Why Cardio Alone Doesn't Work

Cardio certainly has its place in every fitness program but it should be a part of a balanced program including cardio, strength training, and a healthy diet. The key to losing body fat and keeping it off is strength training. Lean muscle is the driving force behind your metabolism and the only way to increase your metabolism or burn more calories at rest, is to increase lean muscle through strength training. For the women that are afraid to get "too bulky" from strength training that is simply a myth.

When most people think of strength training and the results it yields, they think of the heavily muscled bodybuilders that plaster the covers of magazines such as Muscle and Fitness. The models that grace the covers of those magazines are simply models that are hired to sell magazines and not a realistic result of someone who strength trains a few times a week to get healthy.

So in order to truly rev up your metabolism and get rid of body fat once and for all, there's really no substitute for resistance training. This type of training tends to be
overlooked by newbies because it is believed that building muscle won't help you lose weight. Nothing could be further from the truth!

Muscle Burns Fat
The more lean muscle mass you have, the less fat you will have. The reason for this is that muscle actually burns fat. Muscle helpsthe body burn calories for hours after a workout. Studies have shown people who lift weights have an even lower fat mass percentage than those who do aerobic exercise alone.

Muscle Builds Strength
Most people don't stop to consider that the more strength you have, the less likely you may be to get injured. Of course, that doesn't mean you should over do the eights because this can also injure you. But, if you are an avid runner, cyclist or swimmer it might make sense to lift some weights so your body is stronger and can perform longer and more efficiently without getting injured.

Muscle Reshapes The Body
What if you just dropped fifty pounds through diet and a nightly jog through your neighborhood but when you look in the mirror, things still jiggle and you still carry weight in the same spots you always did? The best way to change this is to shape your body through building muscle. This will tighten, firm, tone, and target those trouble spots that you just can't seem to get rid of.

Muscle Fights Disease
The highest numbers of women who get osteoporosis in later years are ones of slim build. Doctors always say that one of the best ways to fight this debilitating bone
loss is to do weight-bearing activities, which increase bone density. Muscle has also been shown in major studies to fight the onset of type two diabetes, build the heart muscle to fight heart disease, and even help those who suffer from arthritis to be more symptom free.

Muscle also supports overall immunity.
This is because muscle supplies the immune system with the disease-fighting amino acid glutamine. So, the more muscle you have the more glutamine is supplied to the immune system.

Research shows that building and maintaining muscle can speed up metabolism. This research goes on to say that "muscle burns ten to twelve times the calories per pound each day that fat does. You're boosting your metabolism not just during exercise but all day."

If muscle burns ten to twelve times the calories per pound that fat does, and most research shows that fat burns 2 to 3 calories per pound per day, then muscle must burn between 20 and 36 calories per pound per day. Tufts University states that strength training has the potential to increase your metabolism by as much as 15 percent.

Strength training is the key to weight loss because it is the only way to maintain and build lean muscle, which boosts your metabolism. Muscle is natural and aesthetically pleasing to the eye, and it is the key to weight loss. In order to lose weight, you need to create a caloric deficit, which means you have to take in fewer
calories than your body requires for metabolism and daily activity.
 

There are four ways to achieve a caloric deficit:

1. Eat less.
2. Increase your activity.
3. Elevate your basal metabolic rate.
4. All of the above - also known as "Cardio
Alone Won't Work".

But Who Eats Just a Half Cup of Pasta?

This portion might seem meager to some pasta lovers. But if you're watching your weight-or just trying to eat nutritiously-it's important to be aware of what constitutes a "serving". (Then you can make a fully informed decision about how many servings to serve yourself!)

Here are sample-serving sizes:

* 1 serving from the BREAD, CEREAL, RICE
and PASTA group: ½ cup cooked pasta or rice,
1 slice of bread, 1 small roll or biscuit, ½
cup cooked cereal, 1 ounce ready-to-eat
cereal.

* 1 serving from the MILK, YOGURT and
CHEESE group: 1 cup of milk, 8 ounces yogurt,
1.5 ounces processed cheese.

* 1 serving from the MEAT, POULTRY, FISH,
DRY BEANS, EGGS AND NUTS group: Approximately
3 ounces of lean meat, chicken (skin removed)
or fish; 1 egg, ½ cup cooked beans.