Boost Your
Metabolism and Melt Away Fat
By
Craig Ballantyne
As a
regular Early to Rise reader, you already know that aerobics and
traditional "cardio" exercise can strain your heart and cause
injury to your joints and muscles. But you don't have to put your health
at risk to burn fat. A new study published in the prestigious Journal
of Applied Physiology showed that strength training boosted
metabolism after the exercise by 10 percent and increased fat burning by
100 percent.
The
participants in the study followed a standard strength-training program,
including multiple-muscle exercises that can be done at most health clubs
- pull-downs, leg presses, chest presses, leg extensions, and leg curls.
They did three sets of 10 repetitions of each exercise.
After
strength training, your body is scrambling to recover and, therefore, uses
more energy and more fat to fuel this process. So while strength training
doesn't burn as many calories as traditional aerobic training during the
actual workout, it continues to burn calories AND fat long after you've
left the gym. This is known as the "afterburn" - the result of
"turbulence" put on your muscles during the strength training
itself.
In addition
to the muscle- and bone-building benefits of strength training,
post-exercise fat burning is one more reason to add it to your fitness
regimen.
[Ed. Note:
Craig Ballantyne is an expert consultant for Men's Health
magazine.
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