Crank up your metabolism

Have you ever watched a slender woman enjoy a big bowl of ice cream and wondered where the hell she puts it? She doesn’t put it anywhere, actually. Most likely, she has a Maserati-fast metabolism that incinerates fat before it has a chance to take up residence on her thighs.

Jealous? Don’t be. While genetics counts for part of your metabolic efficiency, you can give Mother Nature a kick up the bum by simply tweaking your fitness regimen. “Your body adapts to exercise over time, which causes your metabolism to fall into a lull,” says fitness trainer Geoff Bagshaw. “Adding variety to your workouts will help you break through plateaus so you continue to see results.”

Intensity matters too: exercising harder promotes the growth of lean muscle, which burns more kilojoules during and after your workout, says strength and conditioning specialist Craig Ballantyne. The workout techniques here will inject a powerful shot of variety and intensity into your usual routine. Replace or supplement one or two of your regular workouts each week with one of these training methods and watch the kilos melt away...

Shock your body

To scorch more kilojoules and trim centimetres off your body, you need to challenge and surprise your muscles. Most of the time your body needs a break between workouts (it’s during those rest periods that big changes actually happen). But a few times a year, it’s smart to put yourself through back-to-back boot-camp workouts. “Overloading your muscles will keep them guessing, helping you break through any plateau,” says exercise physiologist Tom Holland. During this push, work every muscle three or four days in a row, performing sets with little or no rest in between.

TRY IT Do our fast-paced circuit, right. Complete 12 reps of each exercise (except for the plank – hold it for one 60-second set), going from one move to the next without rest. Repeat the entire circuit up to three times, resting for two minutes at the end of each circuit.

FAST-PACED CIRCUIT
● Push-ups
● Dumbbell chest press on ball
● Crunches on ball
● Plank (hold for 60 seconds)
● Dumbbell front raises
● Dumbbell side raises
● Dumbbell biceps curls
● Walking lunges
● Squats with dumbbells
● Box jumps

Slow down

Adjusting the tempo of an exercise stimulates the muscle differently, says personal trainer Maren Piefer. “The longer your muscles experience tension, the harder they work.” During an exercise, count to two as you raise the weight, and count to four as you lower it. You’ll spend more time in the lengthening phase of muscle contraction, which is more challenging and results in a higher kilojoule burn during and after your workout.

TRY IT During a chest press, count to two as you push the dumbbells towards the ceiling, and count to four as you lower them. During squats, count to four while lowering towards the floor and then to two as you stand.

Split the difference

Do a full rep of an exercise, then do just half of it at the hardest part of the move. “You sneak in extra reps and increase muscle tension in virtually the same amount of time,” Piefer says. “It also pumps lots of blood into the muscles, which is excellent for enhancing definition.”

TRY IT Grab a dumbbell in each hand, arms resting at your sides, palms facing forward. Without moving your upper arms, curl the weights towards your shoulders, then slowly lower them halfway; stop and raise them back to your shoulders. Lower back to start. That’s 1 rep.

Build a pyramid

A pyramid is three or more sets of the same exercise, starting with light resistance and high reps, then increasing the weight and decreasing the reps with each set. A full workout of pyramid sets can be tough (and time-consuming), so start by working one upper-body and one lower-body exercise into the end of your workout, says Ballantyne. This way, you won’t exhaust the key muscle groups you need to complete your regular routine.

Unlike other intense workouts that build strength, this technique emphasises muscular endurance (the rate at which your body can continually produce force), which can increase your fat-burning rate.

TRY IT Holding a pair of dumbbells at your sides, step forward with your right foot and lower your body until your right knee is bent 90 degrees. Return to standing and continue for a total of 15 reps. Repeat with the left leg, then rest for 20 seconds before doing the second set: 10 to 12 reps, using a slightly heavier weight. Rest, then increase the weight again and do six to eight reps.

Mix in cardio

Keep your heart pumping – combine cardio and strength routines. “Doing cardio between sets of weighted exercises burns a higher percentage of kilojoules from fat,” Holland says.

TRY IT Instead of resting after a strength exercise, do at least 30 seconds of intense cardio, such as skipping or high knee lifts. “If you do less intense cardio, like jogging in place, go for at least a minute,” Holland says.

Fast & furious

Try the Tabata method when lifting weights. Fast and hard intervals – 20 seconds of all-out effort followed by 10 seconds of rest – are repeated a total of eight times (for a grand total of four minutes). Researchers at McMaster University in Canada found that exercising as hard as you can for short periods is as effective at improving muscle and metabolism as sweating it out longer at a lower intensity.

All-out effort keeps your heart rate zipping for the entire workout (even during the rests) and for hours after you kick off your sneakers. The end result? You burn extra kilojoules.

TRY IT Bagshaw suggests this three-move sequence, left: starting with exercise one, do as many reps as you can with proper form in 20 seconds, rest for 10 seconds, then continue for a total of eight intervals. Rest for two minutes, then go to exercise two and do eight intervals. Take another two-minute breather, then do eight intervals of exercise three.

TABATA METHOD
● Lunges with biceps curls Holding dumbbells at your sides, step back and lower into a lunge, curling the weights up to your shoulders. Stand and repeat, alternating legs.
● Squats with overhead presses Hold dumbbells at shoulder height and lower into a squat. Press the dumbbells directly overhead as you stand.
● Push-ups From a push-up position (or modified push-up position, on your knees), bend your elbows to lower your chest to the floor. Push up. That’s one rep.

Get off the ground

Plyometrics – think leaping, jumping and skipping – burns kilojoules and builds lean muscle quickly.

“Working against gravity increases the load, and jumping incorporates different muscle fibres, which make your workout more intense,” says trainer Jeremy Chung. This method is often used by athletes to improve speed and force, helping to develop fast and explosive movements.

TRY IT Follow this metabolism-boosting workout

Interval training

For the best fat-burning results there’s no need to endure crotch-numbing hours on an exercise bike – a quick game is a good game, says WH fitness advisor and trainer Ray Klerck. A study from the University of NSW found that sprinting for eight seconds on an exercise bike followed by 12 seconds of pedalling lightly for a total of 20 minutes burned three times as much fat as people who exercised at a continuous pace for 40 minutes. “The intermittent sprinting produces high levels of chemical compounds called catecholamines, which allow more fat to be burned from under the skin and within the exercising muscles,” says study co-author Associate Professor Steve Boutcher.

TRY IT Unlike the run-for-40-minutes workouts you’re likely to see most people drudging through in the gym’s cardio area, these fat-burning sessions cut to the chase and burn fat from the outset. “You’ll also build strength because you will alternate between periods of hard work and recovery,” says Klerck. “So you’ll have better muscle tone in your legs.” Uh, yes please. Try his cardio plans below: