Weight training is anaerobic and therefore burns primarily
carbohydrates (sugar) during the workout. Cardiovascular
exercises such as jogging, cycling, step classes, or stairclimbing
are aerobic and therefore burn primarily fat during the
workout. So it seems logical to focus on aerobic training
for fat loss. What you're missing if you skip the weight
training is the benefits that accrue after the workouts. Something interesting happens "beneath the surface"
when you lift weights. Intense, progressive weight training
increases your lean body mass - aerobic training does not.
Excessive aerobics combined with low calorie dieting or
aerobic training without weight lifting can even cause muscle
loss. If you lose lean body mass, your metabolism slows
down, and this makes it easier to gain fat and harder to
lose it. If you increase your lean body mass, you increase
your basal metabolic rate, and fat loss becomes easier.
Best of all, you increase metabolism and fat burning even
when you're not working out...
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Weight training provides an additional short term increase
in metabolic rate after the workout, called "excess
post exercise oxygen consuption" or EPOC for short.
It's a myth that "all exercise" keeps you burning
calories for hours after the workout. Only high intensity
exercise increases post workout energy expenditure substantially
and weight training has the greatest effect of all. (High
intensity cardio also has a high EPOC, but thats the subect
of another article). This explains why bodybuilders, who
train with weights religiously and have extremely high muscle
to fat ratios, can stay lean year round without doing much
aerobic work.
Losing body fat as quickly and efficiently as possible
requires a three-pronged approach: (1) balanced nutrition
from natural foods, (2) aerobic training, and (3) weight
training. All three ingredients are essential. If you neglect
any one of these components, it will compromise your results
because you lose the "synergy" created from this
combination.
In "The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People"
Author Steven Covey wrote, "Synergy means that 1 +
1 may equal 8, 16, or even 1600. Synergy is everywhere in
nature. If you plant two plants close together the roots
commingle and improve the quality of the soil so that both
plants will grow better than if they were separated. If
you put two pieces of wood together they will hold much
more than the total of the weight held by each separately.
The whole is greater than the sum of its parts."
When you include weights, cardio and balanced nutrition
in your fat loss regimen, the effects of the three parts
brought together are not linear, they are exponential. Each
part complements the others and multiplies your results.
You develop an efficient metabolism and a lean, muscular
body that could not be achieved with one or even two of
the components in isolation.
The best you can hope for from diet and aerobics alone
is to become a "skinny fat person." You may lose
weight from diet and aerobics, but much of it will be muscle,
your fat to muscle ratio will plummet and you will take
on a "soft" appearance. It's not uncommon for
a woman 5 feet 4 inches tall to weigh 125 pounds and yet
have 25-30% body fat. According to the Metropolitan Life
height and weight tables, 125 pounds is ideal for a medium-framed
5’ 4" female, but 25-30% body fat is extremely
poor for anyone! Without the weight training, you will never
optimize your muscle to fat ratio and you will always struggle
to keep fat off permanently.
If you have extremely limited time, and your main priority
is to lose fat, then you can keep your weight training brief
- maybe 30 minutes 3 days per week - and spend the rest
of your time concentrating on cardio. But never neglect
the weights completely - always do both, and if possible,
devote an equal amount of attention to each.
Last, but not least, don't forget that weight training,
not cardiovascular training, is "shapes" and sculpts
your muscles. Simply put, lifting weights makes you look
better! If you want a lean, hard, fat-free body, then get
out of the aerobics studio, get off that bike or treadmill,
and pick up some barbells and dumbbells! Lifting weights
isn't just for "muscle-heads" anymore.
>>
Click here for Tom's Burn the Fat Feed the Muscle program
About the Author
Tom Venuto is an NSCA-certified personal trainer, certified
strength and conditioning specialist, lifetime natural bodybuilder,
and author of the #1 best-selling e-book "Burn the
Fat, Feed The Muscle" (BFFM). Tom has written over
170 articles and has been featured in IRONMAN Magazine,
Natural Bodybuilding, Muscular Development, Muscle-Zine,
Olympian’s News (in Italian), Exercise for Men and
Men’s Exercise. For information on Tom's "Burn
The Fa Feed the Musclet" e-book, click
here.
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