IF YOU’RE TRYING TO LOSE WEIGHT – you want to lose FAT.

IF YOU’RE TRYING TO LOSE WEIGHT – you want to lose FAT. The best way to burn fat is to build lean muscle. LEAN MUSCLE BURNS FAT, and strength training helps build lean muscle.

If you’re a woman and think you’ll get big and bulky, you won’t. You will simply burn fat, gain strength, gain stamina, and to improve your circulation, your posture and usually your confidence but MOST IMPORTANTLY – to boost your metabolism.

If you ‘re a man, it is not a matter of becoming a hulk and popping your veins – you can get lean and not necessarily bulk out – unless you want to.

Also, CARDIO alone won’t do it - much less just WALKING. Cardio can help you burn calories but does not have the after-burn that strength training does.

Strength training – also known as resistance training or weight-lifting may not give you the immediate heart-pounding, sweat-dripping out of breathe feeling that running, spinning or even a good Zumba class can, but building lean muscle definitely works in favor of your weight-loss goals in the long run, and for good.

Having more muscle means your body burns more calories at rest.

Cardio is not the best way to burn fat. “Cardio” or Aerobic exercise effectively helps you lose weight by instantly burning calories BUT, you can actually be lower your metabolism by losing lean muscle mass rather than revving it up –slowing down your metabolism is what leads to that so-called weight-loss plateau.

Resistance – working your muscles is better than a cardio-only routine, explains McMaster University exercise physiologist Michaela Devries-Aboud, Ph.D., “muscle adapts to lifting more weight by increasing the contractile units of the muscle fibers,” she explains. Resistance training stimulates this growth, which leads to an increase in muscle mass over time. More muscle = a higher BMR (base metabolic rate). Having more lean muscle means your body will burn more calories at rest.

“The metabolic demand of a pound of muscle is greater than it is for a pound of fat, so just sitting around, the amount of energy needed to maintain a pound of muscle per day is greater than that of a pound of fat. The more muscle you have the more calories you burn throughout the day.”

BTW.. Muscles does not weight more than fat. A pound is a pound no matter what the material. But, muscle is more dense – more compact than fat, so if you don’t see big weight loss, don’t worry. Don’t go by the scale… go by how you fit in your clothes, and how good you feel.