Aerobic: With oxygen.

Science tells us that there is only one way to burn fat. You have to get yourself into the "Aerobic Pathway" of muscle energetics. This fact is undisputable.

So naturally all the "experts" started touting aerobics as the answer to everyone's troubles. They wrote books and told us we need to be in the "Aerobic Zone" to shed pounds. People started running by the thousands, and taking all kinds of aerobic classes. It's still going on today. Sweatin' to the oldies, and the Reebok step have been replaced by Tae Bo...who knows what's next, they can call it anything they want... it's still just glorified aerobics. I have nothing against people who love to run. If you love to run, run. But if you're running because you think it's the best way to stay in shape, well...you're WRONG.

See, nobody could figure out why(since we were all running our asses off, and doing all kinds of aerobics) are we getting fatter and fatter as a nation. The latest obesity figures are: 2/3 adults, and 1/2 adolescents in the U.S. are OBESE. That is until good old science came along and PROVED something that those of us who lift weights have been saying for a long time. Something that blew the "experts" away, and is causing many of them to re-write their books to incorporate this UNDISPUTABLE fact.

Ready for this? Here it is:

Bigger muscles burn more calories than smaller ones...24 hours a day! And guess where most of those calories come from...you guessed it, stored fat!

This should explain to all you gym owners out there why the people who maintain their membership are those that primarily lift weights. The aerobics people come and go...but the foundation of any gym is the weight-lifters. This isn't because they are "hard-core" like they are usually called, it's due to the fact that they are the ones seeing the best results. They have learned that the best way to stay in shape, and keep the weight off is through resistance training.

Still don't buy it, huh?

Let's try a little test. Stop breathing. I don't mean hold your breath, I mean STOP BREATHING!

Of course you can't do it, but do you know why?

I'll tell you why...because without oxygen you would die. No shit, right? But why is that? Maybe because YOU ARE ALREADY IN THE AEROBIC ZONE!! This is the point all the aerobics people are missing. Oxidation is taking place inside your body right now. If you did not need to burn oxygen, there would be no need for your heart to beat, and no need for you to breath. YOU ARE ALREADY IN THE AEROBIC ZONE, and those of you with bigger muscles, are burning more calories than those of you with smaller ones, all day long!

Why?

If you train aerobically, you reach a point called the Anaerobic Threshold. When you get to this point, your body kicks into survival mode. You are no longer burning fat. Your body will start to cannibalize its own lean mass. Cannibalizing your own lean mass means smaller muscles. Since more muscle = more calories burned, smaller muscles means you are now unable to burn the calories you were able to before.

This explains why elite level track athletes look the way they do. It's the way they train. If you look at the sprinters, they look lean and strong. They spend very little, if any time in the Anaerobic Threshold. Their event doesn't require it. Now look at the distance runners, or take a look at marathon runners. They look frail and weak. They look like skinny fat people. It's the way they train. They spend most of their time IN the Anaerobic Threshold. They can't maintain a pound of muscle to save their lives. And, contrary to popular belief, the enlarged heart of marathoners isn't because it is stronger. It's enlarged due to "cardiac fatigue" and actually has a weak ejection fraction of the left ventricle. (that's what measures the amount of blood your heart can squeeze out in one contraction)

Now before all you runners out there start bombing my mailbox, let me say this. If you love to run, by all means run. It's better than doing nothing. But don't tell me running is the best way to stay in shape. And if you don't think resistance training can help improve your running, your being naïve. If you could clone yourself, and increase his strength by just 10%...he will beat you EVERY time.

I know your sitting there thinking that I'm just an iron head trying to knock running. Believe me, I did my share of running. that's not the case. I'm interested primarily in staying healthy. I also have a competitive spirit, and if science told me that the best way to stay healthy was to run...I'd be running marathons, not powerlifting.