Will strength training get the weight off me?
Q: I do 30 minutes of cardio on the treadmill and thought maybe strength training could help burn some calories. Or should I just keep using the treadmill only?(I’m watching my diet too) Appreciate the help!
A: Cardio is NOT the best way to burn calories. The fastest way to burn calories and lose weight is to build muscle. Each pound of lean muscle burns about 40-50 calories per day at a resting metabolic rate. 10 lbs of muscle will burn 400-500 calories. 20 lbs of muscle will burn 800-1000 calories. The fat will melt off and you’ll end up with a lean body.
To build muscle you want to do high intensity resistance training. High intensity does not mean spending hours in a gym getting an intense workout and it doesn’t mean working out really hard so the sweat’s dripping down your face. It means doing roughly 8-10 reps with a level of resistance that challenges you enough so that it takes a significant amount of effort to complete that last rep. Then rest for about 30 seconds and move to the next muscle group. Workout out every major muscle group like this 3x times a week like Mon, Wed, Fri and then rest two days. You do not have to spend hours in a gym to effectively build muscle and you don’t even need weights.
I highly recommend Bodylastics resistance bands. They are considerably cheaper than weights, not to mention portable. If you get the kind with the clips on the end, you can easily customize the resistance level as your body adapts. That will prevent you from plateauing and will keep your muscles challenged.
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In a word, yes, weight training will help you reduce your body fat, which is ultimately what I imagine you are referring to as opposed to weight. While it is true that you burn some good calories while your running and doing cardio, and even during a strength training routine. The added benefit you get from strength training is it builds muscle, the more muscle you have the more calories you burn while at rest as it increases your metabolic rate. The average 150lb woman burns somewhere on the order of 1650 calories per day just surviving, compare that with the approximately 200 you burn for 30 minutes on the treadmill. If you can alter your muscle mass you can increase that 1650 upwards of 2000, that is much more affective and requires less effort then the extra hour you would need to run on the treadmill to make that up.