Many people ask why they can’t lose weight when they’re doing an extensive amount of aerobic exercise. The answer is, the huge amount of cardio burns muscle as energy— and the less muscle tissue one has, the fewer calories and fat one will burn.
Doing so much aerobic exercise will actually slow down your metabolism. Many people think more exercise is better. If spending 25 minutes doing aerobic training is good, 45 minutes must be better. Some misinformed people also think, “I want to get into the best shape, as quickly as I can, so I’ll do 60 minutes of aerobic training every day.” I urge you not to fall victim to this misconception. It is essential, in order to speed up your metabolism and lower your body fat, that you don’t exercise away your muscle tissue by doing too much cardio.
So, the question remains—how do you build lean muscle and maintain muscle tissue? I would recommend doing 20 minutes of interval training three to five times per week, depending on your fitness level. Interval training helps you maintain your muscle and burn fat for fuel. More than 20-30 minutes may tap into your muscle tissue. In order to put lean muscle on your body, you must weight train two to three times per week. I recommend a minimum of 30 minutes of weights.
The more free weights the better, as machines limit the amount of muscles being worked. Resistance or weight training is the most effective way to develop lean muscle tissue. You will increase the rate at which your body burns fat. After a weight training session, your metabolic rate will increase for up to 17 hours; after aerobics, your metabolic rate is up for 20 minutes. Clearly, weight training is more efficient at burning fat and calories than cardio.
The more lean muscle tissue you have, the faster your metabolism will be. Muscle takes up to four times less space than fat, so cut your cardio, do intervals, pick up weights and watch your body transform.
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Michael Cohen has more than 25 years’ experience as a personal trainer and is affiliated with top professional trainers, coaches and nutritionists. He consults with them daily.
