What Actually is “Metcon?”
There’s a growing trend towards metabolic conditioning (metcon) – for good reason. Metabolic exercise boosts fat-burning and gives a significant after-burn effect. In other words, you'll burn calories and fat at a higher rate even after you've finished the workout! Who wouldn’t want to continue to burn calories long after the workout has ended?
This effect is minimal after moderate-intensity aerobic exercise or endurance exercise, like running on a treadmill at a steady pace for 30-45 minutes. The runner only burns significant calories while running. After they stop and cool down, their metabolic rate returns to baseline. In contrast, the specific high-intensity exercise intervals of metabolic training teaches your body to increase the efficiency of your body’s metabolism, resulting in the continuous burning of calories at rest.
Some common metcon exercises include: squats, deadlifts, lunges, pushups, rows, pull ups, burpees, kettlebell swings, planks, jump rope, renegade rows, and box jumps—all exercises that you probably already do, or are definitely familiar with. At Success Studio, much of our metabolic conditioning uses intervals where you work for 40 seconds and rest for 20 seconds. However, as-many-reps-as-possible routines (AMRAPs), circuit training, and every-minute-on-the-minute (EMOM) workouts are other approaches to metabolic conditioning.
So if you are looking to lose weight, increase cardiovascular conditioning and muscular endurance, AND short on time the answer isn’t to spend hours on the treadmill running yourself ragged. Try metabolic training instead. The benefits are many:
It improves the efficiency of the energy pathways in the body so that you can accomplish a lot more in less time.
It helps you burn more calories, resulting in faster weight loss.
It increases your aerobic capacity (how much oxygen you use during physical activity).
It increases lean muscle mass and reduces body fat.
It combines both resistance training and cardio thereby reducing the time you need to spend in the gym.
With metabolic workouts, you can work your entire body in a short period of time and boost the amount of fat you burn for hours afterward. It’s time effective and never boring because you’re always changing the pace or type of exercises you’re doing. The biggest benefit of all? Feeling more energy to live life on your own terms like being to run after your grandkids without getting out of breath or walk up a few flights of stairs.
If you’re a member, chances are you’ve given these workouts a try - and we hope that by understanding their purpose you can better see how these metabolic conditioning workouts are a value to your training. By scheduling them into your regular workouts, you’ll get variety, reduce boredom, and challenge your body in a different way.
Not a member? Both Success Studio locations offer Large Group Metcon, and include metabolic conditioning in our Semi-Private programming. But if you’d like more information about metabolic conditioning, first or if you’d like to inquire about becoming member, just click the button below.