Resistance Weight Training

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Weight training builds muscle mass. Building muscle mass is really important because after age 30 -- no matter how much you exercise aerobically -- you may lose half a pound of muscle per year. And, not coincidentally, you may gain about 1 1/2 pounds of body fat per year -- much of it deposited around your middle.

Fat accumulates when we eat more calories than we burn. And muscle is the body's most efficient calorie burner. The more muscle we have, the higher our resting metabolic rates -- that is, the rate at which our bodies burn calories when we are at rest.

So, with pounds of muscle lost over the years, calories don't get burned the way they should, and fat accumulates.

Of course, there are several ways to compensate for a sluggish metabolism. You can cut your weekly intake by 105 calories every year. In 10 years, however, you'd have to curb your eating by more than 1,000 calories a week. Good luck! Another option: You can add a mile a week (over and above your regular walking workout) every year beginning at age 30. But by age 40, you'd have to walk an extra 10 miles per week just to maintain your 21-year-old body.

The best option: Add about 60 minutes of resistance training per week. That's it; you don't have to add more time next year or any year after. Daily aerobic activity is essential to heart health and weight maintenance. But resistance training is the only way to prevent the loss of muscle and maintain your 21-year-old metabolic rate.

And not only can resistance training increase your fat-burning horsepower; it also chases the fat out of that troublesome midsection. Why resistance training targets the tummy isn't fully understood. One theory is that belly fat is somehow different from fat deposited on the hips and thighs. It seems to respond quickly to any activity that boosts calorie burn, whether aerobic or resistance training.

But what's really interesting is that, whereas aerobic exercise melts away superficial fat around the waist, resistance training dissolves the innermost fat around internal organs. And that's a tremendous fat advantage. The fat burning furnaces of the body are your muscles. If you train with resistance, your muscles will become stronger and denser. This process enables the body to burn body fat more efficiently. Stop wasting your energy, exercise the efficient way and burn away all your excess bodyfat Order the programme: