More Reasons You Should Lift Weights...

You'll burn more calories.  Lifting increases the number of calories you burn while your butt is parked on the couch. That's because after each strength workout, your muscles need energy to repair their fibers. In fact, researchers found that when people did a total-body workout with just three big-muscle moves, their metabolisms were raised for 39 hours afterward. They also burned a greater percentage of calories from fat compared with those who didn't lift.

Lifting gives you a better burn during exercise too: Doing a circuit of eight moves (which takes about eight minutes) can expend 159 to 231 calories. That's about what you'd burn if you ran at a 10-mile-per-hour pace for the same duration.

I need to remind myself every now and again why I need to keep up with my strength training!  It really has helped me with my running and also to remember - one pound of fat takes up 18 percent more space than one pound of muscle. 

OK - time to go pump some iron!