4 Must-Do Exercises to Build Muscle and Burn Body Fat

If you opened this article thinking there were magic exercises that would solve all of your muscle-building and fat-loss problems, I’m sorry to disappoint.

There is no such thing as an exercise that magically builds muscle and/or burns body fat. However, there are exercises that can make both of those process far easier.

Before we get in to specific movements, we need to briefly discuss what is at the root of muscle building and fat loss in order to fully understand and appreciate the contribution that these exercises can make.

THE ROOT OF MUSCLE-BUILDING

I’ll be honest, building muscle is far more complicated than losing fat. Luckily, there are some things we can keep in mind to keep from over-complicating the process.

Your body builds muscle when it is in the right environment and when it is given a proper signal. What is the “right environment?” Sound health, good sleep, proper nutrition/nourishment, and good hormone function all play a role in have the right environment. What is the “proper signal” that the body should be receiving? The proper signal is a signal that is telling your body that it must get stronger and build muscle. This signal is provided through weight training. There are many factors (sets, reps, rest, etc.) that go into using weights to send that signal. In general, lifting weights with the intent of getting stronger (heavier weights and longer rest periods) and setting personal bests can lead to strength and muscle gain.

THE ROOT OF FAT LOSS

You may have heard of calories in vs. calories out by now.

Calories are the units we use to measure the amount of energy in foods. When we consume more calories in the day than we burn, we gain weight. When we burn more calories in the day than we consume, we lose weight. Eating more than you burn is what is called a caloric surplus. Burning more than you eat is called a caloric deficit. Eating enough to maintain your current body weight is what we call caloric maintenance.

Although it is possible to lose body fat without being in a caloric deficit, being in a deficit may make fat loss far more likely.

Now that we understand the basic concept of building muscle and burning body fat, let’s talk about four exercises that can greatly contribute to your fat loss and muscle building goals.

EXERCISE #1: BARBELL SQUAT

The squat is one of the most revered exercises in fitness.

The squat is a compound movement, meaning the squat involves more than one joint. The ankles, knees, and hips are all involved during a squat. Since this is a compound movement, it involves multiple muscle groups including the glutes, quads, and a little bit of the hamstrings. Outside of the direct muscles that play a role in getting you from the bottom position to a standing position, other muscles are at work.

In order to keep the load (weight) from negatively impacting your spine, your entire core must be braced. The obliques, abs, and many other muscles help you maintain a tight and braced position as you move the weight.

Due to the involvement of so many major muscle groups, the squat likely burns a large amount of calories in comparison to say, a bicep curl. The squat also asks a lot of the heart as it needs to be able to pump blood and get oxygen to the major muscles of your lower body. Do a set of heavy barbell squats for 12-15 reps and you’ll see what I’m talking about.

In regards to building muscle, the squat carries lots and lots of potential. Remember that the movement involves more than one joint. This will allow you to apply a heavier load to the bar, potentially sending a louder signal (that’s the thing we talked about earlier) to build muscle.

Squatting - and squatting heavy should be a regular, consistent part of your training routine.

EXERCISE #2: Barbell Overhead Press

One of the things that shocked me most as a personal trainer was so many people’s inability to reach their hands over their head without pain, pinching, or complete breakdown in posture.

It may seem strange to you to think that some people can’t reach over their head well. But take a second to think about how often the average person needs to reach over their head. Almost never. We often need to reach up and out to grab a cup from the cabinet, but almost never straight up to the sky.

This causes many dysfunctions in posture, as well as a lack of shoulder mobility.

My years of personal training allowed me to fall in love with the overhead press as I saw it transform the way my clients felt and moved.

Aside from posture and a higher quality of life, the overhead press can involve many similar benefits that the squat does.

You see, the overhead press is a compound movement, too. The shoulder joint and elbow joint are both involved, causing the triceps and deltoids to take over a majority of the work. Not only is the upper body benefiting from this movement, but the core is as well. In order to properly press overhead without breakdown, the core, glutes, and legs, must be engaged.

Again, being that this movements involves multiple joints, it brings great potential for muscle building as a heavier load can be applied. More muscles being worked means more calories burned, too.

EXERCISE #3: BARBELL DEADLIFT

Thankfully, the deadlift has become so popular in recent years, as it should. The deadlift has so much to offer.

In our modern lifestyles, we spend a lot of time using the muscles on the front of our body. We reach forward, we slouch, we sit and stand from a chair, and we press some things from time to time. We don’t have enough actions in our lives that call us to use the backside of our body. Thankfully, the deadlift helps us make up for all that work on the frontside.

A barbell deadlift requires the entire back to be at work. It calls for the glutes and hamstrings to fully engage and fire, too. It is a wonderful exercise for the backside. Performing a proper deadlift on a regular basis can help you regain and/or maintain good posture, as well as send one of the loudest muscle building signals to the body.

EXERCISE #4: BARBELL BENCH PRESS

Ahh the bench press, loved by bros and hated by most females, this exercise did in fact make the list.

You may be thinking, “wait a minute, bench pressing works the front of our body. If we spend so much time working the front in everyday life, why do more of it in our workouts?” It’s because most people don’t do the bench press properly.

A proper bench press calls your entire body to be engaged, even your back. Keeping your glutes and shoulderblades engaged will reinforce good posture as you work you chest. As a result, your chest, triceps, and shoulders can get stronger without risking poor forward posture, otherwise known as upper crossed syndrome.

The bench press is also one of the better muscle building exercises. Remember, multiple joints means more load which meals a louder muscle-building a strength-building signal to your body. More muscle also means more calories.

I’d like to wrap it up with this:

For those of you reading, thinking that it seemed like these exercises were only for muscle-building, they’re not. Remember that there is no such thing as a fat-loss exercise, but rather exercises that have a bigger contribution to fat loss. If you don’t know, the amount of muscle on your body is one of the biggest contributing factors to the amount of calories your body burns in a day. The stronger you get, the more lean muscle that your body has, the more calories you automatically burn. Burning more calories automatically is a fat-loss goldmine. And I’m not talking about bodybuilder muscle here. I’m talking about the muscle that gives you that lean, defined, and toned look. Even if your goal is fat loss, focus on getting stronger, as you get stronger, the fat will come off easier.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Adam is a fitness professional, baseball fan, and cookie fanatic based in Fort Collins, Colorado. After hanging up the cleats, he found a strong interest in the human body and how it performs. Since then, Adam has been transforming lives through fitness in a fun and encouraging atmosphere. As an ACE CPT and Fitness Nutrition Specialist, he is constantly moved to help people improve in all walks of life.

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HOW TO MANAGE YOUR DIET ON VACATION

Vacations are wonderful. 

They give us an opportunity to let go of all the things that tear us down during our every day lives. They give us time to reflect. They give us a chance to simply let go and just be. 

Vacations are a joy, but they can also be a real downer if you’re worried about gaining body fat or losing all the progress you’ve made up to that point. I don’t know about you but I don’t want my vacations to be full of thoughts like “Gosh, I don’t think I should have the glass of wine, I may get fat”, or “I should probably skip the dessert on all the dinners that way I can keep my figure.”

F*&$ that. 

The thing is, all of this is easier said than done. It’s easier to say that you’ll not stress on vacation that actually not stressing on vacations. There almost always seems to be that little voice in the back of our minds telling us “eh, you probably shouldn’t eat that.”

So what do we do? How can we truly enjoy vacations without worrying about derailing everything we’ve worked so hard for?

I believe we can free ourselves by working on some practices both at home, and at the resort. 

MAKE A HABIT OF EXERCISING AT HOME

As you know, exercise should be a part of your daily life if you want to live a long, healthy, and happy life. But, did you know that there is one form of exercise that you should be doing that will create more freedom for you at home as well as on vacation?

It’s resistance training. Weight training. Lifting weights. Whatever you want to call it. 

The reason we’re get our panties in a bunch on vacation is because we tend to move a lot less, and eat a LOT more. Eating more and moving less could potentially lead to weight gain. 

In order for us to gain weight, we need to be taking in more calories than we are burning in the day. In order for us to lose weight, we need to be burning more calories than we are taking in during the day. 

After hearing that statement, you may be thinking “wow, sounds like I need to start running my ass off and eating a lot less.” 

You could, but I would advise against that. 

You see, there are many different factors that come into play when it comes to the amount of calories you burn in the day. One of the biggest factors that contributes to calories burned is our metabolism. In fact, we burn about 60-80% of our total calories through our metabolism. The remainder of the calories are burned through exercise, digestion, and more. 

So it’s safe to say that it would be wise to invest some time and energy into speeding up our metabolisms, given that it burns the large majority of our total calories. 

Lifting weights can do that. Lifting weights can literally increase the amount of calories you burn in the day. In fact, lifting weights delivers the best of both worlds. It allows you to burning calories while lifting weights, as well as increase your body’s ability to burn calories throughout the day, even when you’re not exercising. 

Let’s take a step back and bring this together.

We need to be burning more calories in the day than we are taking in to lose weight. The immediate thought is to move and exercise like a maniac, and starve yourself. 

