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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 critical role in losing weight. The reason why is because weight lifting builds
lean muscle mass. Muscle is metabolically active tissue, so the more muscle you have the higher your metabolism
will be. A higher metabolism causes your body to burn more calories 24/7. Over the course of several months or
a year, the number of calories burned and the amount of body fat lost as a result of a higher metabolism can be
substantial.
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 and
lose less body fat. 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 and lose more body fat.
Weight lifting, aerobic exercise and diet 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 weight lifting,
aerobic exercise and diet together. This will result in maximum fat loss without muscle loss.
Won't lifting weights give me big, bulky muscles?
Building big, bulky muscles is a long and difficult process for most men. And women don't have enough of the
hormone testosterone (a key hormone for building muscle) to develop big, bulky muscles. The fear of getting overly
muscular often comes from seeing pictures of professional bodybuilders. Professional bodybuilders (both men and
women) take steroids and other anabolic drugs to help them build their abnormally large muscles. So don't worry
that you're going to end up looking like a professional bodybuilder if weight lifting is a part of your weight loss
program.
Is performing high repetitions best for weight loss?
The actual performance of a repetition burns only a small number of calories. The primary calorie burning effect
from weight lifting comes after the workout. Remember, weight lifting builds lean muscle mass, which increases your
metabolism, which causes your body to burn more calories. When lifting weights, you want to use the repetition range
that builds the most lean muscle mass, which is 6-12 reps per set. Performing 1-5 reps per set primarily builds
strength and power. Performing greater than 12 reps per set primarily builds muscular endurance.
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 develop a fat burning nutrition
plan and how to use weight lifting and aerobic exercise in conjunction with it.
Read my review of Burn The Fat, Feed The Muscle
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