Have you ever considered that there might be a more effective way to shed those extra pounds than just cardio? Many immediately think of cardio exercises like running, cycling, or swimming when achieving weight loss goals.
While cardiovascular workouts are undoubtedly effective, they aren't the only tool in the weight loss arsenal. Resistance training, often overlooked, can play a significant role in your weight loss journey. In this blog post, we'll explore the world of resistance training and its impact on weight loss.
What is Resistance Training?
Resistance training, also known as strength training or weight training, involves exercises that make your muscles work against resistance. This resistance can come from various sources, such as dumbbells, barbells, resistance bands, or your body weight. The primary goal of resistance training is to increase muscle strength and endurance.
Does Resistance Training Help with Weight Loss?
Yes, resistance training can be a valuable component of a weight loss regimen. While cardio exercises primarily burn calories during the activity, resistance training has several unique benefits for weight loss:
- Increased Resting Metabolic Rate (RMR): As you build lean muscle through resistance training, your RMR increases. Muscle tissue burns more calories at rest than fat tissue, so having more muscle means burning more calories even when not exercising.
- Fat Loss: Resistance training can lead to fat loss while preserving or even increasing muscle mass. This can help you achieve a leaner, more toned appearance.
- Improved Insulin Sensitivity: Resistance training can enhance your body's ability to use insulin effectively, which can help regulate blood sugar levels and reduce fat storage.
- Enhanced Calorie Burn: While cardio workouts primarily burn calories during exercise, resistance training can continue to burn calories for hours after your workout as your body repairs and rebuilds muscle tissue.
Why is Resistance Training Essential for Weight Loss?
Incorporating resistance training into your weight loss plan offers several key benefits:
- Preventing Muscle Loss: When you lose weight, you want to lose fat, not muscle. Resistance training helps preserve and build lean muscle mass, ensuring you lose fat while maintaining a healthy metabolism.
- Breaking Plateaus: If you've hit a weight loss plateau with your current routine, adding resistance training can jumpstart your progress by challenging your muscles in new ways.
- Body Composition: Weight loss isn't just about the number on the scale; it's also about achieving a healthier body composition. Resistance training helps you lose fat and build a more toned physique.
How Much Resistance Training for Weight Loss?
The American College of Sports Medicine recommends incorporating resistance training exercises for all major muscle groups at least two days per week. Aim for 2-3 sets of 8-12 repetitions for each exercise. As you progress, you can increase the resistance or the number of sets to continue challenging your muscles (R).
Is Resistance Band Training Good for Weight Loss?
Yes, resistance band training can be an effective way to incorporate resistance exercises into your weight loss routine. Resistance bands are versatile, portable, and suitable for people of all fitness levels. They can be used for various exercises to target different muscle groups and help you build strength and burn calories.
What Research Tells Us About Resistance Training for Weight Loss
- Resistance Training and Lean Mass Preservation: During weight loss, resistance training at moderate-to-high intensity is advised to preserve lean mass (R).
- Effects on Overweight Individuals: Resistance training can be more effective than other training types in reducing weight and improving body composition in overweight individuals (R).
- Comparison with Other Exercise Forms: Resistance training, aerobic training, and high-intensity interval training (HIIT) all benefit body composition, with no significant difference in weight and fat loss as long as energy expenditure is equal (R).
- Training Frequency and Body Composition: Higher weekly training frequency (three times a week) in resistance training shows greater benefits for weight loss and improvement in cardiometabolic risk factors compared to training only once a week (R).
- Post-Bariatric Surgery and Exercise: After bariatric surgery, resistance training did not significantly affect muscle strength, but regular physical activity was associated with better weight maintenance (R).
- Overall Benefits of Physical Activity in Obesity: Exercise, including resistance training, contributes to weight loss, fat loss, and possibly weight maintenance, improving metabolic fitness in obesity (R).
In conclusion, resistance training is a valuable component of weight loss strategies, particularly for preserving lean mass and improving body composition.
Resistance vs Strength Training for Weight Loss
While resistance and strength training share some similarities, they have distinct purposes. Strength training focuses on maximising your ability to lift heavy weights, often with fewer repetitions.
In contrast, resistance training involves using resistance to challenge your muscles, typically with more repetitions. Both can contribute to weight loss, but resistance training may offer a more balanced approach for those seeking fat loss and muscle maintenance.
What Resistance Training Does Bryan Johnson Do?
The affluent software entrepreneur residing in Venice, California, is 45 years old and dedicates $2 million annually to reversing the aging process. So we think if he has a routine, it’s worth taking notes; exercise is a crucial part of his longevity routine.
Bryan’s framework for resistance training integrates both traditional weightlifting and modern functional movements. His routine comprises compound exercises like squats, deadlifts, and bench presses, all vital for core strength and stability.
Moreover, he strategically integrates isolation exercises to target and stimulate muscle hypertrophy in weaker areas, ensuring balanced muscular development and postural alignment.
To augment the efficacy of his training, Bryan also harnesses the principles of progressive overload, a method of continually increasing the weights or the resistance level to challenge his muscles further.
This approach is complemented by periodic variation in his exercise selection and rep schemes, helping stave off plateaus and maximise muscular adaptation. Thus, his regimen is not static but dynamic, continually evolving in accordance with his body's responses and the latest advances in exercise science.
Conclusion
Resistance training is a valuable tool in your weight loss journey. It helps you burn calories, build lean muscle, improve metabolism, and achieve a healthier body composition.
Incorporating resistance training into your fitness routine can enhance your weight loss efforts and move you closer to your fitness goals. So, remember to add some resistance exercises to your workout regimen for a well-rounded approach to weight loss.
