of my favourite compound exercises. You can use dumbbells on your shoulders, a kettlebell hugged into your chest or even a weight plate.

3. Deadlifts

The deadlift is the king of lifts, especially if you want to work your posterior chain. Deadlifts involve multiple joint movements, stabilisation and muscle activation. By working so many muscles, you expend plenty of energy and a heavy load or high repetitions will spike your heart rate and burn plenty of calories.

4. Dumbbell walking lunges

Walking lunges are a great unilateral movement that really work your legs and glutes. Adding dumbbells to your walking lunges increases the difficulty of the exercise and also forces your body to work harder to stabilise.

5. Mountain climbers

Another epic full body move with a focus on core and cardio- mountain climbers are hard work and really get that heart pumping.

There’s no magic bullet or workout trick that will melt fat away overnight, however there are some brilliant exercises that are great bang for your buck, burn plenty of calories and will efficiently and effectively chip away at your fat stores.

Sam Wood is a fitness expert and founder of training program 28 by Sam Wood.