I regularly review countless exercise and fat-loss programs for Practice Members, family and friends. One of the common denominators I’ve recognized in the most successful systems is that they all provide a way of quickly increasing your metabolism. The higher your metabolism, the more efficiently your body burns fat… whether you’re working out or not. Personally, I’m a really big fan of burning fat and shedding inches while I’m sound asleep… how ‘bout you?!
The key to revving up your metabolism to levels high enough to burn fat “24/7” is to increase your Resting Metabolic Rate. This literally means that while you’re resting, and doing anything else you do, your metabolism is in high gear, efficiently working and burning toxic fat for you.
‘Back in the day’, we used to think that doing hours of cardio training was the key to a trim physique. All the latest scientific research proves that this is NOT the way to a lean body. There are several essential components to a highly successful fat-burning exercise protocol.
1) Shorter, more intense workouts. Get in there – get it done – get out! Gone are the days of performing a light set then chatting with your workout partner for 5 minutes while sipping your energy drink before you do your next set! Short rest periods between sets of challenging exercises will ensure that you’re working hard enough to keep your metabolism revved up for many hours, even days, after your workout is complete. Short bursts of high-intensity moves are the secret ingredient! I like to simplify it this way – if I’m not sweating during my workout, I’m not working hard enough!
2) Work larger muscle groups and perform more ‘functional’ exercises. This is part of doing a more intense workout. Working your largest muscle groups is more work for your body to perform. That means it increases your metabolism more quickly during your workout, as well as significantly increasing your Resting Metabolic Rate for hours afterward. An example is doing a calf raise vs. a full lunge. The lunge works the calf, but also works the quads, hamstrings and glutes for a tremendous amount of work. One of the terrific benefits of performing large movements like lunges, squats, upper body presses and pulls, is the time you will save by eliminating all those little, ineffective, isolated exercises like triceps press, lateral shoulder raise, abductor and adductor exercises, etc. Functional exercises incorporate ALL these muscle groups, while creating a higher workload for much better fat-burning results.
3) Workout less. When you do the right exercises the right way, and put the right fuel in your body, you can workout 3 or 4 times a week for about 30 minutes each time… and still get fabulous results!
4) What you eat (and don’t eat) is equally as critical as exercise. This is a topic for another day! Nutrition is incredibly important, both for fat and weight loss as well as lifelong health and performance. You’re wasting your time if you’re working out like crazy but think you can eat and drink whatever you want. It doesn’t work that way!
For more detailed information and fantastic Fat and Weight Loss programs, check out the links to “Fit Yummy Mommy” and “The Truth About 6 Pack Abs”.
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