Exercise, along with eating right, should form a cornerstone of any successful weight-loss strategy. While you might think of sweaty, intense cardiovascular activity as the primary means of exercise for weight loss, strength training offers significant benefit as well. Any woman who wants to maximize her weight loss should incorporate this form of exercise into her exercise regimen. Examples of strength training include using free weights, resistance bands, weight machines, squats, lunges and pushups.
Women and Strength Training
If you are like many women, you might have a reluctance to perform strength-training exercises due to fears of becoming bulky and masculine-looking. The Women's Heart Foundation explains the higher levels of estrogen present in women prevent the formation of the massive muscles seen in men. Unless you intend to train at a level similar to a female bodybuilder, strength training will help give you the leaned, tone, muscular look preferred by many women. As you age, your muscle mass naturally decreases --- coupled with a steadily declining metabolism --- and this can lead to an increase in your body fat percentage. This becomes particularly problematic in the years leading up to and after menopause, where hormonal changes exacerbate these problems. Strength training is the only way to significantly increase muscle mass.
A study that appeared in the July 2010 issue of "Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise" followed a group of post-menopausal women for six years to determine the effects of strength training on fat gain and body composition. Women either took part in regular strength training exercise weekly --- eight exercises for two sets of eight repetitions each --- or served as controls. At the end of the study, researchers found that strength training made significant contributions to a lower body weight, less overall fat and less fat around the abdomen in particular. The women who did not do strength training experienced gains in all of these areas.
Resting Metabolic Rate and Weight Loss
While a session of strength training will not burn as many calories as a vigorous bout of cardiovascular activity, building your muscle mass increases your resting metabolic rate, or RMR --- the amount of calories your body burns at rest to fuel all of its functions and support itself. According to certified strength and conditioning specialist Deborah L. Mullen, your RMR accounts for about 60 to 75 percent of the calories your body burns on a daily basis. Highly active tissue like muscle requires more energy to maintain, which means the more muscle you have, the more calories your body burns to support it and many of these calories will come from fat.
Calorie Expenditure
Each pound of muscle burns about 35 calories a day, according to Mullen. While this might not sound like a lot, it adds up. Combined with the calories burned from actual strength-training sessions and cardiovascular activity, you can greatly increase the amount of calories your body burns daily by increasing your muscle mass. Additionally, strength training increases your overall fitness, which will help you work out harder and longer, which translates to more calories burned.
Tips
Mullen recommends about 30 minutes of strength training two to three times per week to accelerate weight loss. If using free weights or weight machines, you should use a weight heavy enough that you can only perform about 12 repetitions without losing proper form, recommends Mayoclinic.com. Once you can do the same amount of weight for 15 reps, increase it to an amount where you can again do only 12 in proper form and repeat as you progress. Exercises that employ the use of free weights, resistance bands or your own weight, such as pushups, will engage your muscles more than weight machines, leading to faster results. The Women's Heart Foundation recommends stretching for several minutes before strength training to prepare the muscles and reduce the risk of injury.
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