Ask ten people what type of exercise they should be doing to burn fat, lose weight and fire up their metabolism (your body's engine) and they will all probably tell you the same thing. They will likely tell you that you need to do 30-40 minutes of moderately-paced aerobic activity on some sort of cardio exercise equipment such as a treadmill, stair climber or stationary cycle.

They will probably also tell you that more is better and although 3 times a week is good 4 or more times each week would be even better. People will tell you this because since the 1980's that has been and continues to be the mainstream recommendation for fat burning by many so called exercise 'experts'. They will also tell you to reach a certain target heart rate and stay at that heart rate for at least 30 minutes.

Well, now things have changed and research has proven that this type of activity is not the best way to burn fat, lose weight or increase your metabolism. Sure, you will burn a few extra calories while you are running to nowhere on a treadmill, but you will not make a complete physique transformation with this type of exercise alone. No amount of cardio activity will ever build you a strong, lean, firm, shapely body only strength training exercise can do this.

Recent research has confirmed in fact, the activity that was once considered the be-all and end-all for fat loss can actually be counterproductive to burning fat. Here are some of the reasons why.

Long duration, low intensity aerobic activity calls upon your stored body fat for energy during the sessions. While this may sound good, this can actually cause your body to create more body fat in reserve after the workout is over to have ready for your next session. Yikes! You are actually training your body to store fat in readiness.

What is even worse, this type of activity when done frequently as recommended trains your cardiovascular system to be efficient thereby it shrinks and becomes smaller. This reduces your heart and lungs to actually reduce their capacity for work as they are getting more efficient at doing easy work (your long duration, low intensity aerobic sessions), which reduces their ability to handle stress.

They are simply not prepared for anything more than an easy workload. And anything that is easy will not yield results even close to what is challenging for the body to accomplish. This can lead to a host of other problems including heart problems. Instead, you should be challenging your heart lung system to increase its capacity, so that it is stronger and able to deal with stress more easily. How is this done?

The fastest and most efficient way to rev up your metabolism, burn fat faster, and develop lifelong health and fitness is to add lean muscle to your body through strength training - period.

If you want life changing health and fat loss results in the quickest possible time get stronger and build some muscle. When you add lean muscle to your body you will be literally turning your body into a fat burning machine.

When you stimulate your body with proper strength training, the repair and growth process will call upon your stored body fat for energy. This calorie deficit combined with the repair and growth process will allow you to burn fat all day long, every day long after the exercise session is over.

And the best part is that it is easy to make this type of exercise part of your life because of its efficiency. You only need 2-3 sessions each week or around 30-40 minutes. Muscle tissue is the stuff that fat burning furnaces are made of.