Muscle-Shredding Exercise
For some guys, hitting the gym is all about getting big. But most of us want more out of our workout, and more for our bodies. Sure, size is important - but we also want that chiseled, cut look. In other words, you're going to have to find a way to burn off all those layers of fat that your muscles are hiding under.
Burning fat and getting ripped is every bit as tricky and difficult as gaining size. But you'll shed a lot less blood, sweat and tears in the gym if you approach the challenge strategically. With that in mind, here are can't miss training tips to slash excess pounds and reveal razor-sharp muscle definition:
- Do your cardio
If you're not doing cardio, get started today. Increasing the cardio component of your workout is, by far, the most important change you can make in your exercise routine to get a more ripped physique.
Cardio is short for "cardiovascular", meaning exercise that increases heart rate. In addition to raising your heart rate, cardio exercise also increases your metabolism.
Here's how it works: Following cardio exercise, your body must replenish energy stores (such as ATP and muscle glycogen), as well as restore your body temperature, breathing and heart rate to the normal, pre-exercise levels.
Restoring the body to its pre-exercise state is work, and it requires your energy, so your body continues burning calories long after your workout. This is sometimes referred to as "after burn", and it can really help you shed fat.
But there is a catch. When adding cardio to your regimen, you don't want to break down your muscles to the point where they can't recover fast enough between weight-training workouts.
On weight-training days, limit your cardio to walking on a slightly inclined treadmill for 45 minutes. On non-weight training days, try interval cardio sessions with some combination of wind sprints, hill sprints, swimming sprints, speed rope jumping, stair climbing, cycling, etc. With interval training, you can get a killer cardio workout in just 20 minutes... - Take up resistance training
Like interval training, resistance training helps to create an "after burn" of elevated metabolism to help you achieve the greatest fat loss. The key is to avoid isolation exercises that use single joint movements such as triceps extensions and leg curls because they burn very little body fat.
Instead, focus on multi-joint movements such as squats, dead lifts, bench press, chin-ups and rows. These are full-body movements that work multiple muscles at once. As a result, you will burn more calories during the exercise and help keep your metabolism elevated post-workout. To really fire up your metabolism for maximum fat burning, keep your rest time between sets to a minimum.
Shedding excess body fat is never easy. It takes a lot of science and a lot of sweat. But just think how good it will feel to look in the mirror and see washboard, 6-pack abs!
