The Importance of Weight Training for Weight Loss

A lot of people don’t look to weight training for weight loss, but the simple truth is that it is just as important as cardiovascular training. When your goal is to lose weight the first thing you want to do is create a caloric deficit-this simply means that you burn up more calories than you take in-simple right?

So how do we create this caloric deficit?

The three ways you can do it:

1. Adjust our food intake
2. Burn a lump sum of calories through cardio training (running, biking etc.)
3. Increase our metabolism

Number three is what we are concerned with right now. The best way to raise your metabolism is to build and develop our muscles-through strength training. The more developed our muscles are, the more calories we burn, not just while we are exercising but more importantly while we are at rest.

That’s right, when your muscles are strong and toned they continue to burn calories while you sit at the computer, while cooking dinner and even while you are sleeping. Strength training can raise your metabolism from a few hours to a couple days(depending on the person and the intensity of the workout)

So remember, cardio is not the only way to lose weight, you should include a sound strength training program with it.