Reps on Reps
“But using heavy weights builds up your muscle tissue, giving you shape and the lean, strong look you're after. That means working as low as two- to three-rep sets and lifting 80 to 90 percent of your one-rep max on your final sets of your major exercises.”
To support weight loss while lifting weights, focus on a balanced diet rich in lean protein, healthy fats, and complex carbohydrates. Incorporate foods like chicken, fish, vegetables, fruits, nuts, and whole grains. Stay hydrated and consider timing your meals around your workout sessions for optimal performance.
Weight lifting can be a beneficial component of a weight loss plan. It helps build lean muscle, which can increase your resting metabolic rate, allowing you to burn more calories throughout the day. Additionally, muscle takes up less space than fat, so as you build muscle, you may become leaner and more toned.
To get lean and muscular, it's important to focus on both building muscle and losing fat. This can be achieved through a combination of strength training and cardiovascular exercise, as well as following a balanced diet that is rich in protein, complex carbohydrates, and healthy fats.
You don't need to spend hours a day lifting weights to benefit from strength training. You can see significant improvement in your strength with just two or three 20- or 30-minute strength training sessions a week.
The key to losing belly fat is incorporating the right activity type, and strength training is one of the best ways to do it. When you lift weights, especially focusing on compound movements like Squats, Deadlifts, and Presses, you're engaging multiple muscle groups and boosting your metabolism.
Keep in mind that because you are a strength training athlete, you will need more calories than a typical sedentary person of your size. Some studies have estimated that elite strength athletes require approximately 43 calories per kilogram of body weight per day to maintain weight.
Activities like running, cycling, and high-intensity interval training (HIIT) burn more calories and fat throughout the body, including the upper belly, lower belly, and obliques. So, while ab exercises can help define your core, it's a holistic approach that will help you lose the fat covering those muscles.
How Often Should You Actually Do Strength Training? As mentioned, it's best to lift weights at least two to three days a week, with four to five days being your max if you're rotating muscle groups. That said, strength training comes in different forms, and you don't necessarily have to use heavy weights.
If you are looking to increase your muscular endurance you should be lifting lighter weights for more reps (12+) (Baechle & Earle, 2019). If you are looking to lose fat, then you are looking to lift light to mid weight for higher reps (10-15) (Tuminello, 2014).
Mostly, losing weight is an internal process. You will first lose hard fat that surrounds your organs like liver, kidneys and then you will start to lose soft fat like waistline and thigh fat. The fat loss from around the organs makes you leaner and stronger.
This six-week program is a little complex. The first 2 weeks focus on two different types of meals: fatty meals and carb-heavy meals. The second 2 are non-food related like checking weight weekly and not daily and introspective journaling. The third 2 is for bodyweight exercise or high intensity interval workouts.
These beverages include honey-infused lemon water, jeera water, buttermilk or chaas, cinnamon tea, and green tea. When paired with a balanced diet and regular exercise, they can accelerate weight loss effectively.
Evidence shows that lifting weights burns more fat and has more promising long-term results. However, the type of exercise that is better for a person ultimately depends on that person's goals, physical fitness, and capabilities. Most experts recommend a combination of the two for overall health and fitness.
The Science of Fat Loss
Think of it like a balloon losing air—it deflates, but doesn't disappear immediately. Over time, your body adjusts, but the jiggly feeling can be a temporary step along the way.
Depending on one's schedule, needs and desires, exercise scientists suggest devoting 20 minutes twice a week to strength training, or perhaps 10 to 15 minutes three times a week.