photo credit: jerryonlife

I've read before that if you are trying to burn more fat and build a more muscular physique then it's wise not to overdo it on your cardio sessions. I enjoy cardio workouts very much but at the same time, I still want to keep and build the muscle that I do have. When I belonged to the gym, I would run on the treadmill and then sometimes lift weights right after. I've read that this isn't a good idea. It's more effective to separate your workouts so that you do cardio one day and weight training another.

Better Cardio for Less Muscle Wasting

When you spend long sessions doing a cardio workout, you do burn a lot of calories. However, you are also probably burning through muscle. The thing with long cardio routines is that you can burn a lot of calories during that session but when you lift weights, you will burn more calories during rest. More muscle means a faster metabolism which burns more bodyfat.

Having a Good Balance

In order to have a good balance of cardio and weights, it's probably better to skip the long cardio sessions and replace them with interval training. I used to do that a lot on the treadmill by warming up with a light jog for 5 minutes then running as fast as I could for about 1 minute. I'd repeat that about five times. It made the time on the treadmill a lot less boring. If I got bored with the treadmill, I would do the same on an elliptical machine.

I would then do some weight lifting on the next day and alternate days between cardio and weights. This is probably a better balance if you are trying to maintain muscle and burn more fat.

What is your routine like? Are you doing too much cardio or not enough?

photo credit: dotbenjamin

I was surprised to learn that having a slow metabolism is actually rare. It's not uncommon to blame metabolism for weight gain but since it is a rare ocurrance, weight gain is still likely caused by eating too many calories and not burning enough of them through physical activity.

Metabolism does slow as we get older so eating less calories or increasing physical activity is probably a wise thing to do as we age. For the most part, the more lean muscle we have, the more calories we'll burn at rest. The amount of calories we burn at rest is known as our BMR (Basal Metabolic Rate.)

This is why strength training is so highly recommended in terms of losing weight. Our muscles burn calories even after we are done working out and muscle burns more calories than fat. Strength training burns fat and builds muscle which is what helps to boost metabolism.

Another reason for a slow metabolism is dehydration. When we are dehydrated our body temperature can drop slightly and this causes our bodies to store fat in order to increase the temperature. This is another reason to drink more water.

Having a slow metabolism is rare so you have a good chance of boosting it by exercising and watching your caloric intake.

Sources:
Mayo Clinic
About.com