5 Tips to Lose Weight with Resistance Training

October 2, 2012 | Filed under: Health | Posted by: kcooper

Resistance training offers you an intense, calorie-burning tool with which can help you burn off excess fat. Training with free weights saves you time, improves your health and can help boost your mood. Focus on using free weights to receive a comprehensive full body workout.

When you think of losing weight, you may think of butt-busting cardio; it is definitely part of the equation, but strength training is just as vital or perhaps more so. You see, your body burns calories all day long to support it and its numerous functions, such as respiration and pumping blood throughout your body.

An important key in weight loss is raising your resting metabolic rate, or RMR, and building muscle mass is one of the most powerful ways to do this. Muscle tissue is much more active than fat and the more muscle mass you have, the more calories your body will burn simply to support this tissue. This means that you will burn more calories 24/7, no matter what you are doing, even just sitting on the couch.

You can burn more fat in less time with short, intense exercise sessions—this type of activity creates a surge in metabolism that lasts long after you have stopped exercising. Forget about spending endless hours in the gym, socializing and going through the motions. Focus on your exercise sessions and nothing else to lose weight playing the iron game. Supercharge your fat burning campaign by adding a diet component to your weight loss regimen.

The American College of Sports Medicine recommends that you should engage in strength training at least twice a week. Perform at least 8 to 10 exercises for each major muscle group with a minimum of one set of 8 to 10 repetitions. Make sure to warm up for 10 minutes and stretch for 5 minutes before each exercise session to prepare your muscles for workouts and reduce the risk of injury. Consult a physician before starting an exercise program. Here are 5 tips to utilize resistance training for weight loss.

Use Light Weights

Training with heavy weights places greater stress on your muscle fibers, promoting weight gain. Perform a high number of repetitions with light weights weights to burn more calories and shed body fat. Do four sets of 15 repetitions to increase your metabolism and tone up your physique.

Perform Compound Movements

Do compound exercises like squats, dead lifts and bench presses to shed fat. Compound movements recruit multiple muscle groups, providing you with a comprehensive fat-burning workout. Perform compound movements twice each week to avoid overtraining and optimize your weight loss campaign. Pay strict attention to exercise form. Reduce the risk of injury and burn more calories, promoting your weight loss.

Rest 40 Seconds Between Sets

Take short rests between sets to ramp up the intensity of your resistance training workouts. Minimizing the time spent resting between sets enhances the cardiovascular component of your workouts, putting your metabolism and calorie-burring campaign into hyper drive. Use a stop watch to ensure that your resting periods are kept to a minimum. If 40 second break periods leave you gasping for air rest for no longer than one minute between sets.

Engage in Short Intense Workout Sessions

No resistance training session should exceed one hour. Concentrate on the goal of burning calories and shedding fat by increasing the intensity of your workouts. Marathon training sessions reduce the effectiveness of your fat burning sessions and can lead to overtraining and injury. Focus on completing your sessions within 45 minutes to one hour to increase your metabolism and lose weight with greater ease.

Train with a Partner

Working out with a training partner can inspire you to boost your energy during resistance training sessions. Pushing out the last few repetitions becomes easier if your training partner spurs you on. These last few reps help you burn more calories and shed more fat. Training with a partner can also reduce the risk of injury. Spending time out of the weight room can seriously hamper your weight loss efforts.

Remain persistent. Set a goal to shed one pound of fat each week to promote slow, steady weight loss.

Kelli Cooper is a freelance writer who specializes in health and wellness content. If you are in need of exercise equipment for your weight loss needs, check out a coupon to train your abs with the Flex Belt or a coupon for trx training system. Kelli is a frequent contributor to Make the List as well as other sites that cover various aspects of health such as exercises for weight loss and how to burn fat. In her free time, she enjoys reading and just relaxing; she is also an avid traveler.

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Posted by kcooper on October 2, 2012. Filed under Health. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry