Here’s a question we here very often in Bodybyrne,
“When you want to lose fat you do what?”
“And, when you want to build muscle, what happens then?”
Let’s try and clear a couple of things up on this subject
When clients are trying to lose fat most would start doing more cardio. When they want to build muscle, well naturally, they weight train.
Is this the answer Really?
Could Weight Training itself Strictly be used for fat loss and accompanied with cardio.
This is a common misconception and one of the biggest mistakes you could make and will leave you not quite looking as you hoped.
Here’s why.
Benefits of weight training for weight loss:
Weight Training Increases Metabolism Up to 36 hours after! The first reason we are going to give weight training a point is the initial after burn.
Studies have demonstrated that after a weight training workout, the metabolism can be boosted for up to 36 hours post-workout, meaning rather than burning say 60 calories an hour while sitting working away at your desk you’re now burning 70. Big deal – 10 extra calories. Think about this over the space of a day week month and year this will really increase your calorie burning and thus fat burning capacity.
With cardio training, you might get an extra 40-80 calories burned after a moderate paced session, and this will depend upon the exact intensity and duration of the workout.
The second factor to consider is long-term metabolic increases. While it’s great to be burning more calories for 36 hours after the workout, that’s not going to help you two weeks from now unless you are consistent with your workout program.
What weight training will enable you to do is build up a larger degree of lean muscle mass, don’t be scared all females out there by this we don’t mean big muscle it’s about a healthier body composition having less fat and more lean tissue which then basically serves as your calorie burning powerhouse in the body enabling you to increase your average daily calorie burn helping you too remain lean year round.
Remember muscle tissue is fairly long-term as long as there is some stimulus on the muscle and you are consuming enough protein it won’t be lost this proves to be an effective long-run strategy for losing body fat so all those hard hours in the gym will reap the rewards your after.
This is the primary reason males typically can eat more than females without gaining weight – they have more lean muscle mass on their body and so they are burning more calories on the hour.
Another big benefit that weight training has is that it will completely allow you to reshape your body. Cardio training will help you lose weight, this weight loss is going to be a bit of a combination between fat and muscle; therefore what you’re left with is a smaller version of your current self, If you’ve ever noticed someone who has lost a considerable amount of weight but still looks somewhat ‘soft’, that’s usually why. They have lost some fat, but at the same rate, their muscles aren’t overly toned, hence they don’t give off the same type of appearance after all that hard work don’t you expect to get some compliments on your new physique and feel that hardness only weights can provide.
One thing that should be mentioned at this point is that many women will shy away from heavy weights simply because they believe that doing so causes them to develop rippling muscles that give off too a masculine look.
This is an unfortunate misperception because the fact of the matter is that females do not have enough testosterone in their body to develop this degree of musculature naturally.
What lifting heavy weights will do though is raise their metabolic rate, promote greater fat burning, and help give them more definition when they do lose the body fat off.
What most women fear is actually what they should be doing.
Let’s not turn our back on cardio just yet either, a little now about cardio and it’s many benefits:
Cardio and calorie burn is one area you’re more than likely thinking about the different calorie burns during cardio and weights workouts are vast.
That is correct. If you do a longer cardio session, you could burn somewhere in the neighbourhood of 500-800 calories, depending on the exact length and intensity level. That is a fairly decent number and will definitely help with your fat loss goals. Since you must burn off 3500 calories in order to lose one pound of body fat this will certainly help.
Cardio also has numerous Health Benefits, Obviously strength training will have health benefits as well, but cardio training will have a bigger influence on cardiovascular health.
So, adding cardio to your fat loss training program will only have a positive effect on key area such as the heart and lungs.
There is also the option of interval training with cardio which can cut down on the time of session and incorporating sprints on a treadmill or on an exercise bike has been proven to have a similar effect on the body for afterburn as weights.
Conclusion
It’s time to break free from the thinking that cardio equates to fat loss and weight training equates to building muscle and weight gain. It’s simply not as clear cut a mixture of the both seems to be the correct dose to keep a training plan fun exciting and more importantly consistent!