I don't know about you, but I'm not a huge fan of running on a treadmill or spending 30 minutes plus on an elliptical machine. Some people get into training for a marathon or triathlon (and more power to them), but that's just not me. In my younger years, playing basketball and football took care of my cardiovascular conditioning, but I retired from such high impact, knee and lower back pounding sports long ago. Now, it's a little tougher to find an activity to keep me lean that I actually enjoy.

I guess I'm just not a big cardio guy -- that is, cardio in the traditional sense. Luckily, you can get a great fat-burning workout by lifting weights (something I actually enjoy -- nice!). Pretty much any form of lifting will help boost your metabolism and keep you lean, but high-intensity interval training (HIIT) will maximize cardiovascular benefits and your body's potential to burn fat. Lately, I've been doing a lot of full body, explosive movements using relatively light weights and high reps to keep the bodyfat off -- barbell and one-arm dumbbell cleans, one-arm dumbbell snatches, even deadlifts (the deadlift is more of a strength move than a power one, but still). All this in addition to my normal lifting with heavier weights and reps in the 6-12 range to induce hypertrophy (muscle growth).

My point is, I think you all should check out page 216 of our October issue. It's our Unchained department in the Training Notebook section. This particular installment includes a great HIIT lifting circuit designed by our very own Rob Fitzgerald. It's a tough routine, but, as Fitzgerald once told me, "It's works like crazy." What more could you want?

Give Fitz's workout a try. I can almost promise you'll like it. That is, unless running on a treadmill for 45 minutes sounds more enjoyable to you.

Have a good workout...