Be Fit: Get the Big Muscles Moving and Get Them Engaged

Our bodies are a lot like cars. They come in different shapes and sizes. Some are built for speed; some for power; others to carry a lot of stuff; or luxury; and more.

Each one has an engine—again with various sizes. What’s common between them is that they all require fuel. If you put in bad fuel, your performance drops. If you don’t put in enough fuel, it stops running. The bigger the engine, the more fuel you use.

While the name of the game with your car is to try to conserve fuel, most people’s goal with their body is to use as much fuel as possible.

I work with many people who have a weight loss goal and we can use a similar analogy. When you’re exercising, you’re burning calories. That’s our body’s storage form of energy. Your largest muscles use the most energy. The more muscles you get involved in the activity, the more energy your use too.

If your goal is weight loss, get the big muscles moving and get more of them engaged. Spending time in the gym doing multiple sets of wrist curls will work the little muscles that flex and extend your wrist are like expecting a weed wacker-sized muscle to power a Hummer. You might end up with forearms that would put Popeye to shame, but it’s not going to do anything for your weight loss goal.

Replace your wrist rollers with a few sets of squats or a great whole-body exercise like the Burpee and you’ll engage every major muscle group in your body.

As an added bonus, if you’re having trouble getting your kids exercising, the name alone on this one is often enough to get the kids interested.

Get the big muscles going and watch your metabolism light up, melt the fat off and add lean muscle to your frame to burn a monster truck load of calories.