Strength training is a powerful tool for fat loss. By focusing on building muscle, increasing metabolism, and enhancing overall body composition, strength training is an essential component of a well-rounded fat loss strategy. Using equipment like dumbbells, barbells, weight plates, resistance bands, or kettle-bells, strength training involves moving your body against resistance.
Lean mass, which consists of your bones, muscles, and organs, makes up the majority of your body weight. A subcategory of weight loss is fat loss. Maintaining lean mass is the aim of weight loss, which can include shedding some muscle mass, water weight, and body fat. That’s why your body weight cannot always drop if you gain muscle but lose fat. Nevertheless, managing weight is one benefit of gaining muscle. Your body burns calories more easily when you have more muscles.
Why Does Fat Loss Require Strength Training?
One of the most popular justifications for exercising is weight loss. If losing weight is your main objective, you should shed fat exclusively, not merely weight. The objective of “weight loss” does not differentiate between the kinds of tissues that are lost. Losing weight can involve losing muscle as well as fat. Dietary adjustments are essential for fat loss, although weight loss also occurs when activity is excluded. Only dieting can cause weight loss, with lean tissue accounting for 20–30% of the loss, mostly muscle. Lean tissue loss may even account for more than 35% of weight reduction in certain circumstances.
Strength training provides metabolic and hormonal benefits that extend well beyond the workout itself. By increasing muscle mass, boosting metabolism, and enhancing fat-burning processes, strength training not only leads to more sustainable fat loss but also reshapes the body.
Increased muscle mass-Muscle tissue burns more calories at rest than fat tissue because it has a higher metabolic activity. Strength training raises your resting metabolic rate, which enables you to burn more calories throughout the day even when you’re not exercising.
Afterburn Effect (EPOC)- The “afterburn” effect, also known as excess post-exercise oxygen consumption (EPOC), is brought on by strength training. This implies that even after your workout, your body continues to burn calories while it rebuilds damaged muscles and replenishes energy. The duration of the afterburn increases with the intensity of the workout.
Improved Body Composition -Strength training modifies your body composition by growing lean muscle mass and decreasing fat, whereas cardio burns calories largely during exercise. Even if the number doesn’t vary much on the scale, this can result in a more defined and toned appearance.
Functional Strength and Daily Activity -Functional strength increases with strength training, which facilitates daily chores. A higher level of physical activity overall results from this, which raises daily calorie expenditure.
Hormonal benefits-Growth hormone and testosterone, two hormones linked to fat burning, are released more frequently after strength training. These hormones are essential for the development of muscle, the metabolism of fat, and proper energy balance.
Lowers the risk of metabolic disorders-The risk of metabolic syndrome, which is defined by several variables such as a big waist circumference (indicating too much belly fat), high blood pressure, high cholesterol, and high blood sugar, may be lowered by building muscle through strength training.
Develop strong bones-Strength training activates osteoblasts, which deposit calcium into bones, increasing bone density and making them stronger over time which prevents the risk of osteoporosis.
BOTTOM LINE
Incorporating strength training into your exercise routine has numerous benefits. Strength training is a key component to reduce body fat, increase lean muscle mass and burn calories more efficiently. Even if it doesn’t register on the scale, strength exercise can help you reduce your body fat percentage when combined with a nutritious, diversified diet. It also improves mobility, strength, posture and keep you away from diseases.