How to burn fat by lifting weights
People engage weightlifting with the mindset of building muscle mass. However, this isn’t the sole purpose of weightlifting programs. Rarely is it discussed about the weight loss benefits of weightlifting.
Muscles in your body burn calories without doing a thing. So naturally, the more muscle mass you have the more calories your body burns on it’s own. And the more calories your body burns the more fat you burn. See, makes sense right?
Lets take a look
Cardio vs Weightlifting
Aerobic or cardiovascular activity is great for both the heart and lungs. It is a popular meditative technique to clear the mind from accumulated stress as well as to get in touch with nature. For others, such activities offer the physical and mental challenges that similar competitive sports induce. However, as a standalone tool for weight loss, aerobic exercise is a mediocre technique that can result only in a plateau.
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The Science Behind Weightlifting as a Weight Loss Strategy
The problem with trying to lose weight is that you must burn more calories than what you consume. Keeping your body deprived of its caloric requirements forces your body to begin burning through its own tissues for energy. As a result, you may be seeing numeric improvements on your weight scale, but how much of the lost weight is fat and how much of it is muscle remains an uncertainty. Losing the latter can actually sabotage your efforts to lose weight.
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Muscle contraction is a primary mechanism for losing weight by lifting weights. The more muscle you contract, the greater amounts of fat you burn. Furthermore, weightlifting and similar strength conditioning workouts that work large muscle groups to their burning limit will increase the production of hormones that help in minimizing body fat. Thus, the goal of efficient weight loss is to hold on to as much lean muscle mass as possible while burning fats.
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Benefits of Weightlifting For Weight Watchers
For starters, losing weight by lifting weights increase both short-term and long-term metabolic rates, which usually happens in the hours following an intense workout. The total volume of lean muscle mass in the body is also maintained hence creating a permanent effect in metabolic rate.
Cardio training, on the other hand, only causes increased speeds in metabolic activity for a few hours following a workout session. To make matters worst, if you overdo your cardio session, it often leads to a decrease in total lean muscle mass.
If you wish to go beyond the goal of cutting body fat to altering body composition, even the most intense of cardiovascular workouts will not suffice. Sure, you can hop on a treadmill, run for an hour or two, repeat the process everyday for two weeks, and lose 10 to 20 pounds easily. However, your body’s form will not be as well-defined as you’d want.
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Tips For Effective Weightlifting
To get the most out of your weightlifting, use dumbbells instead of the machines or cables. Resistance machines can certainly help you achieve those well-defined curves, but for muscle growth, use the free weights. Barbells and dumbbells will force your ancillary muscles to work and build in mass. The free range of motion also reduces the risk of injuries or strain.
When doing bench press, make sure you ask someone to spot you if you’re working with weights that are unusually heavy for you. Safety first before anything else.
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