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Weight Lifting for Weight Loss
Many people rely only on diet and aerobic exercise to lose weight, but
what about weight lifting for weight loss?
Weight lifting (also known as weight training or strength training) is
usually not associated with weight loss, but weight lifting plays a key role
in losing weight.
Weight lifting builds and maintains lean muscle mass, which is metabolically
active tissue. This means that the more lean muscle mass you have the higher
your metabolism will be. The higher your metabolism, the more calories your body
burns to maintain itself.
If you rely only on diet and aerobic exercise to lose weight, you'll lose
lean muscle mass in addition to losing body fat. This loss of lean muscle mass
will cause your metabolism to decrease, so you'll burn less calories.
If weight lifting is a part of your weight loss program you won't lose lean
muscle mass, so your metabolism will stay high and you'll burn more calories.
Diet, aerobic exercise and weight lifting are all equally important when it
comes to losing weight. Each one complements and enhances the others, resulting
in exponentially faster weight loss than if only one or two of them is used.
Now that you know why weight lifting needs be a part of your weight loss
program, let me address three of the most common questions that many people have
regarding weight lifting for weight loss.
Isn't it better to lose weight first before starting to lift weights?
It's a common misconception that you should lose weight first with diet and
aerobic exercise before starting to lift weights. But as you've just learned, the
most effective way to lose weight is to incorporate diet, aerobic exercise and
weight lifting together. This will result in maximum fat loss without muscle loss
and without a decrease in metabolism.
Won't lifting weights give me big, bulky muscles?
Building big, bulky muscles is a long and difficult process for most men, while
women don't have enough of the hormone testosterone (a key hormone for building
muscle) to develop big, bulky muscles. So don't worry that you're going to develop
big, bulky muscles if weight lifting is a part of your weight loss program.
Is performing high reps with light weight best for weight loss?
The primary calorie burning effect from weight lifting comes after the workout.
Remember, weight lifting builds and maintains lean muscle mass, and the more lean
muscle mass you have the higher your metabolism will be. The higher your metabolism,
the more calories your body burns to maintain itself.
When lifting weights, you want to use the rep range that builds the most lean
muscle mass, which is 8-12 reps per set. Therefore, the weight you use each set has
to be heavy enough so that you can't perform more than 12 reps in good form.
In conclusion, if weight lifting is not a part of your weight loss program, it
should be. No weight loss program is complete without it.
Recommended Resource
Burn The Fat, Feed The Muscle shows you how to
effectively use weight lifting as part of a comprehensive weight loss program.
Read my review of Burn The Fat, Feed The Muscle
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