Burn Baby Burn!

Want to burn calories while sitting on the couch? Well, just have your self a good weight lifting session and that’s what will happen. Why you ask?

Your muscles need energy to repair and upgrade your muscle fiber after each resistance- training workout. For instance, a University of Wisconsin study found that when people performed a total-body workout comprised of just three big muscle exercises, their metabolisms were elevated for 39 hours afterward. The exercisers also burned a greater percentage of calories from fat during this time, compared with those who didn't lift.

But what about during your workout? After all, many experts say jogging burns more calories than weight training. Turns out, when scientists at the University of Southern Maine used an advanced method to estimate energy expenditure, they found that lifting burns as many as 71 percent more calories as originally thought. The researchers calculated that performing just one circuit of eight exercises-which takes about eight minutes-can expend 159 to 231 calories. That’s about the same number burned by running at a 6-minute-mile pace for the same duration.