Does Lifting Weights and Strength Training Burn Fat?
Burning fat is without a doubt one of the most common reasons why people consider taking one some fitness activities. And there is a good reason for that because if you are carrying some extra weight, at a certain point in your life you want to get rid of it.
This is where a popular question arises again and again: what is the best way to burn fat and lose weight?
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Before we look at the answer, it is also worth mentioning that many of us want to do certain things in the gym because we prefer certain types of training (or there is something we look forward to)
Which means we need to find a balance between what we can enjoy and what actually benefits our goals!
There is no doubt that weight training is truly popular all around the world. And if we are looking at both of these topics combined, it is worth asking, does lifting weights burn fat?
How weightlifting actually benefits you
To understand how weightlifting can help you burn more fat, it is important for you to understand the benefits of weightlifting itself.
Also, it is important to look at weightlifting as strength training. It is just a different name for the same exercises, but it does change how you look at these type of workouts. Because weightlifting is usually associated with big, bulky guys who are only getting bigger and bigger. While what you want is to simply burn some fat and lose that extra weight.
So when we talk about straight training, what are the main benefits it can provide?
The short answer is simple: it grows and strengthens your muscles.
And if you think that this is not what you want, because you need to burn fat, keep in mind, that a bigger engine, burns more fuel. Meaning that bigger and stronger muscles will help you burn more fat.
Forget about strength training as something that gives you enormous muscles only bodybuilders would want!
Weight training workouts that are done regularly will strengthen your muscles and will build muscles where they are necessary (muscles that you haven’t really developed so far). This means you are doing overall muscular training that needs to burn fat to be done.
However, keep in mind that you want to do high-intensity training. Because this is where you will have more chance to burn fat.
And don’t be scared if you are not losing fat immediately!
As mentioned before, weight training builds a bigger engine for your body to run. Which means you’ll be burning more fat in the long run!
So how that this stand up to cardio?
Weightlifting vs. cardio
When it comes to burning fat, there is no doubt that cardio is a great thing to start off with. We all know that even basic cardio training done regularly can burn a great amount of fat.
But at the same time, cardio burns calories and literally shrinks you down. This means you are not getting in a better shape. Instead, you are getting really skinny and losing any possible shape a human body can have.
Of course, if this is your goal, go ahead and do that.
But we suggest you try out weightlifting because the effect here is a little bit different.
Ever heard of EPOC a.k.a. Excess Post-Exercise Oxygen Consumption? Well, its this thing that high rep strength training gives you. And the meaning behind that is fairly simple. It keeps your metabolism up for at least 38 hours.
In this time, even after the workout, your body continues to burn fat. Meaning that while training, you are building muscle, but after that, you are fueling them.
This does mean, however, that you follow specific workout routines to provide your body with true high rep training. Otherwise, the results just won’t be there.
Combination of both, for full body training
For the very best results, we really want to suggest you create an overall full body workout, that would include both cardio and weight training.
Because a good overall workout in its basics will provide better results. Plus you don’t want to be doing just a couple of exercises each and every day.
Keep in mind, that mixing different exercises together makes it not only more interesting for you, but actually benefits you in providing greater results. And this is exactly what you want when taking up fitness even its only about losing your belly fat.
If you have some great experience with losing fat with weight training, leave a comment or contact us to tell us more about your experience.