[7000rpmisheaven]

This is kinda long but it is a pretty good article. I got this out of "physical magazine"

95PA5liter- if you have an article you were talking about send it to me. I am always interested in learning knew things. This just happens to be one of those things that I base some of my knowledge on. But I know it is a tricky subject and everyone's got a different idea.

Aerobics vs. Weight Training for Losing Fat
By Will Brink


Most people assume that aerobics is good for burning fat, while weight training is good for building muscle. But is it that simple? The answer is a resounding no. Recent research shows that weight training is actually superior for losing fat.

It’s a little-known and under-appreciated fact that the more muscle you have, the higher your resting metabolic rate (RMR) and the more calories you burn. Several recent studies have found that resistance training maintains RMR better than aerobics. Researchers have also shown that resistance training is far superior to aerobics for maintaining the metabolically active muscle tissue you need for a superior fat-burning metabolism.

Your metabolism is the rate at which your body oxidizes (burns) calories to live. About 5% to 10% of your total daily energy expenditure is used to convert the food you eat into fuel or fat. Another 20% or so is used up by exercise and the everyday physical activities of life. However, the biggest block of energy is consumed by your RMR, which accounts for up to 75% of your daily expenditure.

Your RMR is basically the amount of energy used to fuel essential functions, such as temperature regulation, breathing and blood circulation. With the RMR accounting for this big chunk of your daily calorie consumption, it behooves you to focus on it as a key component of your weight-loss program.

Can the RMR be altered? Of course! While your RMR is ultimately controlled by your genetic makeup, your age, gender and body composition also play important roles. People who are naturally blessed with a higher RMR can burn up to 200 calories more each day, even when they perform the same activities as their lower-RMR counterparts. And if you increase your caloric expenditure without upping your caloric intake, the end result will be a loss of body fat.

A study at West Virginia University showed how much better weight training is compared to aerobics. Twenty subjects were put on an 800-calories-per-day liquid diet for 12 weeks. Half of the participants (the aerobics group) exercised for one hour four times per week by walking, biking or stair climbing. The other half (the weight-training group) lifted three times per week on a 10-station circuit-training program. While the aerobics group did lose more body weight, the reason was that they lost more lean muscle mass (almost 10 lb in only 12 weeks). The weight-training group lost fat without losing any muscle tissue. Also, the RMR of the weightlifters rose significantly, while the RMR of the aerobics group actually declined!

As you can plainly see, weight training is superior for losing fat without the loss of muscle mass. Aerobics has its place, of course, for maintaining cardiovascular health and providing a supplemental way to increase caloric expenditure. However, if an athlete who wants to burn fat has limited time, I would recommend weight training over aerobics any day.