Add weight lifting to your exercise routine

LOS ANGELES "For a number of reasons especially women, especially as they pass the 30 graduating number. Even the second and third time they pass that number -- from a bone density standpoint to prevent osteoporosis and as well as to maintain lean tissue, which is just going to burn body fat at a higher rate after the workout," said fitness pro Gunnar Peterson. "So it's like a savings account versus just a checking account."

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In addition, Peterson says the act of resistance training itself utilizes fat significantly.

"In a recent study we show obviously what we already knew is that lean tissue burns calories at a much higher rate, almost 2 to 1 I think than inert tissue fat," said Peterson. "We also learned about how it excites, from a chemical standpoint, the body on a hormonal level. And that hormonal stimulation keeps you burning calories and fat at a higher rate during the training as well."

So get pumping. The study found that fat is oxidized or utilized up to 78 percent during weight lifting, but more importantly it remained elevated 75 percent after resistance training.

And no surprise a healthy diet with those workouts helps reveal lean muscle. Novices should start twice a week for 20-30 minutes and work up from there. You also want to switch up your routine.

"The way to get your body to respond is to confuse it, to throw curve balls at it," said Peterson. "Make it react to different types of resistance whether it's the bands or dumbbells or the weight machine or your body weight, but mix up the sequence. Mix up the reps. Mix up the sets. The more you change it the more it has to adapt and the adaptation is what induces change."

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