How to Force Your Body's Increased Metabolism through Cross Training
Ironically, the more we exercise and improve our body’s fitness and our health, the more this actually obscures our metabolism-boosting efforts. You may want to tell your body to start the metabolism process and break down fat cells. But if your body is fitter, healthier and working efficiently it won’t really dig into its reserves (e.g. fat cells) in order to provide you with the energy that you need.
So the trick is to keep variety in your workouts. Many people choose to cross-train for this very reason. It not only targets different muscle groups, but it keeps your body from ‘finding a groove’ where it actually tries to help you by slowing down your metabolism.
Remember, your body doesn’t read articles like this. It doesn’t need to, and it doesn’t care. It has no clue whether an increased metabolism is ‘good’ or ‘bad’.
You know that a speedy metabolism is a good thing in our weight loss efforts. But your body doesn’t make this evaluation. Because of this it won’t turn its metabolism ‘on’ just because you want it to.
Unfortunately you can’t send a memo to your body requesting an ‘increased metabolism’. If you could, then that would be amazing! But that’s not how it works. What we have to do is force the body to say to itself ‘Hey, I need to speed up metabolism because this person needs more energy!’
After using the same exercise for an extended period of time, your body becomes expert at performing those movements. It limits the amount of overall fitness you possess and reduces your overall conditioning - your metabolic rate. Instead of increasing your metabolism, you simply maintain this.
Cross training is a routine that involves several different forms of exercise. This assists you to vary the stress placed on specific muscles and on your cardiovascular system and includes exercises from each of the following different categories:
* Cardiovascular Exercise Running (eg swimming, rowing, running)
* Strength Training (eg weights, machines)
* Flexibility (eg yoga, stretching)
* Speed & balance drills
One of the best ways for you to force your body’s increased metabolism is to add variety to your workouts.
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