But when we thing about what lifting weights does to our metabolism, we realize that taking time to speed up our metabolism is the better option. When we have a faster metabolism, we can enjoy more food on vacation. We can stress less about having to get a workout in. 

Now I want to be clear. Two different people can lift weights and only one may end up with a faster metabolism. It’s all about how you lift those weights. Begin weight lifting with the goal of getting stronger. Lift heavier, rest a little bit longer, push your limits, find out what you’re truly capable of. 

Oh, and download this ebook for free for a detailed step-by-step guide on how to speed up your metabolism. 

DON’T EAT LIKE AN ASSHOLE

Too many people eat like assholes when they’re on vacation. They treat vacation like a kid treats halloween night. We’re all adults. We need to act like adults when it comes to our food. 

There are some practices that I have my clients implement when they are on vacation. It helps them enjoy it without acting like a child that is going coo-coo for coco puffs.

#1 SLOW DOWN

When you are eating your food, slow the freaking heck down. Eating too fast is a surefire way to binge eat and leave your vacation with an extra pound or two of body fat. 

When we eat too fast, we don’t give our body the opportunity it needs to tell us it is satisfied. When we don’t know when we’re satisfied, we keep going and end up being too stuffed. 

There are several ways you can slow down. A few ways I like to slow down is by chewing at least 30 times per bite, putting my utensil down in between bites, and using my opposite hand to eat. Try one or a combo of those and notice how much you slow down. 

#2 BE PRESENT

Being present is a part of slowing down. When you slow down, you don’t have a choice but to be present with the people around you and the food you are eating. When you’re present, you appreciate things more. You learn how to truly enjoy the taste for what it is, rather than eating it like you’ll never get food again. 

The idea is to enjoy your food, not cram it down your throat. Let’s face the reality here. You can binge eat any time you want to at home. The point of vacation is to have foods that you normally wouldn’t, to experience things you normally wouldn’t. So don’t eat like you’ve been deprived your whole entire life and you’ll never get a chance to eat again. Eat like you are eating with the purpose of enjoying the taste, texture and experience. You don’t need 10 pieces of cake to enjoy the taste, texture, and experience when all that comes in the first piece you ordered. 

#3 HAVE AN INTERNAL DIALOGUE

As you slow down, tell yourself what you’re enjoying about the food. Talk to yourself (in your head) or maybe even tell the people what you’re enjoying. 

“Wow, the cake is so soft, nothing like I’ve experienced before.”

“I love how refreshing the sorbet is. It’s so good!”

Don’t eat with an empty head. Eat mindfully. Be present. 

MOVE YOUR BODY 

Listen, no one is expecting you to get after in the gym while you’re on vacation. If you’re like me and you enjoy it and want to get a lift in almost every day, do it! But if the thought of exercising on vacation doesn’t appeal to you, THAT’S OK. 

You can still move. 

Go on walks in between meals, stretch, take a yoga class, walk up and down the beach, play some volleyball, or throw the frisbee around. 

Walking may not be the exact same as formal exercise, but getting your steps in can make a BIG difference. 

Relax and enjoy your time away, but move a little. Don’t be a blob that lays on the chair for 10 hours each day. 

CHILL OUT

I understand that the part of the brain that handles emotion will almost always overcome the logic side of the brain, but I still want to take you through some numbers anyway. 

A pound of body fat is roughly 3500 calories. To gain an extra pound of body fat in a week, you would need to eat an extra 700 calories per day while on vacation. If you listen to your body’s natural hunger and satiety signals, eating an extra 700 calories per day won’t be as effortless as you may think.

Speaking of effortless, I know how effortless it can be to get 1,000 more steps in each day. If you’re doing absolutely nothing but laying on your back and eating all day long, you will gain some body fat. If you’re moving, and implementing the above practices, you’ll probably be ok. 

And if you gain a pound of body fat on your vacation, WHO CARES!?

You can get rid of that body fat when you get home and get back to your routine. It’s not stuck with you forever unless you choose to let it be your buddy. 

ENJOY YOUR VACATION

In order to truly enjoy your vacation without the stress of derailing your health and fitness, do what your body wants you to do. 

Begin lifting weights regularly for a faster metabolism. Get some movement in during your trip. Slow down and be present when you eat. 

Relax, and let go. 

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Adam is a fitness professional, baseball fan, and cookie fanatic based in Fort Collins, Colorado. After hanging up the cleats, he found a strong interest in the human body and how it performs. Since then, Adam has been transforming lives through fitness in a fun and encouraging atmosphere. As an ACE CPT and Fitness Nutrition Specialist, he is constantly moved to help people improve in all walks of life.

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Download any of our ebooks or guides for FREE in the “free” tab at the top of the page.

