Lift Heavy to Weigh Light

Posted April 14, 2008 at 01:30 PM by Donnell Peavy

Section: His Fitness, Strength Training, His Health, Physical Health, Lifestyle Health

When most people think of burning calories, aerobic activity is what comes to mind. They get their heart rate up, burning away fat while they’re “Sweatin’ to the Oldies” or “Jazzercising.” But what happens AFTER the workout is done? Your metabolic rate goes back to normal and the burning effect is done. With weight training, however, you can burn extra calories around the clock.

Muscle is more dense than fat and therefore requires more calories to sustain. Consequently, the caloric burn lasts around the clock, as your body is burning calories in order to maintain its new found muscle. Circuit training is a good way to build muscle and get your heart rate up, due to the nature of the workout.

Circuit training is basically comprised of multiple exercises performed one after another with minimal rest between each exercise. These can be either bodyweight or weight bearing exercises, and if weight bearing, are usually performed with a weight that will allow you to complete 8 – 12 reps. In addition to circuit training, factor in good old fashioned heavy strength training – pulling and pushing a whole lot of weight a whole lot of times. Bench press, squats, deadlifts, pull ups and power cleans function great in this capacity.