If we listen to conventional wisdom, only a fortunate few are blessed with a fully active metabolism. And that's too bad because without an understanding of how to activate and leverage the metabolism, lifestyle choices often leave us with the body's energy system all but completely shut down and problems compound – not the least of which is weight gain. Researchers, trainers and professional athletes are realizing new levels of athletic performance with methods that everyone can benefit from and it has everything to do with metabolism but it also helps to understand what all the fuss is about with bodyweight exercises and Interval Training.

Interval workouts pack high intensity movements into short bursts of time structured around brief rests where the intensity is partially reduced. Studies show that Interval Training is more effective at burning fat and improving athletic performance then prolonged steady state exercise – like a 30 minute run. A professional athlete might pack 2 hours worth of conventional effort into a single 30 minute Interval workout but typically the level of intensity is scaled to match your experience level and goals. With Interval Training, the results pile on so quickly that people are surprised to find out that a highly functional level of fitness can be achieved with just a few minutes of working out daily – with a day or two off during the week for recovery.

And that is where bodyweight exercises enter into the equation because movements like dips, push ups, and both assisted and full pull ups make Interval Training even more effective. Bodyweight exercises that fire multiple large and small muscle groups across the upper and lower body draw heavily on the metabolism. The more of your body you use in a movement, the more 'metabolic' the exercise is. Your metabolism has to kick on completely for you to do bodyweight exercises and once turned on, your metabolism will stay active for 24 hours or more.

Put it all together and you suddenly have an entirely new set of tools for getting in shape and staying fit. Start off with the understanding that to burn the calories you eat, you have to activate your metabolism. A quick 4 minute Interval Workout with bodyweight exercises turns an indulgent meal into a blast of energy that makes it easy to tackle your morning without the extra cup of coffee. Make the small change in your daily habits to include activating your metabolism at least once a day and you continually compound and build on the progress from larger workouts – whether you are scaling up for your first half marathon, building a performance edge for the field, or if you are dropping pounds under a doctors orders or for the summer season at the beach.

Best of all, the very first time your actively turn on your metabolism, you get a new sense of what it feels like to have your body's energy system running at full tilt. It's an awesome sensation but more importantly it teaches you to identify how it feels when your metabolism has settled back down to an inactive state. That's a familiarity that will direct you to new habits when you are feeling slow to start your day, when you are feeling too tired to go enjoy being active or when you think you need a sweet snack to make it through the 3pm slump. Leveraging your metabolism before enjoying active lifestyle moments like taking the dog around the block or walking through the mall amplifies your calorie burn in advance and blends effective fitness right into your daily routines.

To start a new relationship with your metabolism it helps to have bodyweight exercise equipment in your home and office, set up and always ready to go. A Typical bodyweight gym starts with a mounted pull up bar equipped with suspension trainers to enable a complete selection of pull up bar exercises right from day one – even for beginners. One popular exercise here at Ultimate Body Press is the highly metabolic Assisted Squat using Push Up Rings anchored to a pull up bar... The Assisted Squat fully amps the metabolism in just a few short reps and always leaves you charged up for whatever you have happening next.

It easy to expand your bodyweight gym past the basics with Indian Clubs, Parallettes, a Dip Station and Sandbag. Regardless of where your bodyweight training takes you, you will find affordable top quality gear to support your goals right here.

All Ultimate Body Press gear is supported with our free online workout videos and are backed with our Satisfaction guarantee so shop now, buy with confidence and start enjoying fresh results right away.