Exercises to burn Fat and build Muscle
In general when looking to to lose a few pounds or more most people start a cardio training program to help burn fat. This means lots of running, cycling, walking or on the rowing machine and cross trainer in the gym.
As exercises for fat burning they can have the desired effect but are they as good as most people think? Contrary to popular belief over usage of cardio training may actually harm your fat burning efforts.
So because of doing too much cardio there is the possibility of losing lean muscle. Less lean muscle in the body results in a slower metabolism that leads to you burning less calories in the form of fat. A result of this is people who are thin but don’t have much lean muscle. This lack of muscle can make them very prone to weight gain should they eat normally again or stop training.
Another reason why moderate intensity cardio training is not as effective is that after doing this exercise your metabolic rate is only kept high for possibly 1-3 hours after you finish. This leads to a limited fat burning window in what can be called the “after-burn” of exercise.
Looking at this information it is fair to conclude that exercises that focus on building lean muscle performed at high intensity produce a much stronger fat burning post exercise response. This means having a high proportion of free weight exercises as part of your fat burning plan. If must be noted that not all of these kind of exercises are suitable. For a more effective workout focus on multi joint movements that use lots of muscles and therefore lots of energy.
The most important exercises you should perform on a regular basis are:
Squats – Perform various types using free weight dumbbells and Barbells (No Machines!)
Deadlifts – Again to be performed with Dumbbells and Barbells
Chest and Shoulder Presses – No Machines if possible
Push ups- Use varying techniques to increase the difficulty
Pullups - Very difficult for most people only perform if you can do full range of movement. If you cannot do this exercise then use lat Pulldowns
Lunges – Vary between front, reverse and side.
Rows – Bent over Rows and cable rows
There are lots of variations of these exercises and I would recommend you delve into further to get more ideas.
To make these exercises burn lots of fat keep the intensity high throughout your workout. This requires using heavier weights (weights where you can only manage 6-10 reps) and taking less than 60 seconds rest between sets to maintain an elevated heart rate. A further proposal would be to use a system such as super sets in your workouts. Supersets involve performing 2 exercises back to back as one rep. This would be one set. A good illustration of this would be doing 8 reps of pullups then performing 8 reps flat chest presses without rest. This has a better effect if opposing muscle group exercises are chosen.
If boredom is creeping into your exercise regime then think seriously about doing free weights in your workouts. They may just be the answer to getting the results you want.
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