To burn fat and sculpt your body, you must build muscle mass. That's the only way to transform your body to lean and toned.
You want your strength exercises to primarily build muscle, burn fat, improve bone density and sculpt your body.
One way to build muscle mass is through heavy weight lifting. “Heavy” is relative to your body weight and strength. According to the research, doing this type of weight lifting will give you exercise-induced testosterone increases. Of course, this will help you build muscle mass.
So, how much weight is heavy enough? Your repetition range for exercises should be between 3-5 (you would have a difficult time lifting these repetitions). You would typically do 4-5 sets of each exercise.
Strength exercises for fat loss should focus on maximizing your time at the gym.
Build more muscle mass to speed up your
metabolism and burn more fat.
To recruit more muscle fibers during workouts and improve your success, focus more on
multi-joint or compound exercises.
Compound exercises will help you burn more fat because you are working large muscle groups in your body. You will also burn more calories after your workout.
Examples of single-joint exercises are biceps curl, seated calf raise, leg extension, leg curl and triceps pushdowns. Spend less of your time on these exercises.
Women can also do this type of training without fear of bulking up too much!
Here are my Top 5 strength exercises to enhance fat loss:
1. Squats - Bodyweight, dumbbell, bulgarian, one-legged or barbell....do your squats!
2. One-Arm Dumbbell Rows - If you're trying to build up back muscles and burn back fat, bentover dumbbells rows should be in your routine. Bentover dumbbell rows allow you to work your lats using heavier weights. Your lower back will be worked more if you row with both arms at the same time. You will also work your obliques in the process.
3. Pullups - The pullup is not just a back muscle exercise. Pullups work your lats (and other back muscles), core, shoulders, arms, chest, biceps and improve grip strength. That's why you should be doing pullups!
4. Dumbbell Chest Press on Ball - Doing the chest press on the ball forces you to balance while lifting. Each arm also has to do equal work. Regular bench press is always an option.
5. Standing Barbell or Dumbbell Shoulder Press - Doing an exercise on your feet (closed-chain) activates more muscles and that's what you want. The standing shoulder press will not only work your shoulders and arms but will also activate your core muscles. And, since you are standing, your lower body also has to do some work.
Build major muscle mass and watch your body begin to sculpt like never before!
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"Exercise is not my life.....exercise makes my life better!"
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