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Originally Posted by Tully Mars
I read an article several months back that explained that by lifting and adding muscle your body ends up burning more calories all day long. I don't remember exactly why. Personally I do both. At the gym I lift, when I walk I walk fast enough to raise my heart rate. I've passed joggers while walking.
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The studies done on muscle mass and caloric expenditure have revealed that the "boost" to your metabolism based on increased muscle mass is actually fairly minuscule. Beware the Internet, where you'll read the opposite. I forget the figure that's floating around, but the per-pound boost in calories burned isn't enough to suggest you'll burn fat just by *having* muscle. Where you burn the most fat is in the *act* of building muscle. Your fat burning and metabolism boosts come when you lift heavy weights for 30 to 60 minutes at a time, and especially why you recover from that. Your metabolism is cranked for as long as 24 to 48 hours after a resistance workout. This is because your body is trying desperately to replace nutrients, repair damage, and fight off sickness from a compromised immune system...all of this cause by weight training. Cardio has a similar effect, but it isn't as effective. If you do low-intensity "fat burning" sessions vs. high-intensity VO2-max-blasting sessions (fat-burning vs. aerobic/anaerobic). The difference? Fat-burning sessions burn glucose and then fat as it fuels the body. Aerobic exercise depends on ramped-up oxygen intake to transport fuel from all over your body. Endurance athletes (i.e. marathoners, triathletes) exercise this way and burn through their fat stores during their training and often require daily caloric intakes of as much as 10,000, which is ridiculous, I know. But especially with anaerobic exercise, it is too intense to depend on oxygen to carry fuel, so it instead dips into your skeletal muscle using your ATP system. (Sprinters and the like use this system to perform.) The recovery period of the latter tends to keep you metabolism high as it replenishes this "emergency" store of fuel. Not many people (especially the sedentary) tap into this system in any large capacity. Aerobic/anaerobic exercise, when a part of a regular system of exercise, is a good way to get into shape in regards to heart health and cardiovascular performance, but it will only burn fat if you do a lot of it. For the sedentary, they'd be better to mix it up with weight training to get the fastest results. You could reasonably spend only 2 hours per week weight training to burn as much fat as you would doing twice as much cardio. (But, of course, it varies depending on what you do and who you are.)
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We're our own worst enemy at times. Until you change your life style your physical condition is unlikely to change. I've known people who've tried to loose weight and get in shape. Many want changes in a week. When that doesn't happen, screw it- right back to double bacon cheeseburgers. You can't expect changes in a week. You'll probably start feeling better in about two weeks, more energy, better mood etc.. but as far as seeing changes- I think several weeks min. are needed.
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This is our biggest problem when it comes to health. We are habitual creatures, and we live in a consumption-based society of instant gratification and free and varied choices.
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On another note- I think there's something to be said about individual body systems. Genetics? Learned eating habits? Personally I think it's a combination of both.
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Yes, genetics plays a huge role, but it isn't the be all and end all. There are many people who overcome what their parents gave them through hard work and dedication. Some people just have to work harder than others, as your illustration pointed out. I think there are a lot of people who don't realize their genetic potential and this has a lot to do with our lifestyle. Many of us live in an information-based society, so we are geared towards thinking more than physical labour. Those who are the fittest and most energetic are those who see through this and realize that they require balance.