03 January 2024 , 10:41
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TV Doctor Michael Mosley has shared the best exercises to do to help build up muscle and burn calories.
If you're feeling sluggish after plenty of mince pies and roasties during the festive season, but you're unsure where to start with your health kick, you're not alone.
Starting small can be the best way to stick to a habit, and now health guru doctor Mosley has revealed which exercise you should prioritise if you want to shed weight.
It turns out squats are the winning formula for a trimmer figure, according to Mosley, as he swears by them for all-round health. Speaking on his podcast Just One Thing, Dr Mosley chatted with Professor Marie Murphy who "endorsed" his opinions.
The pair claim it's one of the best excersices you can do for both strength and increasing your heart rate - as it uses a lot of muscles. "I was told by a number of people that the squat is probably the single best exercise you can do. It works on the biggest muscles in your body. There is also research that suggests it leads to increased blood flow to the brain," he shared.
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The movement involves a person to lower their hips and bending to a 90C angle, and then standing back up again. "You are getting your cardiovascular system going because the big muscles that require a lot of oxygen," Professor Murphy explained, and added: "So if you employ two of the biggest muscles in your body - your quads and your glutes - you're going to challenge your cardiovascular system as well as your muscular system - it gets a vote from me too."
Professor Marie Murphy, of Ulster University shared that it's "hugely beneficial" to keep muscles strong, as well as maintaining a healthy weight. By building muscle, you will "boost calorie burning". She said: "Muscle is really your furnace in the body so it takes fuel, it burns fuel and it uses energy. And so if you have more muscle mass than your metabolism stays higher.
"So if you have two people same weight but one has more muscle and the other has more fat, then the person just sitting still, not doing anything is burning more calories. So there's a real benefit if you're thinking about trying to maintain a healthy bodyweight, or your trying to keep your blood sugar under control, then having well-charged furnaces gives you the benefit of the metabolic boost."
To make the most out of working out, and not being tempted to give up when you don't see results straight away, Professor Murphy recommended "finding a form of exercise you enjoy that you will look forward to and as such, are less likely to quit," as people who only work out to lose weight won't get very far - and working out should be for a number of reasons, including weight loss.