Is everyone loving the change of season? I am! Today I put down my crabgrass and fertilizer. We are expecting rain tonight. A little water and good food go a long way to making a plush, green lawn.

I also had a fantastic workout over the noon hour. I did shoulders and a few sets of tris. After weights, I jumped on the recumbant bike for 30 min to burn some fat.

As most of you know, I am a strong believer in weight training. Not only does lifting weights make strong muscles and bones, but it is also the number one exercise for fat burning. Here are the reasons why:

1--Weight training increases your fat-burning hormones: testosterone, growth hormone and epinephrine; steady-state cardio does not.


2--Weight training builds muscle, and muscle stokes your metabolism. Steady-state cardio does not build muscle. That's very important! It's why inactive older people get fatter and fatter--they gradually lose muscle and their metabolisms slow to a crawl so they pack on bodyfat. They need to lift weights to reverse the process. Remember, build more muscle to burn more fat.


3--Weight training uses glycogen for energy. Glycogen is basically carbohydrates. Glycogen is stored in the muscle and in the liver. When we lift weights, our muscles use the glycogen for energy to get through the workout. Glycogen will then be depleted. So, if you have a lot of muscle, the carbs you eat will go to muscles and the liver to replenish them, rather than being shuttled to fat cells. People who don't weight train see most of the carbs they eat go directly to fat because they don't have a muscle-glycogen deficit.


4--Weight training creates muscle microtrauma (breakdown), which burns bodyfat during the repair process. If you get a little sore from a workout, that's not a bad thing--your body will work hard to repair it, and that takes excess energy, a lot of which comes directly from bodyfat.

5--Weight training removes sugar from your bloodstream, creating an ideal environment for fat burning. For example, when you lift weights, your muscles use the sugar from your blood stream and the stored glycogen from your muscles and liver to feed themselves during the workout. Then, when you are done lifting weights, you should do about 20-30 minutes of low-intensity cardio because with no sugar in your system, your body will tap into bodyfat instantly. It's the most efficient time to hit the treadmill.

That's the lesson for today boys and girls! Train hard and eat smart!