When I was in my early 20's I was a runner. I ran about 30 miles a week, but that was the extent of my exercise. After I began to see a trainer I was introduced to strength training and learned how being stronger led to me being a better runner, and I was much, much healthier overall. I also began eating more protein and whole grains, but I'll leave that conversation for another blog :).
So hopefully you are also incorporating strength training into your exercise routine. If not, go back to some of the workouts I have posted on my blog! But if you are, here's a tip or two about boosting the burn in your workouts.
1) Slowly increase the weight you are lifting. If you started out using 4lb weights for those shoulder presses, increase to 6lb after a couple of weeks. Then go for 8lb and continue until you get to the goal weight you want to use.
2) Add one more set. If you usually do two sets of your strength exercises, speed the up a bit and add a 3rd set. As you get stronger and in better shape, you'll be able to reduce the rest time in-between your sets.
3) Increase the number of reps. If you typically do 8 reps, go for 10 and then increase to 12 over the next few weeks. Don't let the exercise get easy! If it's easy then you are cheating your muscles out of their potential growth. I like to keep my clients a little bit sore...keep those muscles guessing and growing!
To increase the calorie-burn during your strength workouts, you can always add some cardio in-between sets. Do 1 minute of jump rope, rest 20 seconds and do another minute. Or, do 10 burpees in-between sets, rest 20 seconds and do 20 more. Also, doing upper and lower body exercises at the same time will elevate your heart rate. For instance, do a squat holding dumbbells by your sides then as you stand, do a bicep curl.
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