What Makes the Best Fat Burning Workouts?

The knee jerk reaction to the above question might be: lots and lots of cardio! This, however, would be incorrect. While cardio does burn calories and is a crucial component in reaching your fitness goals, it does not necessarily burn the most fat. Fat burning workouts like ChaLEAN Extreme and P90X have one thing in common, strength training.

There are two basic types of exercise when it comes to losing weight. Those are cardio and weight training. Cardio exercise includes those workouts that cause your heart rate to be elevated for a significant length of time. P90X includes some cardio workouts like Kenpo X and Cardio X. Although these are great cardio workouts and have an essential place in your fitness routine, the may not be the best fat burning workouts.

Strength training is the other kind of workout and involves using weights or other resistance to build muscle. Push ups, squats, lunges, pull ups, weight routines, and resistance band exercises are all good examples of strength training workouts.

In the past, people who wanted to lose weight would turn to cardio only for their fat burning workouts. The reason for this is because cardio causes an immediate calorie burn. While you are working out, you are burning calories at a sometimes very high rate.

Strength training is different but may offer even more fat burning effects. Fat burning workouts like strength training work to build muscle. Muscle requires more fuel to maintain than fat. This means with all other things equal, someone who weighs 200 pounds and has 13% body fat will have a much higher metabolism than someone who weighs 200 pounds and has 20% body fat. Their increased level of muscle means they are burning more fuel throughout the day.

So, a strength training workout that focuses on muscle gains like ChaLEAN Extreme, in the long run, can provide superior fat burning capabilities. These types of workouts will increase your metabolism, allowing you to burn calories and fat, even at rest.

In the past strength training hasn’t been much of a contender in the weight loss world. That is changing now as people, including women, realize it is about far more than looking muscular, it’s about changing your body composition and turning on your fat burning machine!