Fat-Burning Weight Lifting Workouts
It has long been thought that if you want to lose fat you need to load up on cardio, while weight training is what you wait to do to build muscle after you’ve lost the fat. This couldn’t be further from the truth. Weight training has many calorie-burning advantages and an effective workout will help you burn fat and lose weight, so grab your GRIPAD gym gloves and get ready to lift!
Workout #1: Hit it Heavy
Muscle tissue grows when pressure is applied to it, and doing lots of reps of light weights won’t do the trick. Your muscles won’t grow unless you apply stress to them, even if you eat a clean, reduced-calorie diet. Lower rep/heavy weight workouts also burn more calories because they require greater exertion.
Challenge yourself to use heavier weights and complete more reps. Effective exercises to try include; decline bench presses, dumbbell flyers, lat pull-downs, dumbbell presses, plate twists and hanging knee raises. Just be sure to slowly condition your body to higher weights to avoid strain and injury.
Workout #2: Speed Up with Moderate Weights
Lifting moderate weights for more reps can lead to fat loss because slow-twitch muscle fibers are used during high reps. These fibers store less glycogen and therefore deplete less glycogen from the body during the workout. This keeps your metabolism high and your muscles full.
To burn more fat, use moderate weights and more reps with exercises like hyperextensions, flat bench presses, cable cross overs, dumbbell lateral raises and hammer curls.
Workout #3: Circuit Training
Create a hybrid workout that combines aerobic (cardio) with anaerobic (lifting) exercises. This is where you can use lighter weights and higher reps. Try jumping on a cardio machine for ten minutes, then doing sets on weight machines. This type of exercise works both slow-twitch and fast-twitch muscles, leading to fat and weight loss.
