Most people today operate under a time crunch. It’s going on right now for us — hectic jobs, after school activities for the kids, and Saturday soccer games. Finding the time for workouts is challenge enough, you should be efficient with your workouts. Try these tips to burn fat and build muscle with a single workout.
Tips To Burn Fat & Build Muscle
Know Your Heart Rate
It’s easy to fall prey to the idea that high intensity, chronic cardio, is the holy grail of weight loss. Unfortunately, that
myth can easily become a hindrance to efficient weight loss. Research has shown time and again that your heart rate when exercising should be 60-80% of your max heart rate for burning fat; the oft-named aerobic zone. Truly aerobic workouts are generally much lower intensity than many people think, and experience says that most people won’t believe it without proof. Adding a heart rate monitor to your workouts provides immediate feedback during workouts. It’s important because much above the aerobic zone, and your body enters an anaerobic state where glycogen stores are being consumed, rather than fat.
Resistance Train To Build Muscle
While aerobic exercise is the most straightforward path to weight loss, it can be done effectively with strength training as well. Most of us know that muscle has a higher caloric requirement than fat, so if you build muscle, your resting metabolic rate will rise, helping reduce fat. Most strength training workouts are structured to include relatively long rest periods between explosive movements, which again promotes burning glycogen rather than fat. It’s certainly true that “circuit training” can help alleviate this, but a heart rate monitor quickly shows that even most circuit routines don’t keep your heart rate in an aerobic zone for the length of your workout. You’ll find that incorporating light aerobic activity, such as jumping rope, in between sets will go a long way toward maintaining an aerobic component to your strength training.
Diet, Diet, Diet
And no, I don’t mean avoid eating. The fact of the matter is, no matter how hard you work in the gym, poor eating habits will kill your efforts at weight loss. It’s easy to fall into the trap of underestimating how much fat per day one should consume to burn fat and build muscle. Most experts suggest the amount of fat as a percentage of your daily calorie distribution should range from 10-30%. The reason is, fat is an integral part of biochemistry, and essential to good health and fitness. So take the time to find out your average daily calories consumption, and learn what to eat after a workout, to fuel muscle growth.
In today’s busy works, structuring workouts to burn fat, build muscle, and get on with your day makes staying healthy easier, which is something everyone’s looking for. Hopefully these simple tips will help you reach that goal.
