On Thu, 15 Mar 2001 11:27:50 -0800, Wally Day <[log in to unmask]> wrote:

>I started wondering. If someone who was overfat stayed
>at a maintenance caloric level (no weight gain/loss),
>and took up heavy weight lifting, wouldn't that person
>eventually "lose" weight (theoretically fat)? Does
>anyone know of studies that have been performed in
>this regard?

On one hand the answer is simple:

  Muscle burns fat for fuel when the body is at rest and during exercise.

Fat doesn't burn fat. The more muscle mass you have the more fat
you will be burning and you have a higher metabalism at rest.
This is why gaining muscle mass is perhaps the most important way to
reduce body fat % (and why aerobics don't help).

Philip Thrift
http://www.paleofitness.com