bt Chris DeLeon
As a personal trainer, the most common request I have is for direction on how to lose weight. This is often accompanied by the idea that the best way to burn fat is through extensive cardiovascular exercise and correcting bad eating habits.
That’s not necessarily wrong. Cardio does burn calories, and eating right is essential for achieving the waistline you desire. There is, however, a great tool that all-too-often gets overlooked: resistance training.
Now is usually when I hear, “I don’t want to lift weights because I want to lose weight, not get bulky.” I don’t know who started the myth that touching a dumbbell automatically makes a person bulk up, but they didn’t do anybody any favors.
I can tell you from my experience as a fitness model and physique competitor that it is not easy to bulk up. It has to be deliberate, it takes time, and it can be tough even with effort. As such, bulk needn’t be a concern unless that is your goal.
The big reason why weight training can be an essential tool in losing weight is the boost it can have to your metabolism. Excess post-exercise oxygen consumption accompanies high-rep strength training but is absent from most forms of cardio.
That is a fancy way of saying that your metabolism is working at a higher rate well after you set the dumbbells down for the last time. In fact, your body could be burning calories at a higher rate up to 38 hours after strength training.
While cardio is indeed beneficial for getting into good shape, traditional forms of exercise only burn calories and fat at a higher rate while you are performing the exercise. As soon as you step off the treadmill, your metabolic rate returns to normal.
This is not at all to say that weight training should replace cardio as your means of exercise. A balanced blend of cardio and resistance training, coupled with eating smartly, will turn you into a calorie-burning machine and let you reach your weight loss goals.
A good tip to use while entering the weight room on your voyage to a smaller waist is to superset your workout. This is an excellent alternative to circuit training because it ties up fewer stations at any given time and will be much less likely to irritate your fellow gym patrons.
A proper superset pattern to use to maximize your time in the gym would be to alternate between an upper body and lower body exercise.
Doing so can reduce rest times and allow you to accomplish more in the gym in a smaller amount of time; time being one of the commodities that many people have in short supply.
Another technique for successful weight loss is to use free weights and compound movements more than machine weights and isolation lifts. This forces more muscle to become involved in the stabilization of the weight. That means more calories get burned per rep.
A good method for burning fat is to hit all of your muscle groups three times a week. This does not require inordinate amounts of time in the gym. You can hit your muscle groups in different ways on each of the three days that you use resistance training. This will allow you to have a multifaceted approach to working your muscles at high repetitions without the cost of extensive time working out in any given gym session.
As always, I recommend talking to a personal trainer for professional guidance as you pursue your fitness goals. I hope to see you burning calories and shedding weight in the gym.
