With increases in calorie consumption, weightlifting is known to cause increases in body weight in men. If you lift weights regularly while limiting your calorie consumption, however, you can help facilitate weight loss. Men have the benefit of naturally possessing more muscle and having an easier time building muscle than women, which causes them to have a naturally higher metabolism. You can use this to your advantage to help you lose weight.
How Weightlifting Helps You Lose Weight
As you lift weights, your body must provide your muscle tissue with energy, which it does by breaking down calories for fuel. Mayo Clinic says a 160-pound man will burn 219 calories for every hour of weightlifting. However, the real weight loss benefit for men who participate in weightlifting comes from the increase in resting metabolic rate caused by an increase in lean muscle mass. According to the American Council on Exercise, your metabolic rate accounts for about 60 percent to 75 percent of all the calories you burn in a given day. If your metabolic rate is faster, you will burn more overall calories, thus facilitate weight loss.
Frequency
Lift two or three days a week, though three workouts will cause quicker lean muscle results. Allow your muscle groups at least 48 hours of rest between workouts. If you do a three-day-per-week routine, work out Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays. If you do a two-day-per-week routine, you can work out either Mondays and Thursdays or Tuesdays and Fridays.
Volume
If you're beginning weight training, start with one or two sets of 12 to 15 repetitions of each exercise. After four weeks or if you have weightlifting experience, complete two or three sets of eight to 12 repetitions of each exercise. To increase the number of calories you burn during your training session, use a super set structure. A super set structure means you jump back and forth between a pair of exercises that work different muscles, completing a set of each until you finish the assigned total number of sets. For example, you could super set bench press with lat pulldown. Complete a set of bench press and then immediately move onto a set of lat pulldown, and continue this back and forth until you've finished all your sets. This will keep your heart rate elevated and will thus cause you to burn more calories.
Workout
A weightlifting workout meant to promote weight loss in men should incorporate exercises that develop all the major muscle groups. According to Georgia State University's Kinesiology and Health Department, a basic weightlifting workout consists of bench press, lat pulldown, overhead press, bicep curl, tricep pulldown, squat, leg extension, leg curl and abdominal crunch.
Considerations
In the beginning of your program, you may see increases in your total body weight. To prevent significantly increasing your muscle mass and thus putting on weight, cut calories from your daily diet. First, use an online calorie calculator to determine how many calories would allow you to maintain your current weight, then subtract 500 from that total to determine how many calories you should consume every day to support weight loss. Always consult your doctor before beginning an exercise or weight loss program.
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