Does lifting weights burn fat?

Weightlifting is the exercise that if you’re not already doing, you should be. Though weight rooms can feel intimidating, everyone deserves to reap the benefits of personaltrainerchico.com picking up and putting down iron. It’s the type of workout that can help you lose weight, boost your mood and generally improve your life — and it’s easy to get started even at home.

You may have heard the common myth that lifting weights makes you “bulk up.” It doesn’t — in fact, it can actually help you lose weight and slim down. Beyond the purely physical, lifting weights can improve your bone health and increase your metabolism, just to name a couple of benefits.

For those curious about weightlifting who want to hear more, I rounded up some of the most common questions about lifting weights that I hear as a personal trainer and CrossFit coach. By the end of this guide, I hope you’re ready to pick up some dumbbells (or a couple of wine bottles) and start building muscle.

Does lifting weights help you lose weight?

Any form of exercise can help you lose weight, weightlifting included — as long as you burn more calories than you consume each day, you’ll remain in a calorie deficit and lose weight.

Lifting weights has a unique weight loss advantage that makes it superior to other forms of exercise for weight loss: When you lift weights, you build muscle and lose fat. Muscle tissue is more metabolically active than fat tissue, so over time, as you build more muscle, your body will burn more calories at rest than it did before you built that muscle.

This results in a greater resting metabolic rate (your metabolism when you’re just sitting or sleeping) and more calories burned each day. It’s not an incredibly significant difference, despite long-standing myths, but it does help.

Just know that lifting weights isn’t a magic ticket to weight loss: You must sustain a calorie deficit over time, so if you’re lifting every day but still eating more calories than you burn, you won’t see the progress you want.

Should you lift weights or do cardio first?

This really depends on your goals. In simplest terms, lift weights first if your primary goal is to build muscle or get stronger. Do cardio first if your primary goal is to build speed or endurance.

In reality, the question of “Weights or cardio first?” requires individualized answers, but you can’t go wrong with a balanced approach that includes both weights and cardio throughout the week. You don’t have to do both at every gym session.

Is it better to lift light weights or heavy weights?

This, too, depends on your goals. One really isn’t better than the other unless you’re aiming for a very specific goal. For example, if I wanted to compete in a powerlifting competition, where the barbell back squat is one of the main events, I would lift heavy most of the time.

If I wanted to run a marathon, I would lift light weight for a lot of reps to get my heart rate up and train my legs to handle stress for longer periods of time. If you don’t have a specific goal in mind, you can benefit from lifting both heavy and light weights.

How many reps should you do when lifting weights?

Oh look, another question the answer to which depends on your goals. Catching a theme? The answer to “how many reps should I lift?” coincides with your answer to “Is it better to lift light or heavy weights?” because of one simple reason — if you’re lifting light weights, you should be doing more reps.

Endurance-based goals like improving your running capacity require more reps at lower weights, while strength-based goals like maxing out your deadlift require fewer reps at higher weights. Goals with both endurance and strength components — like running an obstacle course race — require both types of training.