How To Enjoy Your Workouts Again

Many of us would say that going to the gym can be difficult at times. Waking up and getting a workout in before work can be tough. Taking a right on the way home to get a workout in instead of plopping it on the couch to watch Netflix can be tough.

I disagree.

Going to the gym and eating well isn’t difficult. Doing those things on a consistent basis, day after day until it becomes a habit is where the real challenge lies. In health and fitness, consistency is key. Consistency is what separates the winners from the losers. If you’re unable to be consistent, it shows. If you’re the master of consistency, it shows.

Anyway, there are a few different things that get in the way of consistency, one one of which is boredom. Whether you’ve been training for 20 years or 2, you’ve most likely hit a point in your life where you were no longer excited, motivated, or even slightly moved to go to the gym. That’s not a good place to be.

Having excitement for your workouts and looking forward to what you will do is one of the best things you can have in place for your success. If you are genuinely looking forward to your time in the gym, the chances that you will bail are far lower.

So, what can you do to make your workouts more enjoyable?

Tip #1: Change Your Goal

One of the biggest reasons we go to the gym and eat well is because we want to change the way we look. We want to improve our appearance. There is nothing wrong with that whatsoever, but if you stop and think about it, it doesn’t really end. You’ll spend your time losing 10 pounds. Then you’ll want to lose 10 more pounds. Then you’ll want to gain 5 pounds of muscle. On and on and on, you’ll find yourself changing the same kind of goal your entire life. This will most certainly lead to boredom.

One of the best things you can do in order to enjoy your workouts is change your goal. Find a goal that has to do more with movement or performance. Set out to increase your strength in your bench press, squat, and deadlift. Train to make your back stronger so you can do 10 pull-ups by the end of the year. When you place your goal on movement or performance, the exercises you will do in your workouts will feel more like practice that directly translates to your goal, rather than something you have to do in order to look better.

In fact, you will most likely reach aesthetic feats when you focus on your movement and performance. Getting stronger in your squat will translate to better looking legs. Improving your pull-ups will translate to a more defined back. It’s a win win, and you don’t fall into the trap of dreading your workouts.

Tip #2: Move in Different Planes

There are several different planes that our bodies can move in.

The sagittal plan divides our body into left and right halves. The movements in this plane are up and down movements.

The frontal plane cuts our body in half, front to back. The movements in this plan are side to side.

The horizontal or transverse plane splits our body in half, top and bottom. Movements in this plane include rotational movements.

Most of us spend our time in the sagittal plane moving our limbs and body up and down. We do curls, squats, lunges, rows, and other movements that keep us moving in one direction. Staying in this plane keeps us limited to certain movements that are very similar. This also keeps us closed off to a seemingly limitless world of movement and exercise.

Just because one movement usually happens in the sagittal plane doesn’t mean it you have to get rid of it to enjoy your workout again. You can still get the same benefit of some movements while incorporating them through different planes. Let’s say you keep lunges in your routine because they are helping you create strength on individual legs and aiding your balance, but you are sick of the same thing over and over again. You can take that lunge that would normally happen in the sagittal plane and bring it to the frontal plane by stepping to the side.

There are tons of different movements you can incorporate to get the same results you’re after. Don’t limit yourself. Have fun.

Tip #3: Be a Kid Again

I strongly believe that one of the reasons we tend to lose enjoyment in our workouts and in life is because the older we get, the less we play. Feeding your inner child through play is essential for your workouts as well as your spirit.

Why do you think Crossfit got so popular even in older generations? It’s because they play! They celebrate movement, and they do it well. They move in many different ways. The lift, they run, they jump, they hop, they row, they nearly do it all! Sometimes, you literally need to treat the gym like your adult jungle gym.

Go do some plyometrics. Jump on boxes. Do some agility work. See how fast you can move your feed through those cones or ladders! Jump rope and practice jumping on one foot, and then alternate. Make your movement an art.

Now, don’t go doing these things without a strong foundation of strength and stability. Although it’s important to play, It’s important to keep from injury as well.

The Takeaways

Regardless of where you’e at in life, there is plenty you can be doing to enjoy your workouts. The main takeaway is this: celebrate exercise by improving your movement and strength while incorporating different movements that allow you to play just like a kid would.

About the Author

Adam is a fitness professional, baseball fan, and cookie fanatic based in Fort Collins, Colorado. After hanging up the cleats, he found a strong interest in the human body and how it performs. Since then, Adam has been transforming lives through fitness in a fun and encouraging atmosphere. As an ACE CPT and Fitness Nutrition Specialist, he is constantly moved to help people improve in all walks of life. If you’re interested in hiring Adam as your coach, fill out an application here.