Is cardio the answer to losing weight?
Learn why also lifting weights will help you lose it.
One of the things a lot of my clients say is, “I don’t want to lift weights because I don’t want to get bulky”, or “I want to lose weight, so I need a good cardio plan”.
I work with a lot of clients that want to lose weight, but don’t know how to go about. I always encourage lifting weights to help them achieve this goal. However, many clients incorrectly assume that weight lifting is only good for bodybuilding. Not true!
Why lifting weights helps with fat loss.
For years, the standard of practice for achieving weight loss was cardio, cardio, and more cardio. It is true that cardio workouts can help you burn fat and calories, but effective strength training can burn just as much, if not more.
I have always believed in the mantra “Train smarter, not harder”. I have taken it to heart, and not only do I use it with my clients, but for my personal workouts as well.
Be sure to check out: Eating for Strength: the Do’s and Do Not’s
Strength programs utilizing high repetitions can elevate your metabolism after your workouts, allowing you to burn calories even after you are done working out! This is known as EPOC: Excess Post-Oxygen Consumption. Strength training utilizes this pathway, whereas cardio does not.
A weight loss regimen that focuses solely on cardio can achieve significant weight loss, but you will also lose important lean muscle mass.
The importance of lean muscle mass
My goal is to educate clients about fitness and nutrition so they can live a healthier lifestyle, and help them maintain that lifestyle for the rest of their lives. A key topic I educate clients on is the importance of lean muscle mass. It’s not all about the number on the scale!
Everyone has their own unique metabolic rate, which is the number of calories you burn in a day while doing absolutely nothing. Here is where the true value of lean muscle mass can be found. The more lean muscle mass you have, the higher your metabolic rate is, allowing you to burn more calories.
A strong weight loss program will achieve decreases in body inches and body fat percentage, and increases in lean muscle mass.
It’s important to have a balance between reducing body fat and building lean muscle mass. If not, you can be left with the same amount of body fat you started with, and more lean muscle mass giving you that, “bulky” look you didn’t want. The best way to make all of these things happen is to have a balanced strength training and cardio program, and a dedicated custom nutrition plan tailored to your needs.
Need help for a sustainable diet plan that supports you in your weight loss? You definitely need to check out everything that’s included in The Sustainable Sports Nutrition Academy!
Contact me any time to schedule a free 15-minute consultation, so we can discuss your particular situation and goals.