Michael Stefano, creator of The Firefighter's Workout, has been training New York City firefighters for the past 20 years. Stefano, a captain (retired) with the FDNY, has also authored a book (read reviews) based on the principles and methods he used with real life firefighters that are amazingly effective on men and women of every fitness level. In addition to his book, Captain Mike offers online customized workouts that promise to unlock your fat-burning, muscle-building potential.
Rev Up Your Metabolism
Become a 24-Hour Fat Burner
by Michael Stefano
The average adult will probably lose about twenty-five percent of their lean muscle mass every decade after the age of thirty, only to be replaced by adipose tissue (fancy word for FAT). But, don't be alarmed. Men and women can halt this process of ever-declining lean muscle mass.
Low Down on Muscle
Muscles demand energy just to exist; energy in the form of calories derived from glucose (sugar) and fat. Nearly all of your stored body fat gets burned in the millions of muscle cells throughout the body.
Strength training incurs a relatively heavy caloric demand, but even more importantly (for the purpose of reducing body fat) it increases the size and density of muscle fibers. Your stronger, more muscular body will also require more fat (as fuel) to meet day-to-day caloric demands. For a custom strength routine: CLICK HERE
Basal Metabolic Rate
Basal metabolic rate (BMR) is defined as the energy requirement necessary to sustain life when the body is at rest. Having a relatively high BMR makes it easier to balance how much you eat with how often you exercise.
If you simply improve the overall tone (and density) of your major muslces (even without an associated increase in muscle volume), you will substantially drive up your BMR -- and it's not necessary to have big bulky muscles to get in on this fat burning metabolism boosting phenomenon.
An Effective BMR-Boosting Program
BMR-boosting resistance exercise can be peformed with anything from body weight, to sophisticated health club machines, to more traditional weight lifting exercises that moves a barbell or dumbbell against gravity.
For example; most people are familiar with the classic SQUAT. Squats work the entire lower body, as well as engaging the lower back and abdominal muscles as stabilizers. Every day we squat dozens of times, simply by sitting down and/or rising up from a comfortable chair.
An effective fat burning program can be greatly enhanced with the addition of some form of intelligently orchestrated strength or resistance movements, like the classic squat, that ulitmately increase your capacity to burn fat.
You can vary the overall intensity of the program by adding some weights like dumbbells, or resistance bands, by altering the biomechanics of the movement itself with a stability ball or other prop, or by simply performing the exercise in very slow motion. The variations are endless with very minimal expense, and when combined with the right amount of cardiovascular training, and a sensible eating program, results can be quite dramatic.
Be aware that muscle weighs more than fat, but takes up comparatively less space. So while the bathroom scale might not indicate you�ve lost much weight, you can be sure that the right resistance exercises, when peformed correctly, will not only build lean muscle mass and raise your BMR, but at the same time help shrink your waistline.
NEED HELP PUTTING TOGETHER A PROGRAM?
For a Custom Fat Burning, Muscle Building Workout
CLICK HERE
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