Three Workout Mistakes That DO NOT Boost Metabolism

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Listen up ladies (and men too) – just like the popular fashion show ” What NOT to Wear'” you are about to get a large dose of “What NOT to Do” if your goal is to boost your metabolism (your bodies engine) and shed a few pounds of excess fat weight in the shortest time possible.

Do the following sound like you? If so, get ready, as I am about to call you out on the top 3 workout mistakes you are making that can do the exact opposite of what you want. In fact, the following mistakes can destroy your metabolism, put the brakes on fat loss, syphon away your energy and keep your body soft and flabby.

Mistake number one – Hours of cardio do nothing to boost metabolism

Cardio type of activity (long duration, low intensity) is not the be-all and end-all solution to losing body fat. It does not boost metabolism and doing more and more of it will not help you lose fat – in fact it will cause you to store more of it as your body simply keeps a good supply of energy ready for the next long drawn out activity session.

For the last 30-40 years we have gotten ourselves completely hung up on the notion of ‘calories in’ and ‘calories out’. This has caused us to become obsessive and look for ways to increase the so called ‘calorie burn’ in the hope that we are also burning more excess fat.  That old fashioned myth has long since been tossed out and when you do ‘cardio’ type activities as your primary exercise method you risk the loss of precious muscle tissue and receive little to no increase in metabolism once you stop.

Modern exercise programs boost metabolism

Now-a-days we are not interested in how many calories we burn per exercise session but how many we burn after the session is over and for the next 24 hours. We all possess the most powerful fat burner – our own muscle tissue. But if it is weak and flabby we become over-fat and overweight from the reduced functioning of our metabolism and the rate our body burns fuel (calories).

Cardio type of activity will most certainly not tone up muscle tissue to boost metabolism. You need a proper program of strength training exercise to work the muscles directly under a load and through their ranges of movement.

Mistake number two – targeting the trouble spots

You cannot tone up in one particular spot. There is simply no ‘one’ exercise that acts like a magic wand to rid your body parts of fat and flab. That is not how the human body works. If you want to lose fat you need to boost your metabolism and to do that you need to challenge all of the muscles in your body. Working itty bitty body parts will not do it…not anytime soon…not ever.

Mistake number three – being resistant to proper strengthening exercise

You can hear women saying it “I don’t want to bulk up; I just want to get toned”. But let us think about what you are saying here. Being toned simply means you have shed the excess fat that once covered your muscles – being toned means your metabolism is boosted, burning off excess fat so you have a lean tight shape instead of a saggy flabby one.

 You do not have to ‘bulk up’ to boost metabolism

No, you will not build muscle like a man. Women do not have the hormones necessary to do that. The best a woman can hope for is to add a few pounds of new muscle to boost metabolism. You won’t see it anyway as it will be buried under the fat, but muscle is your very best friend if you want to reclaim your slim trim body.

The choice is simple – an overweight body and what that means. It will spoil your appearance, place a mental and emotional burden on you and set you up for the risk of serious disease. Toned muscle tissue will give you an improved metabolism which will help you get slim, give your energy, give you disease protection and make you feel and look so much better. Bit of a no brainer decision wouldn’t you agree?

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