Do you want to lose weight and build some muscles? Then it would be best to try weight lifting. Weight lifting is the perfect exercise for individuals who want to shed some body fat, lose some weight and get in shape. While there are existing training methods, including cardio for losing weight, experts agree that weight lifting is the ideal solution if you want to lose weight fast.
You cannot perform other exercises and leave out weight lifting and other strength training exercises, expecting to lose weight. It would be best to incorporate weight lifting in your workouts, and you will be amazed by the results. Here are some benefits of weightlifting.
It burns more body fat
Getting fat results from the body accumulating excess fats in specific areas, including the abdomen, shoulders, thighs, and chest. When you don’t exercise, the continuous accumulation of these body fats changes your body structure, making you appear fat. When you want to lose this body fat, the only sure way is to lift weights.
When it comes to weight lifting, the process involves more than lifting weights in the gym. For example, creating a weight vest can help make your exercises more effective such as when doing pushups and planks. The added weight helps to burn more body fat, enabling you to lose more weight.
It helps you lose belly fat
It is the belly that accumulates more body fats. Once you know how to get rid of belly fat, it will be easier for you to go through your weight loss journey. While you can’t work on one body part to help you reduce weight, studies have revealed that individuals who lift weights reduce more abdominal fats than those doing only cardio.
Besides making you shed abdominal fat and lose more weight, weight lifting will also help reduce metabolic syndrome, diabetes, and stomach cancers. It will also help you strengthen your stomach muscles, leading to a flat stomach. Next time you see a tummy protruding, it is time to start lifting weights.
It helps burn more calories than cardio
There are those individuals who prefer doing cardio, other than weight lifting. While cardio also helps to reduce body weight, weight lifting gives out better results within a short period. It only requires you to sit down, lift weights and burn body fat. While you may burn more calories in cardio than weight lifting in an hour, the weight lifting exercises prolong the metabolic activities, making you continue burning fat even when resting.
How does this happen? Weight loss mainly depends on the metabolic rate. The more muscles you create, the more energy is required to maintain them. Weight lifting builds muscles that will consume body fat during and after the exercises. When you use your muscles in everyday duties such as walking, brushing teeth, and push and pull activities, you end up burning more calories.
It helps increase flexibility
When you are flexible, you can handle many activities and exercises that will help you reduce more bodyweight. Weight lifting is one great way of helping you become more flexible. A full range resistance training exercise works to increase your flexibility, just like the static stretching exercises.
However, to achieve this, your resistance training exercises must be full range. The full range activity will help widen the muscles and tissues, increasing your flexibility. Suppose your strength training exercises cannot complete a full motion. In that case, it is advisable to incorporate dumbbells to make your body more flexible.
Initiates the “after-burn” effect
Do you know that you can continue losing weight even after you exercise? Weight training helps to initiate this. When you lift weights, your muscles will require more energy when resting. The energy will come from the fats and carbohydrates, which get broken down with oxygen. When exercising, we breathe faster, making our heart pump more oxygen, carbohydrates, and fats into the muscles.
After exercising, oxygen intake is always elevated to break down the fat and carbohydrates to restore the broken muscles. This process is known as the after-burn effect, making one burn fat even after they have stopped exercising. The burning of fat and carbohydrates by muscles makes you continue losing weight even when out of the gym.
You have now understood how weight lifting is important if you want to lose weight and build your muscles. However, not all weight lifting exercises are effective in losing weight. It is important to choose the best and have the right equipment to increase your metabolism, burn fat faster, and lose weight.