How To Fire Up Your Metabolism And Burn More Fat 

When it comes to exercise, the common school of thought says that thirty to forty minutes of aerobic exercise done three to five times each week is the best exercise method. This school of thought advocates working up to a target heart rate and then keeping your heart rate there for about a half an hour or so. They say that this is the best way to increase your metabolism, use up calories and burn off fat. This is certainly an effective method of exercising, but it isn't necessarily the best way to increase your metabolism or burn fat. In fact, some believe that this won't help you burn fat at all.

It is hard to burn fat with longer periods of exercise is because a longer duration of exercise with a lower degree of intensity makes your body use up the body fat it has stored for energy after you've burned through the calories you've taken in that day. Your body quickly adjusts to doing this and will create more body fat to keep in its reserves to accommodate your work out regimen. This is the exact opposite of what you are working to achieve!

While it is good to train your cardiovascular system to keep its efficiency level high, a higher efficiency level can actually cause your body to reduce its capacity for working out which, in turn, makes it harder for your body to deal with stress. When your body cannot properly deal with stress, you run the risk of having a heart attack or any number of other cardiovascular problems. Eventually you will stop pushing your body to work harder and reach a plateau, which will cause your weight and fat loss to plateau as well.

The best way to increase your metabolism, burn more fat (and burn it more quickly) and to keep your body healthy and fit is to add more lean muscle to your body with resistance training in addition to your usual cardiovascular workout. The more lean muscle you add to your body, the more fat you will be able to burn! This is because your lean muscles won't store fat the way your other muscles will. You'll burn calories more efficiently, which will help you burn fat more efficiently as well.

Resistance training will also increase the capacity of your heart and lungs, making it easier to work out and push your body. Your body will force itself to meet the demands you place on it and this will help you keep your cardiovascular system healthy and ready for anything.

The best news about resistance training is that it does not take as much time as the workouts you have been doing. Resistance training is usually done in twenty to thirty minute workouts which are done a maximum of three times each week. This allows your body to rest and repair/strengthen the muscles in preparation for your next workout. The better able you are to work out, the more fat you will be able to burn!