Lifting weights is one of the most popular forms of exercise worldwide, and for good reason. It has many benefits and is done for a number of different reasons that can be both mental and physical. Whilst the benefits are bountiful, arguably the biggest reason for weight training would be to gain muscle. Muscle growth is synonymous with weight training and everybody knows that if you want to get bigger muscles and improve your physique then you need to be lifting weights regularly.
A grey area in that knowledge is that people also believe that weight lifting is great for weight loss. The answer to this statement though, is a bit more vague, as it is both a yes and a no.
We’ve mentioned that weight training is great and has many benefits, including but not limited to:
- Building muscle
- Building confidence
- Feeling happier
- Increasing athletic performance
- Better quality of life
HOW TO MAXIMISE WEIGHT LOSS
If you prefer weight training to cardio then there are certain things you’d need to do when weight training in order to burn fat at a good rate, whilst building muscle. You have to train smart and focus on a few key aspects to make sure you’re dropping body fat at a steady pace.
Add circuits
Circuit training involves two or more exercises that follow one another with little or no rest in between. They can either target the same muscle group or can involve a number of muscle groups. This is a very popular way to build muscle and burn fat using weights because rest periods are kept short so the intensity is ramped up so it’s great for your metabolism.
Try full-body workouts
If burning fat is your focus then it makes sense to do full-body workouts each time you go to the gym. As with doing supersets and circuits, this is because of the intensity and it’s important to keep rest periods to a minimum. Working more individual muscle groups every session also requires greater energy consumption after training as part of your body’s recovery process, so you’ll continue to burn fat.
Drop the weight
This may sound strange but lowering the amount of weight you lift can help you increase the rate at which you burn fat. It’s important to still lift heavy to make your muscles work hard, but reducing the resistance slightly can make the weight more manageable and allow you to focus on really using your muscles to lift and lower the weight, rather than having to cheat your form and use momentum to get it and keep it moving.
Keep rest periods and sessions short
If you’re doing multi-move sets or circuit-style sets, try not to pause in between each individual move, and rest only after completing the full set or circuit. The key to weight loss when weight training is intensity so keep things short and sweet.
The same goes for your sessions. Switch your mentality away from counting the number of hours you’re putting in at the gym and instead towards how intensely you train when you’re there. A genuinely intense weights workout can’t last much longer than 45 minutes to an hour because if you’re doing it properly, you’ll be totally fatigued within that timeframe.
