Muscle Burns Fat

 

Increasing Calorie Expenditure - Exercise & Metabolic Rate

 

Just exercising is not the answer for fat loss. Few activities burn enough calories to be worth performing for that purpose, and unless you are restricting your calorie intake it will most likely increase with activity level as a result of increased appetite.

 

The most important benefit exercise can provide to someone trying to lose fat is not the increase in calories burned during workouts, but the maintenance or increase of muscle tissue so that metabolic rate does not decrease. This can best be accomplished with resistance training. Most steady-state activities such as aerobics, running, cycling, swimming, etc. do not burn a significant amount of calories per hour, are ineffective for maintaining muscle mass, and can even cause a loss of muscle if performed too long or too often. Although these exercises are good for us, they only burn calories while they are being done, and so are a slow path for someone trying to loose fat.

 

 

The effects of resistance training on muscular strength and hypertrophy are specific to the muscles worked. Performing an exercise for the muscles of the legs will do little to stimulate growth in or maintain the muscles of the arms, and vice versa. Because of this, exercises should be performed for all muscle groups as frequently as individual recovery ability allows to maintain as much muscle mass as possible. For most people, two or three full-body workouts per week is an effective approach. Those with below average exercise tolerance or recovery ability or advanced trainees working at a much higher than average level of intensity may get better results training less frequently or following a split routine to reduce individual workout volume. As trainees become more advanced and train with higher levels of intensity and greater loads, workout volume and frequency should be reduced.

 

Build Muscle, Burn Fat

If you simply want to eat more, do more aerobic exercises that burn calories like jogging, swimming, or biking. However, if you have fat that you want to lose, the best type of exercises are ones that build muscle.