Have you ever tried strength training for weight loss?

[Speeddemon]

One of my personal favorite exercises is strength training. It does actually help with weight loss because using your muscles is a great way to burn fat and calories. Not only that, strengthening your muscles is really good for your body, anyway. I recommend doing it at least two to three times a week along with other exercises.

I'm curious if the rest of you have tried it.

[KittyKatt]

I've tried it and it definitely works. It's not as fast as if you do cardio, but if you mix it with cardio you probably get the best results that can be gotten. My physical trainer told me that the reason is that while cardio does work out the whole body and burns the most amount of calories, when you strength train, you build muscle. Muscle is a massive calorie burner, so that means that the more of it you have, the more you're burning while your'e NOT exercising. So cardio is good while you're exercising and strength training takes care of the time that you're sitting around and you should be exercising but you're not haha.

[KenTraver]

Strength training is fine once you've already lost the weight and you want to get sculpted, but it really isn't great for burning fat. Cardio is the way to go for weight loss

[brightstar]

It does work. It helps to see an additional form of progress, too. I like knowing that I'm not just losing fat but I'm building bicep!

[Janet]

I haven't tried it, but I am interested in learning more about it. I have to admit, the idea of lifting weights turns me off a little bit, but I know it's more to it than that. I know it's not about body building or anything. I just never realized it might be good for weight loss. Thanks for the heads up.

[Freddy]

I personally like strength training. I use it in combination with cardio workouts. I find that by strengthening my muscles I make my body stronger and my endurance is better, which actually helps me out when I do other types of exercises. That said, as with any kind of workout or exercise, for anyone who hasn't tried strength training yet, start slow and work your way up. Don't try to push your muscles to hard or you'll be in more discomfort than you can handle and could injure yourself, which is not only bad for your health but also discouraging when it comes to sticking to your weight loss goals. Take it slow and don't hope for miracles.

[enviroTodd]

Building strength through natural and regular activity is one of the best ways that you can worship each cell within your form and make sure that they provide you with the best possible levels of health in return. The energy will flow much more freely and efficiently through a reasonably muscled body than one that is softened from inactivity.

[TroyBurger]

Strength training is great. It does help with weight loss. Definitely not as much as a good cardio workout, but it the stronger your body, the more exercise you'll be able to do.

[M-Stark334]

It does work, but I will admit that it's not my favourite form of exercise. Some people struggle with walking everyday, I'm just not a fan of weights. I don't know why I can't quite keep up a routine with strength training. I suppose it's my Achilles heel.

[Firefly77]

Is strength training like weight lifting? I see the benefits to making your body stronger in terms of health, but does this type of exercise really help you to lose weight?

[Speeddemon]

Yes. Weight lifting is a part of strength training. The purpose to strength training is to strengthen the musculoskeletal system by engaging in exercises that involve applying a certain degree of resistance to the body while making certain movements. This resistance is increased as your body becomes stronger. The resistance is created using a weight of some kind. This could be an object such as a barbell or dumbell, but there are also exercises that use your body weight as the form of resistance. For instance, push-ups are a type of strength training.

Strength training helps you to lose weight in various ways. When you work out with weights, your lean muscle tissue increases, and the more lean muscle tissue you have the bigger the boost your resting metabolism receives. When you engage in a strength training program that has been really well designed, you can really increase your metabolism to the point that you are still burning off calories well after your workout is finished.

​Finally, for those of you who are only pro-cardio and aren't interested in strength training keep in mind that while you may burn calories and lose fat, you also lose muscle. Strength training helps to make your soft and saggy body firmer.

[Bruce]

strength training should be done 2 days per week and cardio should be done at least 3 days per week. That helps you build strength and muscle (metabolism boosting) while the rest of the time you burn fat.

[enviroTodd]

strength training should be done 2 days per week and cardio should be done at least 3 days per week. That helps you build strength and muscle (metabolism boosting) while the rest of the time you burn fat.

It sounds like that is a good balance for you. It is, however, up to other people to find their own balance. That might not work ideally for everyone.

[Firefly77]

Thanks for explaining that Speeddemon. I've been doing a few strength training exercises without realizing it apparently, lol.

[Speeddemon]

Firefly77 - no sweat

enviroTodd - I couldn't agree more with you...weird.