Boost Your Metabolism

Many people – particularly some women – are very leery about undertaking any exercise regimen that can lead to muscle building. 

The old perception was that muscle building leads to muscle bulking, and before long, gorging forearm veins and other unwanted results. This is, frankly, not the case.

Provided that women aren't supporting their workouts with specific muscle-building supplements, there is no need to be concerned; because building lean muscle won't make them bulk up.

Still, however, the question remains: why would women (and, of course, men) who want to boost their metabolism focus on muscle building?  Isn't cardiovascular exercising the only thing that matters? 

Again, the answer is: No!  In addition to a healthy and responsible cardiovascular program, muscle building is an exceptionally powerful way to boost metabolism. 

How?  Because a pound of muscle burns more calories than a pound of fat. 

And what does this mean?  It means (and get ready to stare in awe) that if you have more muscle on your body – anywhere on your body – you will simply burn more calories as a result. 

You don't even have to do anything. You'll simply burn more calories, because muscle simply requires more of an energy investment.

Of course, as you can infer, if you build muscle and then leave it alone, over time, the muscle fibers will weaken and you'll lose that wonderful calorie-burning factory.  But that's no problem, because all you need to do is build and maintain healthy muscle.

It may sound daunting; especially if at the moment you perceive yourself to have much more fat than muscle. 

Yet the important thing for you to remember is that once you start building muscle – through any kind of strength training – your body will itself start burning more calories. 

It has to; even while you sleep, or go to a movie, or read a book.  It's like putting your calorie-burning (catabolism) program on auto-pilot. 

So don't let a little (or even a lot) of extra flab, at the moment, deter you from believing that muscle building is important. 

Yes, you should enjoy cardiovascular exercise too, because that's ultimately how your body is going to burn existing fat.  But muscle building plays a profoundly supportive role in that pursuit. 

And it's an exponential one, too: the more fat you transform into muscle, the more calories you'll burn simply to maintain that new muscle (and the wonderful cycle goes on and on!).