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Best Exercise to Lose Weight? It's Not Necessary Cardio!

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Ask anyone at the gym what their goal is and 8 out of 10 are likely to respond “to lose weight”. That means plenty of cardio, right?

Well, cardio can have a role. We all know that the energy balance (taking in less energy (calories) that you use during the day) is key to losing weight and that exercise can play a part in that. Exercising uses calories and so it is a very useful tool in fat loss and weight management, although it is only half the story. Good nutrition is the other key factor and people can’t eat what they want and then expect to burn it all off in the gym.

Cardio certainly burns calories but what if we could burn even more calories? What if we could do this even after we've stopped exercising?

Weight training or resistance exercise (lifting heavy stuff) builds muscle and muscles use energy - not only to do their heavy lifting but when they grow and also just to be - muscle burns more calories at rest than fat does.  So our muscles will keep using up our energy stores long after we've stopped working out. And the more muscle we have, the more energy they will need!

So here are three things to bear in mind when you’re working out with weights if you are wanting to shed the pounds.

Up the Frequency

Muscles respond to repeated stimulus. If you’re wanting them to grow (and therefore burn calories) you need to prompt them into developing which is only going to happen if you get them to work at least three, ideally four times a week. This will increase your metabolism and help burn more energy. Having said that, more is not necessarily better. It is easy to over train and so you need to ensure you give your muscles and yourself adequate rest between workouts to allow the muscles to repair and rebuild. Therefore, don’t do resistance training more than four times a week (unless you’ve got a really well designed programme that ensures you don’t over do it) and don’t train more than two consecutive days in a row. When you do work two days back to back, focus on different muscle groups on each day.

Up the Weight

Most people do not lift at a level that is really going to see the gains they want. See if you can add more resistance so that the last two reps of each set are challenging. You want to ensure that you exercise safely and with good form, so don’t go mad, but do ensure you are challenging yourself. If you’ve been doing bodyweight exercises, see if you add some weight to them. If you’ve been using weights, see if you can add a bit more - even if it’s just for the first set. Also, make sure you record and track your progress.

Mix it Up

While it’s tempting just to focus on the areas you want to improve, you will gain so much more if you look at your body as a whole and aim to work all of it with a well designed programme. Within that programme you may give more emphasis to a body part or muscle group that is weaker or you want to re-balance, but make sure you don’t neglect any areas. If you just focused on your chest for example, you will become unbalanced which could lead to injury since the opposing muscles (in this case in the back) will lag behind the strength of those in the front. Also, bodies look best when they are all in proportion.

Although we all have areas of our body we want to change (who doesn’t want to get rid of those love handles or have a flatter stomach or banish those bingo wings) 'spot reduction' isn't a real thing - burning fat from one area by repeatedly exercising it will not work. Your body will use fat to fuel its energy needs by taking it from all over the body, and not just the areas that are working the most.
Also mix it up by changing your routine reasonably frequently - around every six weeks is a good guide. While some think your muscles stop developing if you stick with the same exercise (they don’t as long as you are challenging them) it is good to engage muscles with different exercises since they will develop in a more holistic way and engage more muscles that support the main on in the movements. It also means you don’t get bored and are able to maintain your focus and interest more.
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