Weight Lifting for Fat Loss and Other Benefits

When people talk about losing weight, it’s likely that they’re referring to losing fat. After all, lean muscle is what gives a body its appealing shape and function. And the good news is that whether you’re ten pounds overweight, or one hundred, resistance training is one of the most effective ways to lose fat and add muscle.

How does it work?

Resistance training helps you lose fat in a few different ways.

• It retains the muscle you already have as you consume a calorie deficit, targeting body fat.
• It also has a higher level of post-exercise oxygen consumption than aerobic exercise. When you finish a resistance workout, your body needs work hard to replenish itself so that it can return to its normal state. This takes energy, and that takes calories. Some studies have shown that resistance training can boost your metabolism for up to 38 hours after a workout.
• It can also increase your metabolism by speeding up your resting metabolic rate, or RMR. It takes more calories for your body to maintain muscle than it does to maintain fat. It’s estimated that for every pound of muscle you gain, your RMR increases by 30 to 50 calories.

Other Benefits of Resistance Training

Studies show that resistance training can halt, and in some cases reverse, sarcopenia, which is the reduction of skeletal muscle that happens as we age. This helps us maintain independence. Strength training also:

• Increases bone density
• Strengthens the heart
• Reduces resting blood pressure
• Improves blood circulation
• Prevents muscle loss
• Controls blood sugar
• Improves cholesterol
• Improves balance and coordination

In addition to all of that, resistance training helps prevent disease and degenerative conditions. Certain conditions, such as high blood pressure, diabetes and obesity, contribute to heart disease. Strength training can help correct or lessen the severity of these conditions, and it’s been shown to help manage and improve the quality of life for people struggling with arthritis, fibromyalgia, clinical depression and even cancer and spinal cord injury survivors.

If you can see the value of a weight training program, but you’re unsure where to begin, let the experts at Framework Personal Training in Reno help. Contact us today for a complimentary consultation.