Lift Weights to Lose Fat

Weight loss is a fairly simple formula to understand: a healthy diet + exercise = weight loss. For the scope of this article, let's break down the exercise half of the equation a little more to make sure we're maximizing our time at the gym. It's a common misconception that to burn calories and lose weight you should only hit the cardio machines and to gain muscle mass you should only be hitting the weights. In reality, people seeking to lose weight should be more dynamic with their workouts by utilizing both the benefits of sustained cardiovascular exercise and the benefits of weight lifting.

Metabolic Benefits

Lifting weights has some very beneficial effects on metabolic activity for people looking to drop some fat. When you lift weights, you're putting your muscles under stress, causing extremely small micro-tears which may result in muscle soreness for a day or two. By using protein in a process called protein synthesis, your body repairs these micro-tears, which makes your muscles ever so slightly bigger and stronger (it's like the common idea that after you break a bone it grows back stronger than before). Protein synthesis takes energy, which means that your body continues to burn calories even after you are finished exercising. In fact, protein synthesis occurs for up to 48 hours after lifting weights, which means that you're burning calories for a full two days after working out, even if you're idle during those days.

Another benefit to lifting weights as part of your weight loss routine is that when you build muscles, your metabolism actually works faster during all times of the day, even when you're not moving at all! This is especially true of your larger muscles because they simply take more energy to maintain.

How to Burn Calories with Weights

Weight lifting can torch off calories both during and after exercise just as well if not better than cardiovascular exercise, especially if you're doing it right. When you perform weight-bearing exercises, your biggest muscles require the most energy (makes sense, right?). The two largest muscles in your body are your glutes (your butt) and your quads (if you don't know, this is the area on each leg that you would sit on if someone told you to sit on their lap). Although it is advisable for you to work all of your muscles, if your goal is weight loss, you should spend the most time on your largest muscles, found mostly in your legs. In fact, the squat, which engages both your glutes and your quads, burns more calories per repetition than any other exercise - you'll know you're burning calories because your heart will be racing!

Spice it Up!

Finally, adding weight lifting as part of your regular gym routine may help to ward off the boredom people commonly suffer from spending long periods of time on cardio equipment. If fact, you might find that weight lifting can sometimes be a fun alternative to cardio (though you should continue to do both), and finding your motivation to go the gym regularly will be easier.