Research into the impact exercise has on giving us 'metabolic fitness' suggests that old fashioned beliefs about long duration activity (how long you exercise) is not as important or effective as the intensity (how hard you exercise). The point of proper exercise is just not to 'burn off' calories while you are working out at the gym, but rather to tell your body to grow and repair itself, to become stronger and build new tissue that is younger and healthier. And most importantly you want to boost your body to run at a higher metabolic rate every minute of the day and night, even if you are just sitting around and resting. The extra calories that you can get your body to burn round the clock are how you lose that extra body fat sitting around your waist. This is really good news for those people who do not have much time to exercise. Longer recreational activities like jogging or cycling burn calories during the session but can negatively impact key hormones responsible for calorie usage when the body is at rest. Short more focused bouts of strength training exercise or even interval training boost and 'turn on' fat burning hormones. Exciting research shows these techniques increase fat burning and usage for hours and even days after the exercise session and out-perform any endurance type activity. For the last 40 odd years 'cardio' type activity has long been considered the best approach for weight loss, but we know now that weight loss and fat loss are not the same things. Old school 'cardio' activity burns some calories, but also strips the body of metabolically active muscle tissue. Recent studies have shown convincingly that 'cardio' centered activity provides little advantage in creating real 'metabolic' body change which is what is needed for long term fat loss. All exercise is not created equal and long duration low intensity type activity can negatively alter hunger control and stress hormones which lead to increased appetite and intense food cravings for high calorie sugary, fatty and/or salty foods. Strength training exercise creates positive changes in hormones and metabolism from the inside out naturally controlling cravings so food intake is regulated without discomfort. By using proper exercise that directly works the muscles hormones are changed and the calories take care of themselves. Our body's hormones are very powerful chemical messengers transmitting instructions to the cells of our body and ultimately determining if our body is a fat storing model or a fat burning one. They also determine the degree of our hunger, fullness, mood, energy levels, our motivation levels and ultimately our health. Proper strength training exercise stimulates these hormonal helpers to elevate our metabolism and the rate we burn fuel (calories) like no other type of activity can. You will become leaner, stronger, and faster, stimulating anti-aging and enhanced immune system properties giving you a bigger 'bang for your buck'.
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