Day 2 of 25 Days of Fitness: Increase your Metabolism with Hybrids

By Kate Horney

Weight training is more important than aerobic training because unlike aerobic training, weight training not only provides cardiovascular health benefits, but it ALSO provides strength and muscular development benefits.

Increased muscle = increased metabolism…so in any workout, increasing or preserving our muscle is key to fat loss.

If you’re an Abs by Christmas Challenge member, you’re getting AWESOME weekly fat burning workouts to download and follow along with right at home….  But even if you’re not a member of the challenge, you can still incorporate some fat burning weight training into your healthy holiday routine.

Here’s an example to get you started…

Hybrid weight training exercises, or exercises that involve more than one muscle group and use compound movements (squats, lunges, deadlifts, rows, presses, etc.) are awesome for burning fat.  These exercises give your more fat loss “bang” for your “buck” and are one step above isolation weight training exercises such as curls, calf raises, extensions, etc.

While isolation exercises like a simple bicep curl are helpful…

You burn more fat and increase your metabolic potential to a greater degree when you use combinations of isolated exercises to form hybrids for a total body workout.

Check out the workout above, then throw in a plank & Arm Reach for some targeted core training and you’ve got a total body workout that will increase your metabolism and leave you burning fat long after the workout is over this holiday season!

P.S.  Need an exercise demo & some cues?  Here’s one of our weekly videos for our Abs by Christmas Challenge Members…