Why Weight Training is so Important for losing fat

How are you today?  I hope you are doing well and feeling great. My question today is “did you do your weight training this week”?  I ask you this because I every week I get a few emails asking me why weight training is so important in a weight loss program. This question often comes from women because they are afraid to do weight training. They don’t want to become to muscular.

Don’t be afraid, it won’t happen. But it will tone you up and give you more lean muscle. To build bigger muscles you need to increase your calories a lot to feed muscle growth. When I say increase your calories, I don’t mean just an extra portion of brown rice for lunch or a second serving of vegetables. I mean adding a lot more calories, and the right kinds, and not just once in a while. You have to do this day after day consistently for a few months. Since this probably doesn’t describe you, don’t be afraid to lift some weights. You will not wake up the next morning ready for the next bodybuilding show as Ms. Olympia.

Now why weight lifting is important in your weight loss? Weight lifting is the corner stone of your program. You need to lift weight to tone your muscles and maybe add 1 or 2 pound of muscles. The beauty of a weight lifting program is you burn calories during your workout and after the workout. With the weight lifting you will increase your Basal Metabolic Rate (BMR) and that’s mean you will burn more calories during the rest of the day. Even when you sleep. Yeah, even during your sleep. Your body need to work overtime when you have more muscles, even if it’s only 1 or 2 pounds. I don’t know a lot of people who will reject this proposition. Losing more calories when I sleep. But the extra 1 or 2 pound need to be lean muscles, make sure you don’t increase your body fat.

Does cardio do the same thing? No. Cardio burns calories during the workout, but when you stop your workout, that’s it, it’s over. However, if you do interval training, like I mention in my Express Fat Loss Program, you will still burn a few calories after your workout, but nothing like what you get from weight lifting.

Next time you are at the gym, take 30 minutes and start with your weight lifting and finish with 20 to 30 minutes cardio. This is the best way to burn the maximum of calories during your workout.  But don’t forget to perform a good 10 minutes of warm-up!

If you are not sure if you are doing the right exercises for your weight loss program, in my E-Book, The Ultimate Guide to Express Fat Loss, you will find different programs to help you with your weight lifting. I choose every exercise carefully to help you get maximum results. Every exercise has a picture and a description of how to perform the exercise correctly, so you can be sure you are getting maximum results!