Gain Muscle and Lose Fat -- At the Same Time!

By Craig Ballantyne

I have three big, and I mean BIG, body-changing lessons to share with you today.

1. No one believes you can gain muscle and lose fat at the same time. I say, it's true. Not only do my Turbulence Training workouts prove it, but now science agrees.

Researchers from Purdue University showed that men and women (average age: 61) were able to lose fat, gain muscle, get stronger, lower LDL cholesterol and improve blood sugar control with a simple strength workout routine.

These healthy men and women did strength training three times a week for 12 weeks. They did three sets of 8-12 repetitions. By the end, the subjects gained an average of four pounds of lean mass and lost more than four pounds of fat.

2. I hear from men all the time who claim to have 6 percent body fat or less (which is the level of a professional bodybuilder) but still have a hard time seeing their abs.

That's simply impossible. The problem is that too many men and women believe that handheld body fat analyzers are accurate. Recent research shows these tools underestimate the amount of fat you are carrying on your body by 2.4 kg! That's 5 pounds of fat these handheld machines are neglecting to tell you about.

3. Everyone knows you don't burn fat with strength training, right? Wrong! A new study hot off the presses from the prestigious Journal of Applied Physiology shows strength training boosts metabolism by 10 percent after exercise and increases fat burning by 100 percent.

In this study, subjects did a standard three-set strength training program focusing on multi-muscle exercises. During strength training, you apply "turbulence" to your muscles, causing an increase in your metabolism and fat burning after the workout. That's how you build muscle and burn fat at the same time.

Here are your takeaways:

1. Forget about the calorie readout on the cardio machines. While strength training doesn't burn as many calories as traditional aerobic training during the workout itself, it continues to burn calories AND fat long after your workout.

2. Don't get too smug about your handheld body fat readings, because it's likely underestimating the amount of fat on your body.

3. You don't need fancy machines or an expensive gym membership, all you need is a professional strength-training program you can do in the comfort of your own home.