5 Metabolism-Boosting Workouts
Want to melt off your belly fat and finally achieve that washboard stomach that is the pinnacle of a great physique?
Contrary to popular perception, the solution isn’t to do endless sit-ups or ab crunches.
This is called spot reduction, and it doesn’t work. You cannot isolate one area of the body and work it to death in an effort to shed fat from that area.
If you want to burn fat from your belly, you have to lower your percentage of body fat across your entire body, and the way you do that is by boosting your metabolism.
The best workouts for boosting your metabolism do not involve endless trudging along on the treadmill or stair climber at a slow pace. In fact, long, steady-state, low-intensity cardio workouts can encourage your body to store fat around the belly to be used as an energy source.
To burn the most fat, you have to perform workouts which involve short bursts of high intensity work followed by intermittent low-intensity or rest intervals. This is known as High Intensity Interval Training, or HIIT for short.
Look at the body of a typical sprinter juxtaposed with a typical marathon runner, and tell me who you would rather look like. Marathon runners are notorious for being “skinny fat” — thinly-built but soft, with little muscle tone. Sprinters, at least the good ones, are ripped to the bone with more definitions than a dictionary.
Here are five great workouts to boost your metabolism and keep you burning off your belly fat around the clock.
Sprints! Sprint 100 meters, then walk or slow jog back to the starting line. Start with 5 to 10 depending on your ability level, and try to work your way up to 20 within the next three months.
Burpees! Nobody enjoys these, but they work. Start in a standing position then drop to the ground, ensuring that your thighs and chest make contact with the floor. Then push yourself back into a standing position and jump while clapping your hands overhead. See how fast you can do 100.
Jumping rope! Boxers swear by this exercise, and they have the bodies to show for it. Start with sets of 100, resting 30-45 seconds in between.
Kettlebells! Kettlebells are preferable to traditional weightlifting because they focus on strengthening your core as opposed to isolating individual muscle groups. They also provide a great cardio workout. Most gyms offer kettlebell classes, and they are more than worth your time.
Push-ups, pull-ups, and air squats! These three simple bodyweight exercises provide not only a total-body workout but a great cardio workout as well. Set the clock for 20 minutes and do as many rounds as you can of 5 pull-ups, 10 push-ups, and 15 air-squats.
