Most people still think that aerobic exercise is the best way to burn fat. True, it is a good way to burn off a nice chunk of calories. But only while you do it. Wouldn’t it be great to actually burn more calories stored as fat literally while you sleep?

Then pick up the weights. Muscle is the metabolic engine of the body. The more muscle you have, the higher your metabolic rate and thus more calories burned as fuel to support it, 24 hours a day. In a study performed by exercise scientists at the University of Limburg in the Netherlands, they revealed that very fact. For twelve weeks, 21 healthy males between the ages of 25 and 45 who had not previously participated in a weight-training program trained vigorously twice a week.

By the end of the twelve weeks, they lost roughly 5 pounds of fat, and gained 2 pounds of new muscle. The real kicker of this study is that before the men started lifting, they burned about a calorie per minute while sleeping. After the twelve weeks, the rate at which the men burn FAT while sleeping was increased by 7%. One pound of active muscle burns in excess of 20 calories a day. You do the math. If you add muscle through weight training, you will be well on your way to effortless calorie consumption.  Over time, this could lead to continued, valuable improvements in body composition.

By the numbers, the amped-up fat metabolism could produce about a two-pound loss of pure bodyfat each year just while sleeping. Not a bad return for pushing some weights!