Weight Loss From Weight Training

Traditionally, people do weight training to build bigger muscles and get stronger, not for weight loss. However, weight training should be part of any weight loss program because it will not only help you increase your fat-burning potential, but also strengthen bones, joints and muscles, and increase muscle definition. According to Juan Carlos Santana, director of the Institute of Human Performance in Boca Raton, Florida, weight training can contribute at least 60 percent more calories burned than aerobic exercise alone.

Fat Metabolism

During exercise, fat stored in muscle and adipose tissues is broken down into fatty acids and glycerol, which are the basic components of fat. Then those parts are released into the bloodstream and are brought to the muscle cells where the fatty acids are transported into the cell's mitochondria to make adenosine triphosphate, a high-energy compound that all cells use for energy. In the mitochondria, which is where cells generate energy, fats are broken down into its basic carbon and hydrogen components, which releases a lot of energy. Oxygen is combined with the carbon atoms to form carbon dioxide and hydrogen atoms to form water. These products are removed from the body through respiration and sweating.

Effects

With enough stimulus, weight training causes your muscles to increase in size by increasing the number of contractile proteins, which are actin and myosin. You also increase how many motor units are recruited for muscle activation, which are neurons inside nerve fibers that connect from your spinal cord to your muscle fibers. The more motor units you have, the stronger and more coordinated you become.
More muscles increase your metabolism and add some natural protection for your body against blunt trauma and shock. The weight that you gain more weight training is from lean tissue and water weight as muscles are made up of 75 percent water.

EPOC

High-intensity, anaerobic-dominant exercises use carbohydrates as a primary fuel source, according to Vern Gambetta, director of Gambetta Sports Training Systems. The flushed or winded feeling that you get after a workout, also known as excess post-oxygen consumption, EPOC, uses fat as a major fuel source. This is a state in which you are increasing your oxygen intake after heavy exercise to balance the body's lack-of-oxygen state. Also, your calorie expenditure after training is much higher than during exercise. When your body recovers, it is getting back to its resting state by decreasing temperature, replenishing nutrients and energy in muscles, and repairing tissue damage. All of these activities require energy, and fat provides that source. Therefore, the more muscles you have, the EPOC rate increases.

Misconceptions

Most women fear that weight training would make them appear bulky and bigger, however, this most likely would not happen because women lack enough testosterone to produce muscle mass like men.
Do not use weight as a gauge of progress in your weight loss goals. Weight training will increase your weight to some degrees, but that weight comes from water, increased bone density, and lean tissues. For example, in a three-month training course, you might gain 5 lbs. of lean mass, but lose 10 pounds of fat, resulting in a net five pound loss. If you want to gauge your progress, do a body fat test that helps you determine if your weight loss is from fat, water or lean tissues.

Expert Insight

One common way to do weight training that helps you increase your fat-burning potential is circuit training, where you do a series of exercises that trains a different movement pattern without rest between exercises. For example, you can do a series of six exercises for 10 to 12 reps, such as squats, multi-planar lunges, push-ups, pull-ups, kettlebell swings and jump roping. When you have done one circuit, rest for about one to two minutes, and repeat the circuit two to three more times.
When you do weight training, avoid using isolated techniques, such as weight training machines that works on one body part in one plane of motion. Training your body with multiple body parts and using your own body for support help you burn more calories, get stronger, minimize back and hips pain and stiffness, and make your workouts more fun.