Can You Lose Weight By Lifting Weights?

By Steve Menzies


If you have ever asked someone to explain how to burn body fat, the chances are slim that weight training came up in the list of responses.

But body fat is indeed one of the first things to go into overdrive when weight training is used consistently and properly.

Those who are keen gym enthusiasts may already know this, but the majority of gym goers have no idea and often miss out on the many benefits hiding within resistance training because they mistakenly believe it's not for them. However, several key studies show weight based training to be even better than aerobic exercise for burning calories.

H.I.R.T. is the name given to the style of resistance training we will be discussing today. This is not pretty, but it is very effective!

Before you go to the gym with ideas of lifting light weights for millions of reps in a Body Pump class, it's important to understand that high intensity resistance training does not involve going light at all. In fact, it's one of the most difficult weight lifting protocols in existence today. But that also makes it one of the most effective.

Believe it or not, fat is not the primary fuel used during a resistance based workout when it is done with correct levels of resistance. The process of fat burning we are hoping to help you generate here actually uses carbohydrates as it's main fuel.

Many people blindly reject this style of training when they see carbs as the main fuel because they want to be focusing on burning fat. That is their mistake.

The hypertrophy which is caused by our weight training session uses carbohydrates to fuel our muscles while we train. However, the moment we end our workout the body switches to burning body fat and this remains the case for a considerable number of hours thereafter. That's right, we are burning body fat after the gym, not in the gym!

Carbohydrates may be the main macronutrient we use while we are training, but the moment we reach the end of our workout everything begins to change. Fat is then promoted as our primary fuel - and this phenomenon, known as the after burn effect, can last for up to sixteen hours!

Wondering how to encourage more fat loss by adopting this training approach with your existing fitness routine?



The reason most people believe weight lifting is purely for bodybuilding purposes is because most people follow a bodybuilding routine without realizing it. Take a look the next time you train. How many people are lifting a weight for eight to twelve reps? How many are sitting for one-to-two minutes resting after each set? The answer is too many. That's normal gym procedure for the masses.

If fat loss is your goal, though, high intensity training will trump the old bodybuilding approach every single time.

High intensity resistance training involves reducing rest periods but keeping your training hard and heavy. Pair compound lifts together and work through sets of three of four moves in one circuit. You'll get more done in your session than those taking vast rest periods after every set, and you will notice significantly greater fat loss results in the weeks which follow.

Studies confirm that not only is H.I.R.T. great for fat loss, it is even superior to aerobic cardio exercise. Given that this is by far the most popular training method in mainstream gyms today, there are a lot of people reading this article who will have just discovered valuable new training information. Have fun implementing it.




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