If you want to get into shape, lose inches, and feel healthier, then you will want to lose fat and gain muscle. If you gain more muscle you will give your metabolism an extra boost and burn off more calories. When you lose fat, you will gain muscle faster because it will be easier to exercise. If you exercise correctly, you will find yourself achieving both objectives simultaneously. In order to get best results, one must follow this two-step plan.

Interval training is one of the best ways to burn fat. A study by the American College of Sports Medicine reveals that more calories are burned in short, high intensity workouts than in long, slower workouts. Interval training focuses on high intensity. Small bursts of cardio is mixed with the intervals of slower exercises. A full body workout is given to you and your calorie and fat burning abilities are at their highest.

These exercises make your anaerobic and aerobic systems burn fat in your body. Energy stored in the muscles is used by the anaerobic system, which is started by the fast aerobic exercises. Aerobic system, which is started by slower workouts, uses oxygen to change the carbohydrates found in the body into energy. A maximum amount of calories are not only burned but also muscles are built by this swapping of systems.

What must you do to begin interval training? Warm up by walking in place, and then stretch to loosen your muscles. After you have stretched, you can begin the first slow interval for two minutes. Calisthenics like sit-ups, squats, or crunches are examples of a few excellent choices of exercises for slow intervals. Having a heart rate of 100 - 110 beats per minute during exercise should be your goal. Should your heart rate exceed that, you need to slow down.

The fast interval can begin, once two minutes are over. This interval will extend over two minutes and it will result in a high impact exercise. High impact exercise examples could be running and jumping rope.

So that you can see the best results, you should continue to repeat these two-minute fast and slow intervals for a half hour or up to an hour.

While it's true that interval training will help you gain some muscles, you will get the optimum results in the least amount of time by using a two-step plan of interval training and a weightlifting routine. A great way to do this is to interval train on the first day, and lift weights the next day. By alternating your workout from one day to the next, you continuously burn calories and but you allow your weight-lifting muscles to rest for a day while you workout your other muscles.

It is important to do all of the exercises slowly to get the maximum usage of each muscle on your day of weightlifting. Doing a variety of lifts that work the inner and outer thighs, triceps and biceps, delts, gluts, pecs, and other muscles is very important.

You can work out your abs everyday because they recover faster than other muscles in your body. You should do crunches and sit-ups on both days.

One can get best results by using this two-step strategy because you are building muscle and burning fat at the same time. There is no need to wait to be in shape to start building muscle or to be muscular to start burning calories!