What is the best exercise for burning fat and building muscle?

The answer to this question can be one of the most important you will ever learn. Many people spend years struggling to achieve a certain physique or fitness goal. They eat right, do endless amounts of cardio, and lift weights until they are exhausted. Yet, they still cannot seem to get that six pack or lose that unwanted fat around their middle. What’s wrong with these people? Simply put, they are doing the “wrong” exercise for achieving their goals.

Let me explain…

Many people believe that the only way to burn body fat is through aerobic exercise. While this is true in a general sense, it is not true when you are specifically looking to burn body fat. Aerobic exercise is important but it is only one part of the equation. You see, when you do a lot of aerobic exercise, your body begins to adapt to the stress. It does this by building up muscle fibers. As these muscle fibers grow, so does your metabolism. The result is that, after a period of time, you will no longer have an increased metabolic rate even though you may still be doing a lot of aerobic exercise.

This is why many experts say that you should do at least an equal amount of aerobic exercise as you do strength training. However, this advice is incomplete. What most people don’t understand is that, if you are doing strength training incorrectly, you may actually end up storing more body fat rather than burning it.

Many people who are new to working out assume that the goal is to get strong. They do a lot of heavy weight lifting with little or no regard for form. In other words, they lift weights in a haphazard, “muscle-bound” way.

The problem with this is that, when you lift weights in this manner, you will gain muscle mass but your metabolism will not be stimulated. On the other hand, if you spend a lot of time working out with the right kind of exercise, your metabolism will be constantly on alert and you will burn off body fat at an accelerated rate. This is because your body will be using your strength training as a means to stimulate your metabolism.

Let me give you an example…

Suppose you want to lose body fat and build up some muscle. Suppose you are currently running three miles per week and you decide to add weight training to your routine. Let us say you start with weights consisting of only your own body weight. After a while, you find you are able to lift 50 pounds for ten repetitions.

This would be fine for now but, what I really want you to do is find a way to increase the weight you are able to lift. For example, maybe you can do one set of ten repetitions with 25 pounds and then do another set with 35 pounds. Keep increasing the weights you are able to lift until you are able to lift 80 or 100 pounds for ten repetitions.

When you do this, you will begin to stimulate your metabolism in a much more effective manner. You will continue this process by adding more weight training to your routine. Eventually, after six months or so, you will find you are able to lift a weight that is approximately twice your body weight. At this point, you will have entered into an advanced stage of strength training. At this point, you will have developed maximum muscular strength.

Now, let us say you decide to run a four-mile race. Your goal here is to run as fast as you can without getting injured. So, what you do is you warm up by jogging three miles. Then, you do your speed work by running the final mile as fast as you can.

After this, you cool down by walking the rest of the way back to your starting point.

Does this sound like the kind of workout you would do? You bet it does! That’s because the point of strength training is not to get big and strong but to get lean and mean. When you are finished with your strength training session, you should be able to lift weights that are approximately one-third to one-half your body weight.

Let me give you another example…

Suppose you want to lose body fat and build up some muscle. Suppose you are currently running three miles per week and you decide to add weight training to your routine. Let us say you start with weights consisting of only your own body weight.