So bring your workout clothes with you for the holidays and try out this metabolic burner. It also doubles as a nice break from the in-laws.
The Best Metabolic Workout Moves
Mix, match, sweat. Burpee Jump Squats Why: The more muscle you have, the bigger the boost to your metabolism. But you also want to elevate your heart rate. This combo move does both. How to: Perform a traditional burpee (starting and ending in the standing position). After completing the move, do a low squat, push through your heels into a high vertical jump, and land with bended knees. Repeat burpee. Your plan: Alternate five minutes of burpee jump squats with five minutes of running for 30 minutes. Mountain Climbers/Running Lunges Why: Compound exercises like this one strengthen all your major muscle groups while making your body work overtime to switch back and forth between movements, increasing the afterburn effects. How to: Start in an extended pushup position. Hike your right knee out to the side and up toward your chest. Return to straight legs; repeat on opposite side. Stand up and switch to running lunges: From a low lunge position, swing your back leg through to the front, knee bent, and hop in the air before returning to start position. Your plan: Do two minutes of mountain climbers, followed by 10 running lunges on each side. Repeat combo 5 times. Fast/Slow Strength Training Why: Muscle mass burns more calories than fat mass (during a workout and while you are at rest). Some research shows that by performing the “easy” part of a strength move (a.k.a. eccentric contractions, a.k.a. lowering a dumbbell to the floor after doing a bicep curl) in a slow and controlled manner, you fire up your metabolism and burn more calories in the 72 hours after your workout than when you quickly lower the weight. How to: Perform a circuit of biceps curls, triceps curls, leg presses, and weighted lunges in a pattern fast concentric contractions (loading the weight or the “hard” part of the movement), followed by a slow eccentric contraction or release. Your plan: Five sets, 10 reps each, of biceps, triceps, leg press, and weighted lunges. Use a weight just heavy enough to make the last rep very hard. Aim for one count to load your muscle, and five counts to release.
The Best Mega-Calorie Burning Moves
Sprint/Jog Why: High-intensity workouts tell your body to release hormones like adrenaline and human growth hormone that encourage fat metabolism. This helps you burn a lot of calories in a short period of time, but you have to commit to all-out effort to reap the benefits. How to: 60 seconds sprint, 60 seconds jog. Repeat 20 times. Calories burned: 600 Jumping Jacks/Jumping Rope/Box Jump Why: Jumping movements elevate heart rate higher, faster, than low-impact exercises. How to: 60 seconds jumping jacks, 60 seconds jumping rope, 20 box jumps. Repeat 15 times. Calories burned: 600 Running Why: Nothing fancy here, just some good old-fashioned pavement pounding that adds up to major calories burned. How to: Hit the roads (or trails) for an hour. Calories burned: 850-950, depending on your pace (between a 10-minute and 8:30-minute mile)
