By Anthoney J. Andersen – Steroidal.com
Every year, millions of Americans succumb to the notion that they have once again failed to live up to their New Year’s resolution of getting into shape and turning their body’s into a healthier and more physically fit version of their former selves.
Many individuals that fall short of their goal – whether it was to get back to an old weight that they were once comfortable with, put on lean muscle, or make their existing muscle more toned and defined – eventually reach a point where they see it as an impossible feat.
If you fall into this category, rest assured that you’re not alone, and that nothing is ever impossible. Like with anything – parenting, relationships and your career – exercise is hard work that takes time and discipline. Nothing happens overnight.
However, there are certain exercises and supplements (legal) that can assist in expediting your results and help you achieve the body of your dreams in a much shorter time.
QUIT BLAMING YOUR METABOLISM
“I can’t drop the weight, I have a slow metabolism.”
This is a statement you’ve probably heard someone you know say – hell, you’ve probably said it – but it’s a statement that shouldn’t act as a crutch or an excuse as to why you can’t eat healthy or exercise in order to manage a healthy weight.
It’s true that metabolism is linked to weight gain, but according to Mayo Clinic, it’s rarely the cause of excessive weight gain. Although your metabolism can have a direct impact on your body’s basic energy needs, it’s your food and beverage consumption and your physical activity that ultimately establishes your weight.
Even when your body is at rest, it still needs energy to perform all its ‘hidden’ functions – breathing, circulating blood, adjusting hormone levels and producing and repairing cells. The number of calories your body uses to carry out these basic functions is called your basal metabolic rate.
Several elements are used to define your basal metabolic rate, and they are as follows:
- Body size and composition. Individuals, who are larger or have more muscle, burn more calories, even at rest.
- Gender. Men tend to have less body fat and more muscle than women of the same age and weight that are burning the same amount of calories.
- Age. As our body progresses with age, your lean muscle will decease, as your body will account for more of your weight gain (muscle weighs more than fat), slowing down calorie burning.
DOING IT ALL NA-TUR-AL
If you’re someone who detests using supplements of any kind, then following these helpful exercise guidelines for burning fat naturally might be the answer for you.
RUN YOUR TROUBLES AWAY
Engaging in some sort of cardio before or after exercise is a good way to keep your heart rate up, while continuing to burn away the stored fat. According to Yale University School of Medicine, people who run for at least four hours a week, melt more calories than non-runners, even when they’re not running.
EARLY INTENSITY IS KEY
According to Health.com, amplifying your workout during the first half of your exercise and taking it easier during the second half, burns up to 23 percent more fat than doing the opposite.
STRENGTH TRAIN TO BUILD MUSCLE
It’s obvious that when you exercise – specifically training with weights – you are utilizing various muscle groups, therefore building muscle in the process.
“The more time spent exercising and the more vigorous the exercise, the more calories will be burned,” says Christopher Wharton, PhD, a certified personal trainer and researcher with the Rudd Center for Food Policy and Obesity at Yale University.
“This helps build muscle mass, and muscle tissue burns more calories – even when you’re at rest – than body fat,” Wharton further explains.
According to Wharton, 10 pounds of muscle would burn 50 calories in a day spent at rest, while 10 pounds of fat would burn 20 calories.
Strength training can also help trim major fat, and doing super slow (versus normal speed) reps increases strength by 50 percent, according to Gregory Haff, PhD, an associate professor in the exercise physiology department at West Virginia University.
TWO HEADS ARE BETTER THAN ONE
I’m sure you’re familiar with that phrase, and it stands true in the world of bodybuilding/athletics. Whatever your health goals may be, achieving them in a healthy manner is essential to maintaining optimal health and peak performance while training.
However, if you could reach your goal quicker, while refraining from damaging your health, wouldn’t you do it?
Supplementing fat burners into your workout regimen can help your body burn off that excess fat at a much more accelerated rate than just working out alone.
Here are a few of the most effective/health conscious fat burners on the market today:
FORSKOLIN AND CARNITINE
For fat burners to be effective, you need a supplement that will be delivered directly to where the fat is stored, so it can free it and allow it to travel into the bloodstream to muscles and other tissues within the body where it will be used as fuel.
According to the University of Kansas, forskolin – the active compound in the herb coleus forskohlii – gets the first half of the job done by activating the enzyme Hormone-Sensitive Lipase (HSL), which increases lipolysis – the ability of the stored fat cells to be released into the bloodstream where it can be absorbed by the muscles.
Carnitine then swoops in and takes care of the second half of the job. This amino acid-like supplement helps the fat that gets released to travel to into the mitochondria (generates the energy that our cells need to function) of those cells, where it’s burned for fuel.
RED PEPPER AND GINGER
Sometimes burning fat can be as inexpensive as eating certain foods. Adding red pepper and ginger to your meals will not only add flavor, but it has the ability to boost your metabolism.
Capsaicin is the chemical in chili (red) peppers that makes them spicy. According to Muscleandfitness.com, capsaicin can boost body fat loss by increasing metabolic rate and fat burning through its ability to raise norepinephrine (similar to adrenaline).
Ginger is a root that acts as an effective treatment toward inflammation, nausea and motion sickness. It’s also a valuable fat loss aid. Ginger helps increase metabolic rate, while reducing lactic acid in the muscles.
CONCLUSION
Exercising can be both a challenging and rewarding experience on both your mind and body. Reaching your health goals can mean giving up – or at the very least, cutting down – on some of your favorite sugary/high caloric foods.
It may also mean that instead of spending time in front of the TV, you spend those hours outdoors or at the gym, working on burning off those excess calories and fat.
As you just learned, there is a plethora of economically viable ways to reduce your waistline, while putting on lean muscle.
The question is: How bad do you want it?