You can lose weight and drop body fat while maintaining lean muscle with resistance training. Using a well-rounded program and balanced diet, you can reshape your physique, improve your body composition, and develop strength and power. By training with intensity, and recovering properly, you can drop weight without spending hours doing cardiovascular exercise. Consult your physician before beginning any diet or exercise program.
Step 1
Perform lifts that cross more than one joint and work multiple muscles -- referred to as compound lifts. These lifts included the squat, which works your legs and core; the deadlift, which works both your upper and lower back, abdominals and your legs; and chin-ups and rows, which work your back, biceps and forearms. The bench press works your chest, shoulders and triceps, and the military press works your shoulders and triceps, and recruits many muscles of the upper body to stabilize you while pressing.
Step 2
Train your entire body three times a week, but allow at least one rest day in between each session. Squat first, as this is the most demanding lift. Only deadlift on your final training session of the week, as this is demanding on your body's ability to recover. Perform one set of chin-ups or rows for every set of pressing that you do. This will not only ensure balanced development, but also help maintain the stability of your shoulder joints.
Step 3
Train with intensity by lifting with at least 75 percent of your one-repetition maximum, but take time to carefully build up to this training range. This will trigger the release of more testosterone, a hormone that will help you burn fat and maintain muscle mass. Keep your rest periods short, no more than a minute and a half, which will not only keep your testosterone levels high, but also keep your cortisol levels low. Cortisol is a hormone that can contribute to fat storage, as well as muscle wasting.
Step 4
Perform five to eight repetitions per set, and three to five sets for each exercise. If you can perform more sets and repetitions, you are not training hard enough. The intensity of your training will have an effect on how long you continue to burn calories after you are done training. If your training is intense enough, you can increase your metabolism for up to 48 hours after training.
Step 5
Perform advanced techniques to burn additional fat. You can alternate sets of exercises for opposing body parts to increase your training intensity. An example would be to perform one set of bench presses, followed by a set of barbell rows. Rest only after both sets have been performed.
Tips and Warnings
- Take videos of yourself while you are lifting to double-check your technique.
- Never round your back when lifting, and never jerk weights into position. Always lift with control. Squat only in a squat rack or power rack.
Things You'll Need
- Barbell with safety collars
- Plates and dumbbells
- Squat rack or power rack
- Adjustable bench
References
- "Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise"; Biomechanics of the Knee During Closed Kinetic Chain and Open Kinetic Chain Exercises; Rafael F. Escamilla et al.; April 1998
- "Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise"; A Three-dimensional Biomechanical Analysis of Sumo and Conventional Style Deadlifts; Rafael F. Escamilla et al.; July 2000
- "European Journal of Applied Physiology"; Acute Hormonal and Neuromuscular Responses to Hypertrophy, Strength and Power Type Resistance Exercise; George O. McCaulley et al., March 2009.
- "Fiziol Cheloveka"; Acute Testosterone and Cortisol Responses to High Power Resistance Exercise; Andrew Fry & Charles Lohnes; July-August 2010.
- "The Journals of Gerontology"; A Single Bout of Concentric Resistance Exercise Increases Basal Metabolic Rate 48 Hours After Exercise in Healthy 59--77-year-old Men; David L. Williamson and John P. Kirwan; May 1997.
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