Cardio workouts always seem to be the go-to form of fitness for those trying to lose weight. Whether getting outdoors or heading to the gym, working out is spent doing things like walking, jogging, water aerobics, and cycling rather than having anything to do with weights. This is all done with the idea that once the weight is lost, then it is time to start strength training to tone your muscles.
Unfortunately, this is a misconception. Your body craves both cardio and strength training now – not after you lose the weight. And it can even help you progress faster in your weight loss journey.
Let’s talk about why strength training is so important for shedding those unwanted pounds.
Preserve Your Muscle
When you are trying to lose weight, eating at a calorie deficit has proven to be a highly successful way to do so. This means eating fewer calories than you are burning. As a result, your body has to fuel itself with its reserves – preferably fat.
Except fat isn’t the only thing it burns. When your body is searching for fuel, it will burn muscle, too.
Exercising can help keep muscles strong and encourage your body to pull from its fat reserves – which is why you burn more fat when you include working out with healthy eating. But when you add strength training, you are keeping your muscles strong, healthy, and growing so that fat remains the main target.
Muscles Burn More Calories
When you engage in strength training, you are building muscle. These muscles, in turn, allow you to burn more fat. The greater amount of muscle you build, the more fat it will burn in your general, everyday activities.
It is worth pointing out that after a strength training workout, your muscles will continue to burn calories over the next 24 hours or so while in recovery mode. Cardio, on the other hand, only burns calories while you are exercising.
Strength Training Increases Mobility
When you feel stronger and feel as though you can do more with less effort, then you tend to do more. As a result, you are more active and more mobile, which means you can burn more fat while putting in very little work throughout your day.
In all, you will feel yourself moving more because you just feel better – and that brings on many rewards on its own.
Give Your Resting Metabolic Rate a Boost
Your body can still burn calories while you are at rest – as long as you increase your resting metabolic rate (RMR). This rate tells us the rate at which calories are burned while at rest. To increase it, you need muscles. The more you work them through strength training, the higher your RMR.
When it comes down to it, there are three factors that play a huge role in your weight loss – and they include the food you eat, the activity you engage in, and your RMR.
Learn Proper Strength Training Techniques
In order to reap these benefits of strength training for weight loss – and more – you have to make sure you know what you are doing. Learning proper techniques and effective exercises will yield the greatest results.
Learn more through the help of personal training from Jagged Fitness. We will develop a program that is designed just for you and guide you through it every step of the way.
To learn more, contact us today at 732-859-2760.