How to Lose Weight by Lifting Weights: Everything You Need to Know

Losing fat and gaining muscle can be difficult. There are many ways to achieve your fitness transformation goals, including changing your diet and getting regular exercise. While both are important, the type of workout you choose will ultimately mean a different result. For example, you may lose more fat by focusing on a type of workout you may not have guessed: strength training.

Strength training is one of the workouts that helps your body burn fat, not only during your workout but long after you finish. Building muscle affects your body composition and metabolism in a major way. We spoke to a few experts to help explain how this phenomenon works and what you need to know.

You will find more fitness tips here: how many calories you need to burn to lose weight, how to burn fat at home and what trick you need to use to lose weight and gain muscle mass at the same time.

Cardio vs. Strength Training

There are still debates about what is more effective in achieving an ideal figure: cardio or strength trainingAccording to New York personal trainer Oscar Colon IV, cardio is great for burning more calories during a workout — and it’s crucial to Keeping your heart strong — but strength training affects your body differently. “Strength training does two things because you burn calories while you’re training and while you’re repairing and rebuilding the muscle groups you’ve been working,” he explains. As a result, you get more results for your effort.

It’s still a good idea to incorporate cardio and strength training into a well-balanced fitness plan so you can reap all the benefits. How much of one or the other you do may also depend on your current goals. If training for the first marathoncardio will be your main focus as you build endurance while Strength training will be a priority when you want to get stronger or build muscle mass.

Read more: Changing Your Body

How Muscle Affects Your Ability to Burn Fat

As mentioned, strength training can help you burn more calories during and after your workout. This is because of the lean muscle mass you gain from strength training. If your goal is to lose weight, having more lean muscle mass can help with that process.

This also means that the more lean muscle mass you have, the higher your basal metabolic rate will be. Your basal metabolic rate, or RMR, refers to the total number of calories your body burns at rest. Biologically speaking, your basal metabolic rate supports your organ function, neurological function, breathing, and blood circulation. Rachel MacPherson, an American Council of Exercise certified personal trainer, performance specialist, and Garage Gym Reviews expert, explains that muscle is metabolically active, meaning it burns calories even at rest, and while the effect is small, it’s significant and adds up over time. “It also helps counteract the decline in metabolism and muscle mass that comes with age, which can contribute to weight gain in middle age,” she says.

Strength training also has fat-burning benefits when you’re fresh off a workout. “Post-exercise excess oxygen consumption is the process by which the body regulates itself back to homeostasis after a strenuous workout,” Colon explains. In other words, you’re still burning calories while you recover because your body stays warm for a while as it cools down.

How long does it take to build muscle mass

Now that you know that lean muscle mass is a key ingredient to burning fat, you’re probably wondering, how long does it take to build muscle. This will vary from person to person, as genetics, hormones, gender, diet, and other factors play a role in how much muscle you gain and how quickly. “If you’re consistently training three to four times a week for 30 minutes each session, you should realistically start seeing results in three to four weeks,” Colon says.

MacPherson says you can gain muscle mass every week, and a 12- to 16-week hypertrophy training program is ideal to see a significant amount of muscle growth. “You can expect to gain more than five to 10 pounds of muscle over that time,” he explains, adding, “As you get more advanced, you’ll have to work harder for smaller gains, but you’ll still see results.”

This is another interesting aspect of strength training: If you are a beginner, you have an advantage over someone more experienced in building muscle. This is what some call “rookie growth,” which refers to your body building muscle reaction to weightlifting because it is not used to this type of stimulus. Studies have shown that untrained individuals (those with minimal or no strength training experience) can build muscle faster than those who already have strength training experience.

In general, men and women have different muscle-building results. “Men can build muscle much more easily and quickly than women with testosterone, while women can still build significant amounts of muscle, but they’ll never look as big or full as men unless they use anabolic steroids,” MacPherson explains. She adds, “Women need to lift enough volume and weight, while also eating enough to support muscle growth.” That means ditching the old-fashioned mentality of dieting and cutting back, or it will stunt your ability to build muscle.

In addition to a well-planned workout plan, a diet that supports muscle building is also key. MacPherson says, “To build muscle, you need to eat a calorie surplus with plenty of protein.” He explains that eating too much will lead to an increase in body fat, which is normal and necessary for muscle growth. “You can lose it later, and it will be easier because your body has become better at burning calories due to the increased muscle mass,” he adds.

Other Benefits of Weightlifting

In addition to boosting your metabolism and getting stronger, strength training has other benefits. Colon says it’s also important for bone development and density. “Weight-bearing exercise puts stress on your bones, sending a message to your bone-building cells to take action and rebuild stronger bones,” he explains.

Another benefit of strength training is reducing the risk of injury by improving the strength, range of motion, and mobility of muscles, ligaments, and tendons. “This can build strength around major joints like the knees, hips, and ankles, providing additional protection against injury,” Colon adds.

Another plus is for your heart, as strength training can help lower your blood pressure. You can also reduce your risk of type 2 diabetes, improve your blood circulation and lower your LDL (bad) cholesterol. Exercise has even been shown to have a positive effect on Your mental healthand endurance training has also been found to relieve anxiety.

Summary

It is helpful to know the unique effects of strength training on your body when you establish a regular exercise plan. Not only will you naturally burn more fat by having more muscle, but you will also maintain your strength as you age and improve other functions of your life. If you do not have access to a gym, you can start your home exercise program and you can still get the same results as long as you have the right equipment.

Even if your goal isn’t to lose weight or change your body composition, strength training offers many benefits that make it worth incorporating into your lifestyle, and in the long run, it will impact your well-being.