Many people are turning to resistance training as a viable means of achieving their fitness goals. This is quite a departure from a popular sentiment that was held no more than a decade ago; that weight training makes you bulky. The fact of that matter is that this isn't completely true.

The results you obtain from resistance training are yours to control. There are ways to get stronger and bigger, just as there are ways to lose weight and tone your body. Muscles need to be sustained, and for this to happen calories need to be burned. Therefore, the more muscle you have, the more calories your body will burn while you are in a resting state. In effect, your body will become a fat-burning furnace even when you're not exercising.

If you still haven't made the turn to what you still feel is the dark side of fitness, you are doing yourself a disservice. Mounting evidence suggests that following a regular resistance training program has myriad health benefits, not least of which are an increased metabolism, healthier bones, reduced cholesterol, and decreased risk of developing type 2 diabetes.