Many people, especially women, tend to ignore weight-lifting as part of their workout. Although weight-training does not use fat as the primary source of fuel, it helps your body to increase its fat-burning potential by increasing muscle mass. You can use any weight-lifting method and tools, such as a cable column machine, kettlebells, and your own body weight.
Effects
Weight-lifting causes your skeletal muscles to grow in size to adapt to the exercise and stress. When you exercise, you cause microscopic tears in your muscle fibers. Your body uses protein in food to repair the tears and increase the number of contractile proteins and motor units in your muscles to increase strength and resistance against future tears. This also increases the number of mitochondria in your muscle cells. They are the fat-burning factories in your body.
Integration vs Isolation
Train your body with multiple body parts instead of training each individual muscle group. According to Rodney Corn, co-founder of PTA Global, doing full-body exercises burns more calories, improves function in sports and activities, and alleviates boredom from typical gym workouts.
An example of a full-body exercise would be a dumbbell squat press, where you hold two dumbbells over your shoulders with your arms close to the midline of your body. Squat as low as you can while keeping your spine upright. Exhale and stand back up, pressing the dumbbells over your head. Lower the weights and repeat the movement.
Types
There are many different types of weight-lifting strategies. The single-set method is ideal for beginners to learn the techniques and body movement. You do one set of exercise, rest for 15 to 20 seconds, and do another set.
The circuit training method is where you do several exercises without rest between sets. This helps develop muscular endurance and stamina.
Supersetting is doing two exercises that trains opposing movement patterns without rest between exercises. This allows one muscle group to rest while the other muscle group workouts. An example would be doing pull-ups and squats back-to-back.
Expert Insight
According to Ellen Coleman, a dietitian based in Riverside, California, eat a small meal consisting of lean protein and carbohydrates within 30 minutes after your workout. This restores your blood sugar levels and provides your body with protein to repair microscopic tears in your muscle fibers.
Misconceptions
Exercising on one body part, such as your abs, legs, or arms, does not reduce body fat from that particular area. The fat-burning process occurs in your entire body. Weight-training in an area actually increases the size of your muscles, causing that part to get bigger, rather than leaner.
References
- "Essence of Program Design"; Juan Carlos Santana; 2004
- "IDEA Fitness Journal"; Creative Total-body Exercises; Rodney Corn; February 2010
- "Ultimate Sports Nutrition"; Ellen Coleman; 2004
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