Burn Calories More Effectively

Good morning, and I hope this blog post finds you active and well! Today we are going to discuss how you can maximize the effectiveness of you workouts. As a trainer I often hear clients say they want to work on this body part or that due to accumulated weight. Unfortunately weight loss doesn't exactly work that way. You generally lose weight from all over at once with the greatest proportion coming from belly fat. Ladies, I'm sorry, but the weight comes off of you legs and hips last. So what is a burgeoning exercise enthusiast to do? You want to maximize burned calories through a combination of resistance training and cardio. Cardio burns lots of calories, but that burn stops shortly after you stop doing cardio. Weight lifting burns somewhat fewer calories, but because you are doing damage to your muscle fibers, calories continue to be burned long after you stop lifting as you body heals itself. So the ideal workout combines weight training followed by cardiovascular exercise (as your type 1 fibers can use the lactic acid produced from anaerobic activity as energy, as well as you don't want to be fatigued before lifting heavy for safety reasons). So you going to go throw down some curls and jog lightly and expect to lose weight? No! For Best results you need to lift heavy and breakdown your muscle tissue as much as possible because, the more you damage, the more repairs you have to do, the more calories it takes for those repairs. Take it one step further, and lift heavy for full body exercise. Big exercises like jump squats, burppees, power cleans, all burn tons of calories and use most muscles you have. Of course the disclaimer here is to be safe, ask a professional to coach you on form because these movements are multi-joint, and thus have lots of room for injury. Start with very light weight and progress as your form improves. Again when in doubt ASK A PROFESSIONAL. Too many health magazines will tell you to do this stuff and show you pictures, but if you form is bad you can and will get hurt. 'm not saying this to discourage you from trying this stuff, but sitting on the coach with a torn muscle isn't a great workout and all you had to do was ask. So, in summery, lift big, with big movements, then do cardio. The weight will melt off of you.

J