By Nina Redza
Strength training does not only build muscle and strength. It also helps lose fat by increasing the body's resting metabolic rate (RMR). Aerobic or cardio training is still the main activity for increasing metabolism and losing fat. However, the standard 30 minutes of continuous cardio activity will only burn calories during the exercise period, itself. Once you stop, the metabolism goes back to normal and you no longer burn calories. Of course, there is an exception for high intensity training, which allows the body to continue burning calories while you sleep.
When you train your whole body with weights intensely, using multi-joint exercises for both the upper and lower body, such as a bench press, squats, deadlifts and pull ups, you have pretty much stressed every major muscle in your body. What this does is create a metabolic environment where your body has a full-time job of trying to recover from the massive stress it has been put through.
The repair work is not a 9 to 5 activity. It is a continuous task, as muscle fibers have to rebuild themselves with amino acids that are in reserve within the body, which is why consuming adequate proteins within an hour after working out is crucial. This activity will continue for up to 48 hours after you have finished training. Your metabolism is elevated for many hours, burning calories as your little muscle "construction workers" build up the fibers, making them structurally stronger. Muscles are metabolically active. They require calories to be burned in order to maintain themselves. This is good news if you have developed muscle mass. You are burning calories at rest, even fat 24/7!
How do you train for optimum results to burn fat and elevate your metabolism 7 days a week for 24 hours? A good suggestion would be to train the whole body in one session 3-4 times a week with one day of rest. For instance, you may train this way: Monday, Wednesday, Friday and/or Sunday.
You may want to experiment with supersets for 4-6 weeks (this is how long the body adapts to a particular routine before it stops being effective). There are two types of supersets: one is the Single Body Part Superset and the other is the Antagonistic Superset. For the person who doesn't have much time to spend training, we will focus on the Antagonistic Superset. This type of exercise focuses on working opposite muscle groups back-to-back without rest. This is an example of opposite body part combination. Each combination makes 1 set:
Legs: quadriceps (leg extension) + hamstring (leg curls)
Torso: back (pull ups) + chest (bench press)
Arms: biceps (barbell curls) + triceps (tricep extension)
Shoulders: Front (dumbbell front raises) + side (dumbbell lateral raises)
You can make your own combination to keep the workout interesting and work slightly different angles of the muscle groups. Stick to 3 sets of 10-12 reps per set, with 1 minute of rest between each set.
Go easy on the cardio training, especially the steady-state type, where you stay at the same intensity and speed for 30-60 minutes. It has been shown through research that you can actually lose lean muscle mass, which means a reduction in RMR. This, in turn, will make it easier to store body fat even though you have lost weight. You have not only lost fat, but you have lost muscle as well, resulting in the 'skinny-fat’ look, which is far from attractive or healthy.
It is more beneficial to practice high intensity training, which is a combination of a burst of speed and steady pace training. For instance, you may walk briskly for 2 minutes followed by 1 minute of sprint, and return to brisk walking for another 2 minutes. Alternate this process for 20 minutes, followed by 3 minutes of cool down, and you will experience residual RMR for many hours after you have laid your head on the pillow. Another advantage of this type of training is that it's not the boring "hamster on a wheel" training. You can even change machines during the 20 minutes to make it even more challenging.
Try supersets and high intensity training for 4-6 weeks, and watch your body take shape as it loses fat. You'll be amazed to see how effective this type of training is and how quickly you can see results in a short period of time. Don't forget to incorporate 5-6 mini meals a day, combining lean proteins and fiber rich carbohydrates for more effective results. You won't regret it!
Source: physicalfitnessarticles.net
