Resistance training is an important component of any fat loss program. Resistance training includes any exercise that adds resistance or weight to a movement, like weightlifting, bodyweight calisthenics, plyometrics, isometrics, and rubber band training.
Many people wrongly assume that resistance training inevitably leads to large bulky muscles. Don't worry ladies, this isn't the case. It's actually quite difficult to add lean muscle mass, and you lack the testosterone that allows men to look like Arnold. Well, testosterone and steroids.
Resistance training helps you burn fat in three ways. Resistance training itself, when intense enough, causes the release of human growth hormone, the powerful anti aging hormone that helps us build muscle and burn fat rapidly. So while calories burned in the gym are fewer than those while performing an intense cardio session, the hormonal changes occurring in your body after your weight training sessions helps you burn fat around the clock.
The second way in which resistance training helps you burn fat is through increased metabolic needs to fuel your higher energy output, as well as to sustain your new muscle mass. If your diet remains the same, but your body requires more fuel due to energy exerted while lifting, or energy needed to simply carry that sexy lean muscle mass you've put on, then it takes it from the place you keep extra energy, your body fat.
The last way that resistance training helps you to burn fat, is that increasing your strength through resistance training will translate into greater endurance and more intense cardio sessions. When you've gained strength, that strength will allow you to work harder and burn more calories while jogging or kickboxing.
The three most important resistance exercises to perform are best categorized by function; the big push, or pushups and bench press, the big pull, or pull-ups and row, and the squat, with or without added weight. These three exercises work the largest muscle groups in the body, thereby putting the greatest amount of stress on our bodies and forcing hormonal responses that build muscle and burn fat.
And because of their size, they require a tremendous amount of energy to perform properly, thereby burning more calories during lifting sessions than doing things like ab crunches or bicep curls. And this is a difficult concept for people to understand sometimes, so pay attention. If you want to lose belly fat, don't do crunches, do squats. The abdominals are small muscles and doing countless crunches won't burn the calories you need to burn to reduce fat around the midsection at all. Doing full body exercises will however put your body in a fat burning state long after your training sessions.
If doing bodyweight exercises, you can perform these from 2 to 5 days per week, as your bodyweight remains relatively constant or drops with training. So it is ok to increase the number of repetitions per exercise, as well as frequency. If you are weightlifting though, you need to DECREASE frequency of training as you get stronger. Increasing the weight when you're weightlifting also increases the intensity of the training session. This puts greater stress on your muscles and nervous system. This requires more recovery time, and so requires less frequent training to compensate for more intense training sessions. Beginners can start at 2 to 4 days a week, advanced lifters should at most lift 1 to 2 days per week.
Will all the extra time you have in your week while waiting for the next resistance training session, hit the treadmill for some tough cardio. Good luck in your weight loss journey and don't deny yourself the many benefits of resistance training. You'll reach your goals much faster.
![[Valid RSS feed]](http://www.massagebyben.com/articles/images/icon_Rss.png "XML Feed For RSS"){kind=icon}
Category Rss Feed
Print This Article
Add To Favorites 