The Single Most Effective Type of Exercise for Weight Loss

Any serious weight loss effort needs to be three-pronged. You need to address your diet, your lifestyle, and finally exercise. In this article, we're going to focus on exercise. Surprisingly, some types of exercise are better than others for health and for weight loss.

Have you ever watched an amateur 10k or even a marathon? In the larger events, there will be a few professional runners. Then there are some folks who take running very, very seriously. Finally, there's the mass of humanity. You know people who run for health and for fun. What's so interesting about this last group is there are not just a few runners who are overweight, even in marathons.

That can't be! You say. A marathon is 26+ miles. How in the world can a person train for a marathon and still be overweight?

Well, take a look. Although, most of the runners are going to be in fairly good shape, there are surprisingly many overweight runners. Maybe they're just beginners. Could be. But the truth is more likely this: running is not the best form of exercise for weight loss.
Let's say that one more time to make sure you got it. Running is not the best for of exercise for weight loss.

Now, let's go watch another group of people. Weightlifters. The only overweight weightlifters are truly either the beginners or a few heavyweight power lifters. The percentage of in shape weightlifters is much greater than the percentage of in shape runners. Why is that?

Well, for one thing, running does very little to actually build muscle. Couple this with the fact that it's not really the calories you burn while exercising that are going to really help you lose those twenty pounds. It's the ones you burn during the rest of the day.

Sure running revs up your metabolism, but only while you're running. An hour or so after you work out, your metabolism sinks down to its slow, overweight level.
Not so with weightlifting. The more muscle you pack on, the faster your metabolism is going to be…all day and all night long!
You see, muscle burns more calories than fat. Three times as many. Even if you stayed the same weight, but just shifted 5% of your weight from fat to muscle, you will turn your body into a calorie burning machine.

With more muscle on your body, you're going to find this whole losing weight thing much easier to manage.
So, if weight training is so important for weight loss, how do you go about getting into it?
That's the easy (and fun) part. What you want is a gym where there's a real weight room. Also, if you've never been in a weight room, it can all look a little intimidating. So, if you can afford it, hire a personal trainer to show you the ropes for a while.
Start pumping iron! You're going to be pleasantly surprised with the results