Whether to focus on aerobic exercise versus weight training is a common question about exercise for weight loss.
Weight training helps grow and strengthen muscles by utilizing weights, whereas cardio helps develop endurance, and stamina, and reduces weight by burning calories.
Similar to other types of exercise, weight training helps you burn calories. A standard weight training session often results in lower calorie expenditure than a rigorous cardio workout.
However, resistance exercise can also assist you in other ways as you work toward your weight loss objectives. Today, we will be looking at all about weight training for weight loss.
What Is Weight Training?
Workouts with a focus on using weights to increase strength and muscle mass are known as weight training.
To improve muscle composition and strength, weight training entails using a variety of weights, depending on the individual’s requirements and goals.
There are two main categories for weight training. Machine weights and free weights are the two categories, and both can be used to work out to target particular muscles or in general.
Examples of free weights that can be used to accomplish weight training include benches, barbells, and dumbbells.
Weight training equipment includes aided pull-up stations and cable machines. Lifting weights lowers the risk of injury and increases caloric expenditure.
Additionally, it reduces belly fat and aids in muscle strengthening. Regular weight training can help you in many aspects of your life.
Related: Weight Loss Patches
Benefits Of Weight Training For Weight Loss
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Maintain Muscle While Loosing Weight
A calorie deficit is the most important weight loss rule, meaning that you must consume fewer calories each day than you expend to lose weight.
There is no avoiding it. The only method to reduce weight is this way. Your body begins to draw energy from reserves when you eat fewer calories than you burn.
We store fat because it is an excellent[1] source of reserve energy. A source that can be converted into fuel more readily[2] than fat is a muscle, though.
As a result, to make up for the calories you aren’t eating, your body will naturally absorb and burn both fat and muscle.
Your body is compelled to preserve muscle while you work out and obtain the majority of the additional calories it requires from fat.
This is particularly true of strength training since it forces your muscles into growth mode by pushing them to their maximum capacity.
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Helps Burn More Calories Than Cardio
Your hour-long cardio workout can burn more calories than an hour spent lifting weights, but people who lift weights burn an additional 100 calories on average throughout the next 24 hours.
A person’s basal metabolic rate can increase by 4.3 percent for 18 hours after a 100-minute weight training session, burning an additional 70 calories. This benefit of weight training is amplified[3] when the load is increased.
In comparison to people who perform more repetitions with smaller weights, those who lift heavier weights for fewer reps (80 percent of their maximum load for 8 reps) can burn nearly twice as many calories in the 2 hours after their activity.
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Could Not Trigger Bulk Again
First of all, a person’s body is not predisposed to naturally developing big, bulky muscles. It interferes negatively with the equilibrium[4] of your hormones.
Second, a lot of people have a higher healthy body fat proportion, designed to retain more fat and keep lean muscle.
The results will be significantly more athletic than bulky in weight training, even if you push yourself incredibly hard.
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May Help In Long Term Weight Loss
Weight training can aid exercisers to accelerate weight reduction more than if they only did aerobic exercise because it increases surplus post-exercise oxygen consumption.
Your metabolism remains active for a longer period after strengthening or resistance exercises than it does after aerobic activity[5].
This is because lean tissue is generally more active tissue. You’ll burn more calories if you have more muscle mass even while you’re sleeping.
When weight training is combined with calorie restriction through nutrition, you may even be able to further reduce body fat.
Over 4 months, people who combined dieting with full-body resistance exercise increased their lean muscle mass while lowering fat mass more effectively than either dieting or resistance training alone.
Weight Training Combined With Cardio
If weight loss is your primary objective and wants to reduce a significant amount of calories.
Therefore, you should combine both weight training and cardio into your fitness program for the greatest advantages.
Calorie burning is how cardio can aid with weight loss. You’ll burn more calories the more you work out.
Start slowly if achieving this target feels overwhelming to you. Keep in mind that whatever exercise you undertake[6] is helpful for you. Exercise in little bursts if you do not feel like you have time to fit it in.
By building[7] more muscle, weight training exercises can make you lose more weight. Your metabolic rate may increase more as your lean muscle mass increases.
If you want to reduce weight while maintaining your strength, building more muscle will also help your body burn fat more effectively. So, if you gain muscle, your metabolism will run more quickly and you’ll burn more calories when you exercise.
Increasing your calorie burn will aid in weight reduction because the key to losing weight is to burn more calories than you take in. You should combine weight training and cardio for optimum fat loss.
Conclusion
As the name implies, weight training has many advantages besides bulking up your triceps and biceps. These advantages include increasing your lean muscle mass and strength.
Keep in mind that exercising is preferable to doing nothing at all. If you do not feel like you’ve exercised enough, try not to be too hard on yourself. Especially if you’re new to fitness, getting into a program takes time.
Think creatively if you’re having trouble getting your minutes in. Make a list of all the things you like to do, then find out how to do more of them.
Weight training alone won’t get you where you want to be, even if it is a crucial component of weight loss and general wellness. You should also combine a balanced diet for good health.
References/Sources
Working4Health prefers using primary and verified references. We have strict sourcing guidelines and our primary references include peer-reviewed research, academic, and medical institution studies.
- Maintain Your Muscle. Strength Training at Any Age. Date of Publication: March, 2020. Available from: https://newsinhealth.nih.gov/2020/03/maintain-your-muscle
- J Galgani and E Ravussin. Energy metabolism, fuel selection and body weight regulation. Int J Obes (Lond). 2008 Dec; 32(Suppl 7): S109–S119. doi: 10.1038/ijo.2008.246
- Damon L. Swift, Neil M. Johannsen, Carl J. Lavie, et. al. The Role of Exercise and Physical Activity in Weight Loss and Maintenance. Prog Cardiovasc Dis. 2014 Jan-Feb; 56(4): 441–447. Published online 2013 Oct 11. doi: 10.1016/j.pcad.2013.09.012
- Juma Iraki, Peter Fitschen, Sergio Espinar, et. al. Nutrition Recommendations for Bodybuilders in the Off-Season: A Narrative Review. Sports (Basel). 2019 Jul; 7(7): 154. Published online 2019 Jun 26. doi: 10.3390/sports7070154
- Physical Activity for a Healthy Weight. Date of review: June 16, 2022. Available from: https://www.cdc.gov/healthyweight/physical_activity/index.html
- Leslie H. Willis, Cris A. Slentz, Lori A. Bateman, et. al. Effects of aerobic and/or resistance training on body mass and fat mass in overweight or obese adults. J Appl Physiol (1985). 2012 Dec 15; 113(12): 1831–1837. Published online 2012 Sep 27. doi: 10.1152/japplphysiol.01370.2011
- Edda Cava, Nai Chien Yeat, and Bettina Mittendorfer. Preserving Healthy Muscle during Weight Loss. Adv Nutr. 2017 May; 8(3): 511–519. Published online 2017 May 5. doi: 10.3945/an.116.014506
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Louise Rodriguez is a full-time health and fitness writer. She considers herself a gym rat and takes pride in showing her biceps. She dedicates most of her time to her health. With the time left, she spreads information regarding health and fitness among the masses. Harry Potter is her first love.