Running, swimming, biking and other forms of cardio are great at torching calories, but the calorie burn is done the moment your heart rate comes back down. With strength training, your body's metabolism boosts for 24 to 48 hours after your workout, meaning you're burning additional calories when you're not even moving. Hit the weights twice or more per week and watch the pounds melt away.
Science
Your resting metabolic rate, or RMR, is the pace at which your body burns calories when it is inactive. To lose weight, your goal is to increase your RMR so your body is burning more at rest. Depending on your intensity, cardiovascular exercise burns approximately 300 calories per hour yet has no effect on your RMR. Muscle mass is what burns calories and increases your RMR. Therefore, by strength training two or more times per week, you will increase your muscle mass and burn more calories throughout your day. According to a study in the "Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research," 100 additional calories were burned in the 24 hours after a strength-training session than a cardio session.
Misconceptions
Women are always looking for lean, long muscles and are legitimately fearful of "bulking up." It is physiologically impossible for a woman's body to create the hormones needed to bulk up and look like a man. Therefore, the days of light weight and high reps are no longer necessary. To create a strong, lean body you must lift a heavy enough weight where performing 8 to 10 reps with good form is difficult, but still attainable. The last one or two reps should be very challenging.
What to Train
Compound exercises, or exercises involving multiple muscle groups at the same time, are the most efficient exercises for women. Avoid isolated movements and machines that target only one muscle group. Instead, focus on multi-joint movements like squats, deadlifts, chest presses and pushups. These exercises train more muscles simultaneously, while using heavy enough weight to make a difference.
How to Train
Begin strength training three times per week for 30 minutes. Alternate your workouts with moderate-intensity sessions, like three sets of eight to 10 reps, followed by a workout of light-intensity 12 to 15 reps, and then more challenging sessions of only three to five reps.
Nutrition and Cardio
While doing only cardio will help lose weight, it is often muscle mass that you are losing. With a consistent strength training program in place, continue with your cardiovascular exercise three to four times a week, and don't forget about your diet. Sports nutritionist, Cassandra Forsythe, recommends eating 1 g of protein per pound of muscle mass. So if you are 150 lbs. with 25 percent body fat, you have roughly 112 lbs. of lean muscle and should consume about 112 g of protein per day. Couple this with fruits, vegetables and whole grains, and you'll be on your way to your best body yet.
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