Most of us now know that weight training helps you build lean muscle tissue. But did you know that lean muscle allows your body to burn more calories not only during exercise but also when your body is at a resting state. Muscles are "metabolically active" 24 hours a day and unlike fat require constant oxygen, blood flow and nutrient consumption.
If you're interested in fast ways to workout at home that burns more calories try these three tips.
1. Choose exercises that target multiple body parts when you are training. Pick a small muscle group and a large muscle group. For example, I plan to work on arms and legs today. So instead of splitting these two workouts up I will combine them with one effective exercise for a faster way to workout at home. Using an exercise like the lunge combined with bicep curls allows me to do this and helps me burn more calories in less time.
As you perform the lunge, you are going to add a bicep curl on the downward lunge motion to train the biceps, quadriceps and gluteals all at the same time. The lunge is also a great way to get some cardio work done as it is a very dynamic exercise that requires you to concentrate on posture, balance and coordination.
2. Use a fitness ball during dumbbell exercises. Instead of sitting or lying on a bench, try performing exercises like chest flies, curls and shoulder press on a fitness ball. This helps you burn more calories because the unstable ball forces your body to activate more muscles in your core and legs to maintain balance on the ball. Dumbbells and fitness balls are cheap alternatives to expensive gym memberships and take up little space for home workouts.
3. Use "high intensity interval training" to boost fat loss and burn more calories. Recent studies have shown that interval training can stimulate your metabolism far more AFTER the workouts than lower intensity training. This means you continue to burn more calories and fat for long periods after you're done training. Not so with low intensity training. There is a lot of research being done about high intensity interval training and how it is becoming the workout of choice versus aerobic training for losing fat. I think we will all be hearing more about this and how it can help the body burn more calories.
Ways To Workout At Home In 15 Minutes Or Less
1. Pick 3 to 6 exercises that target the upper and lower body.
2. Perform each exercise back to back 8 to 15 reps without rest. The heavier the weight the less reps.
3. After you complete all the exercises one time rest for 30 to 60 seconds. You will have completed one set.
4. Repeat this sequence again until you have completed 3 to 5 sets.
This is one form of High Intensity Training that is so popular and effective for fat loss because it burns so many "total calories". You can do this!
Be creative. Think of all the exercises you currently do and adapt them to multi-muscle exercises. You will also have a fast way to workout at home and "brand new" exercise routines to help you get out of that workout rut!
Important: Be sure you check with your doctor before you begin any new exercise program.
