If you’re looking to burn as much fat as possible when doing your gym workout, remember to stick to multi-joint exercises like presses, squats, rows and deadlifts over leg extensions, triceps presses or biceps curls. That’s especially true when they’re done standing!
Multi-joint exercises require two or more sets of joints to work in tandem to complete a movement. Sure, they’re harder to learn in terms of coordination. But, the payoff is huge. You burn more calories during your workout, you get a greater anabolic stimulus (that’s the hormone that helps you build more muscle and a faster metabolism), and you get the extra benefit of what’s called excess post-exercise oxygen consumption (EPOC) if you’re using a moderate weight. Essentially, that means you’re consuming oxygen at elevated levels long after your workout (as much as 24 hours), which can account for as many calories burned as you did during your training session!
To optimize, choose a moderate resistance (one that brings you close to muscle failure between 8 to 12 reps. By the way, the cardio equivalent of this is called high-intensity interval training (HIIT).
Want to see it in action? Just shower after a hard training session and you’ll likely notice that you start sweating again, as your body is spending additional energy in trying to cool off.
