Weight Training for fat loss might have a few people scratching their heads wondering what on earth is going on? Just about everyone knows the value of aerobic training for losing weight and often the first thing someone starting a fitness regime will do is jog, run or hit the aerobics class.
While aerobic activities are fantastic for helping to lose fat, often your muscles will shrink at the same time - this is a negative thing, because muscles are what burn the fat.
Also known as resistance training, using weight resistance can significantly improve fat loss in both men and women.
How Can We Get The Best Of Both Worlds?
Because muscle is the body's fat burning furnace then it stands to reason that we don't want to shrink our major fat burning tool.
One of the keys is to ensure adequate protein intake - increasing your protein will stop your muscles shrinking under low calorie conditions.
The best way to improve the effects of your aerobic activities is to incorporate resistance training. Weight training helps to strengthen your muscles and prevent muscle loss. With intense weight training you can even create nice dense tight muscles that not only look appealing, but they burn fat like an incinerator.
What Should I Do?
If you have decided that you like the idea of increasing your fat loss potential by building some muscle, then you may want to know where to start. The best exercises you can do are the basic ones that you probably already know a little bit about.
Exercises such as: Bench Press, Squats, Lunges, Dips and Barbell curls are great because they incorporate many muscle groups, giving you the best possible reward for your time and effort.
Eating more protein is important if you are resistance training, because your body will need more protein to help build your new fat burning muscle machine.
How Often?
It depends on how often you wish to train, if you train six time per week then perform 3 aerobic workouts and 3 weight training workouts. If you only want to do 4 then stick with the half of each theme.
If you are raring to go and you want to workout often then, make sure you have one day off per week. It is easy to get over excited when starting a new program, but you need to have rest to prevent both physical and mental burnout.
If you are going to train 10 times a week then you need to take extra care to get adequate rest and recovery or you could get negative results.
Find out what you are comfortable with and just do what you can.
What Are The Benefits Of Weight Training?
A Better Metabolic Resting Rate
Strengthened Bones
Better Blood Pressure
Increased Strength
Better Posture
Mood Elevation
Fat Loss
These are just some of the many rewards that resistance training can bestow upon those who practice it.
Will Resistance Training Make Women Huge?
This often strikes a chord with men in the gym who have to lift thousands of pounds and eat whole chickens and buckets of pasta just to put on 5 pounds of muscle.
The resounding answer is NO, women will not get big from training with weights unless they have the very specific desire to do so.
Men have high levels of testosterone, which women only produce a small amount of and the truth is most large muscular ladies take testosterone boosters.
If a woman wanted to get huge then she would have to perform enormous lifts and consume 1000's of calories every day, so unless you do those things then there isn't even a chance you'll get big.
Women benefit immensely from resistance training, they develop beautiful curves and tight, toned bodies. Tight bodies are conducive to fat loss, so it is more than just an idea - weight training is the answer.
By employing resistance training you can elicit fat loss above and beyond the results of just aerobic training by itself, so hit the weights and burn the fat - it really works.
