Myth 4

WEIGHT LOSS AND FITNESS MYTH #4:
Resistance training (weight lifting) doesn’t burn fat.

Nothing could be further from the truth. Muscle is metabolically active tissue. Fat is not. Fat is an energy source for the body, but most people have much more than they need. Fat does not use energy – it is used as energy. Muscle uses energy. Lots of it. The more lean muscle you have, the more fat you burn. And here’s the biggest benefit, and why everyone needs to incorporate resistance training in their exercise program: the more lean muscle you have, the more fat you burn – WHILE YOU ARE AT REST!

You see, that’s really the ultimate weight loss and fitness secret. Looking great is not just a function of how much fat you burn when you’re working out, because you can only exercise so much in a given week. The real secret is how metabolically active your body is the other 95% of the time. People with more lean muscle burn fat at a much greater rate than do those with less lean muscle. That doesn’t mean you have to look like Arnold or Madonna to be an efficient fat-burning machine. But you do have to at least maintain – and preferably increase – your lean muscle tissue. It’s easy with the proper resistance training program.

SPECIAL NOTE: women will NOT become “bulky” or “musclebound” by incorporating resistance training into their exercise routine. In fact, just the opposite is true. Lean muscle is more compact and firmer than fat. Resistance training will make women smaller, firmer and sexier. Women are not genetically predisposed to adding muscle “mass.” Men, on the other hand, will gain mass and see exciting muscle growth through the proper use of nutrition and resistance training.