All gym rats have the same primary goals: Build muscle and burn fat. But melting away that pudgy layer to reveal the six pack you’ve worked so hard for requires more than logging time on a cardio machine—a helluva lot more, in fact.

The prevailing formula for a long time on how much fat you’re going to burn was calories in minus calories out, based on your basal metabolic rate (BMR) and exercise efforts, explains strength and performance specialist Joel Seedman, Ph.D., owner of Advanced Human Performance in Atlanta. But with all the different biochemical reactions in the body, hormonal response, and endocrine function, there are an infinite number of factors that can affect how your body is storing and breaking down calories.

Optimizing what you’re eating, how you’re working out, and every choice of your lifestyle can help boost your metabolism and control your hormones in a way that’ll set fire to fat. Here’s how.

The best workout modes to burn fat

At its core, burning fat comes down to the process of lipolysis—the breaking down of fat lipids, explains Seedman. This happens in the mitochondria of the muscles, or the powerhouses of the cells, responsible for generating the energy our cells need to do their jobs. Exercise has been shown to improve mitochondria function, which then promotes fat breakdown, Seedman adds. Plus, working out helps regulate pretty much all the hormones that optimize fat loss.

Build more muscle: Cardio gets all the glory for melting fat, but it’s actually far more important to focus on building muscle. It’s pretty simple: Lipolysis happens in the mitochondria of the muscles, so the more muscle you have, the more mitochondria, and the more potential to burn. Plus, the more muscle mass you carry, the more your BMR is burning calories at rest. Strength training is also one of the strongest ways to spark production of testosterone and growth hormone, which both help to break down fat, Seedman adds.

Recruit the most muscle groups with these multi-joint compound lifts, suggests personal trainer Adam Rosante, CSCS, C9 Champion brand ambassador and author of The 30 Second Body: Eat Clean, Train Dirty & Live Hard.

1. Deadlift

Stand in front of the bar, shins touching metal, feet roughly shoulder-width apart. Squat down and grab the bar overhand, hands slightly wider than shoulder width and elbows straight. Draw your shoulders back, push your chest out, and tense your lats. Taking a deep breath, begin standing up, pushing heels into the ground and pulling your chest up. Keep the bar as close to your legs as possible. As soon as the bar passes your knees, push your hips forward with power, ending standing tall and straight with the bar in front of your groin. Slowly reverse the motion, making sure to keep your abs braced, and lower the bar to the floor.

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