Turns out strength training burns fat, too

“Great ideas,” declared Thomas Edison, “originate in the muscles.” He meant that inspiration actually comes from hard work. Well, researchers from the University of New South Wales have a great idea -about how fat loss can originate in the muscles, too.

For years, the myth has been that you do aerobics to burn fat, resistance training to build muscles. But the researchers found that in addition to improving bone mineral density, lean mass and muscle quality, strengthbuilding exercise improves body composition in ways previously thought to come only from aerobics.

Their research, published in Sports Medicine, looked at data from 54 studies and more than 3,000 people and found that doing between two and three sessions a week for 45 to 60 minutes was enough to convey fatburning benefits comparable to aerobic exercise. This gives you some additional workout choices when it comes to aiming for a leaner body composition. Important tips:

-- Warm up on a bike or treadmill for 10 minutes before starting.

-- For resistance exercises that burn fat and build muscle using your own body weight, try “10 Strengthtraining Moves for Beginners” at Doctoroz.com.

-- Dr. Mike is a fan of stretchy bands (hand weights, done with poor technique, can wreck your shoulders). Check out “Should You Try Resistance Bands for Strength Training?” for the lowdown on benefits and instructions at health.clevelandclinic.org.

-- If you use resistance machines at the gym, start low (weight) and slow (motion). And to get max muscle-building, ultimately, work with a resistance/ weight that’s 70% of your max capacity.