More ways to increase your Basal Metabolic Rate through Muscular Efficiency Training

What type of training do you think would cause you to lose the maximum amount of calories? In our last post we gave yo the example of a Standing lunge on the floor versus one with both feet elevated on benches. The difference being that the elevated example provided more benefit to the muscular system since it demanded a higher level of stimulus to the muscles responsible for the Standing lunge. This greater stimulus leads to more muscle fivers being involved in the move. More muscle fibers involved equals a greater demand for energy. A greater demand in energy means a higher number of calories burned. More calories burned means a higher Basal Metabolic Rate (BMR) and the opportunity to lose weight.

I have said a few times in this blog that the best exercise around would be to follow a 5 year old around on a playground for a few hours a day. Why would this make sense with the example we just gave?  Young children are looking to challenge themselves physically, not liek adults do by running a marathon or trying to increase our bench press. Kids challenge themselves to be able to do a form of movement they could not do before. To do this means they put their bodies into crazy positions as they go up, over, and across anything they can find. The result of this is a much stronger level physical fitness. They are challenging, strength, balance, reaction, hand eye coordination, flexibility, speed, power, endurance and more. When is the last time you did a workout that incorporated all of that?

I am going to assume many of you are not about to run out to the local playground and spend the next few hours following a 5 year old around. If you are then please follow this link to a warm-up we gave you awhile ago! For the rest of you here are a few other examples of some great exercises that can help to increase your muscular efficiency by increasing your bodies natural ability to maintain a high level of range of motion. The greater the ability to maintain full range of motion in your joints, the greater caloric requirement your body will have on a daily basis. 

We already covered the Standing Lunge but this is a great one to do for the lower body. Another would have to be Cats and Dogs. Maintaining the ability to create flexion and extension in your spine is a great way to keep a significant amount of muscle in an active state. Another great option is to take a move you may already be doing like a pushup and add some greater range of motion demand to it. Like we mentioned in the previous post with the Lunge, try the same concept with a pushup. Place your hands up onto something

like a Perfect Pushup of even a small stack of books. 

The key in your workouts is to constantly look to make small modifications to every exercise you are doing. Even changing the width of your hands on a pull-up makes a big difference in the demands placed on the muscles responsible for the move. 

We are building some workouts for you to download that will be perfect examples of how to increase your muscular efficiency and as a result raise your BMR.