Keep Your Metabolism Running Hot With Strength Training

Body fat is likely to start accumulating filling in the space left by the diminishing muscle tissue. The bathroom scales may say you weigh the same but your body composition (muscle to fat ratio) is very different. Hence the calorie burning rate is decreased as it no longer takes as much fuel to run a smaller engine so to speak.

Often when we see this fat accumulation we panic and start another calorie reduced diet to banish this unwelcome intruder. But the reality is this is totally the wrong way to tackle this problem. When calories are reduced the body will hang on to its fat stores in preparation for the famine it thinks is coming. You are teaching your body how to store fat better.

You may have lost some weight but it will be mainly water and precious muscle tissue. When the diet ends, and it will, you will then have a lowered metabolic rate so the weight piles back on plus a bit more in preparation of the next "famine".

A much more effective solution is to burn off the excess body fat through increased activity rather than try to starve it off with restrictive diets. If you are prepared to put in some effort and good old fashioned hard work you can restore your body's fat burning mechanism to its former efficiency.

To do this you need the proper exercise regime and that must include at least 60% strength training exercise. This will increase muscle tone and have the effect of raising back the metabolism to chew into the intrusive and unhealthy fat stores.

Don't even think about low intensity, slow boring type exercise such as walking, jogging rowing etc. This will not tone muscle tissue to the extent needed to permanently raise the metabolism. Strength training exercise is the only type of exercise that will do this.

To learn the skills necessary to use this special exercise regime to the full advantage you need to see a Fitness Professional. It is not just waving around a couple of tins of baked beans in front of the television. You need to learn what exercises to do, how to do them, the quantity needed, the correct level of intensity to perform them at and the progression of the exercises needed to continue to get progress.

The exercises you should have in your program are big exercises that involve the large muscle groups of the body. These take a bit of effort and you need to learn how to do them safely and effectively. Think of this as learning a new skill that will help you become lean and slim and remain that way.

If you choose not to take this advice you can look forward to making friends with the excess body fat as it won't be going anywhere anytime soon. This will also leave you more exposed to the risk of serious disease in the future.

It will require a bit more patience as you will may see "scale" weight increase a little before it starts to drop slowly. It is not about the scale weight though it is about your body composition and this will be monitored by your Fitness Professional.

The end result is what is important and that will be a permanent change for the better in your health. You will be able to eat more and have more energy as well as losing body fat instead of a screwed up metabolism that gets worse with age and each successive diet failure.