How to Burn Fat While You’re Sleeping.
Do you know what consistently burns more calories than an hour long run? It even burns calories while you sleep!
Have a guess……
Muscle.
That’s right. Firm. Lean Muscle.
Unfortunately it’s also the one thing that we lack as we age, especially women.
“I have a slow metabolism….”
“I’ve started to get that middle-age spread..”
“I can’t eat as much any more…”
Sound familiar?
Enough! You don’t need to live like this.
All this means is that you don’t have a lot of muscle on your body. And that can be changed!
What’s happened over the years is that you’ve started to create a “fat storing machine” without even realising it.
You CAN shift your body AT ANY AGE to a “fat burning machine”.
And you don’t have to starve. You certainly don’t have to go for long runs every single day.
Muscle is the only metabolically active tissue in your body.
As we start to age (right around 30-35) we start a rapid decline of losing strength, hormonal shifts (especially for women) and our bodies change shape and gain weight IF we don’t respond with the right action!
This is usually the time people start cutting back on calories, doing long boring cardio…and truth be told that’s absolutely the WORST combination which will sabotage any chance of you raising your metabolic rate!
Or people blame their hormones…. (bet you’ve heard that one too!)
But it’s usually due to lack of activity, muscle loss AND poor dietary habits.
Worse, most of the time that extra weight you’re carrying lands on your most embarrassing trouble spots – your belly and hips.
So…
How do you avoid the dreaded “middle-age spread”?
Is it even possible to get rid of it?
Why thanks for asking! :-)
The answer is you ABSOLUTELY CAN!
You CAN get leaner and stronger.
You CAN get firmer and tighter.
You CAN raise your metabolism even if it has “shut down” for years! (You know it doesn’t actually shut down, right?)
Research shows us that even with the slightest addition of lean muscle tissue, your body will increase the rate at which it burns energy (calories) even when you are at rest.
This is known as the “after-burn” effect.
Even with a 1-2% increase, just that little bit more tone in your muscles, you will be burning off additional calories whilst you’re sitting at your desk job, sitting in traffic, watching TV or even sleeping!
You might be asking, “Do I have to lift weights and go to the gym for hours?”
The simple answer is “No”.
A minimum of 2 x 30-40 minute workouts a week of specific high-intensity interval training will not only create that after-burn effect you’re after, our Perfect Fit HIIT Classes are designed to flatten and strengthen your core, firm up your rear end and tighten up your back and arms!
Forget all the old school long drawn-out cardio.
Stop the dieting roller-coaster madness.
My guess is neither made you feel any good. And they didn’t get you any results!
It’s time you get in on the “secrets” that will change not only how you look, but how you feel. For life!
Here are the 5 Golden Rules for Building Strong Lean Muscle:
1. Eat more protein.
Eat protein at every meal.
It’s important for muscle gain because it’s the only nutrient capable of stimulating muscle growth.
2. Refuel and recover
Right after your workout is the perfect time to refuel with some complex carbohydrates and protein immediately after a workout so that you can kick-start the muscle-growth process.
The body recovers and muscles grow on off days.
Rest is a good strategy but active rest promotes recovery.
Walking, gentle run, biking….all good.
Rolling on a foam roller provides deep compression to roll out muscle spasms that develop over time. This allows the muscles to relax and loosen, gets the blood flowing and helps the body recover more quickly.
3. Drink water.
Your performance (in anything) quickly begins to suffer when your body is dehydrated. If you wait until you feel thirsty you’ve waited too long. Drink plenty of water throughout the day especially in the hours leading up to your workout.
4. Stop weighing yourself.
Gains will differ from one individual to another depending on body size and level of fitness / experience in the gym.
When you’re on any fitness regime to build muscle, scales are not your best friend.
Why?
Muscle weighs more than fat so it’s rely instead on the mirror and use a tape measure twice a month to keep track of your waist and hips as well as your biceps, chest and quads.
5. Build a strong foundation with everyday movements
You might be surprised to find only 1 of these rules relate to the actual workout. And that’s because it’s easy to overlook good nutrition in the muscle-building equation – Eating for muscle is just as important as lifting for muscle gain.
If you’re looking to add muscle mass to your frame, lifting heavy weights is a given. However…
…the best muscle-building exercises are those that mimic everyday movement and use as many muscle groups as possible…..
e.g. carrying logs, flipping tires, hauling sandbags, chopping wood, swinging, paddling…they’re also much more fun and prepare you for obstacle races if you re so inclined (hint: Anyone for Tough Mudder next year?)
Whilst shapely biceps and a six pack draw more attention, there are many little stabiliser muscles around your shoulders, hips and midsection (collectively the core) that are critical to building a strong foundation. Challenging the stability and mobility of these key muscles with medicine balls, physioballs, mini-bands and rotational movement (lifting, chopping) will be immensely rewarding to your overall fitness AND muscle definition in the long term.
Come in and see us at Perfect Fit if you need specific advice on how to incorporate more muscle-building moves into your fitness routine.
If you’re new to Perfect Fit, you get a Free 7 Day Pass to try out as many HIIT classes as you like!
Go on – Claim your 7 Day Free Pass right here
See you in the studio!
Mandy x
