There has been a growing pool of evidence emerging of late that indicates a stronger link between muscle tone and weight loss. 
For the last few years, solid research such as this has been lost in the world of the next fad weight loss diet or weight loss program where you either starve yourself to death, eat nothing but cabbage, avoid anything that looks like a carbohydrate or other unreasonable programs for weigth loss.

The challenge with all of these has long been that they are too disruptive in our lives and often do not result in sustained weight loss plunging those who try these diet programs into deeper depression and anxiety over their weight loss.

Certainly, we all understand that exercise is the other half of the equation for achieving lasting weight loss…but there has long been a debate over the type of exercise. 

If you walk for 45-minutues 3-times a week, is that enough?

Do you have to “feel the pain” of intense aerobic exercise where cardiovascular training comes into play – if so how often and at what heart rate?

Assuming you have improved your diet (not starving yorself, but a sensible diet of eating smaller meals more often so you don’t binge, avoiding highly fatty foods, and getting as much raw fruits and vegetables as you can stand in a week), how does that combine with exercise toward achievement of your weight loss goals?

ABOUT MICE AND WEIGHTLIFTING…

New research released this week from Boston University “Weight Training Reduces Fat And Improve Metabolism In Mice – Science Daily Feb 7″  has once again advanced the notion that there is much more benefit to building muscle mass through weight lifting and resistance training than being stronger or muscular – it has a major role to play in weight loss as well.

The article differentiates between type 1 muscle fibers which are built through endurance training such long-distance running while type 2 muscle fibers are developed through resistance training such as weight lifting.

The study found that the presence of type 2 muscle fibers directly result in losing fat, stabalizing your overall body metabolism and liver function as well as balancing insulin reactions in your body – all favorable conditions for achieving weight loss.

When I first started reading the results of this study, I have to admit – I wondered “how did they get a mouse to lift weights?”  Of course, the development of type 2 muscle mass was created in a lab setting my injecting the mice to enhance the growth of type 2 muscle. 

The results were rather dramatic as mice with higher type 2 muscle mass continued to lose weight even when continuing to be fed a fatty, unhealthy diet demonstrating the importance of type 2 muscle to overall weight loss objectives.

WHAT ABOUT RESISTANCE TRAINING…

Although the study did not elaborate on how much type 2 muscle mass was built in the mice or how that would relate to humans which would give us a clue to how much resistance training we may have to undertake to achieve the same results as the study…suffice it to say that adding a couple of slow-burn, resistance training sessions to your weekly routine appears to be an extremely promising way to help you achieve your weight loss goals.