When most people think of losing weight with exercise, they think of cardiovascular exercises, such as running or jogging. But working out with weights will burn calories, in addition to building valuable lean muscle. Having toned muscles actually helps burn more more calories, even when at rest, and it boosts the metabolism. Watching your calories, eating healthy and adding some cardio exercises will further benefit your weight-loss regimen. Consult with a trainer or a health-professional before beginning any weight-loss or weight-lifting program.
Step 1
Warm-up before your workout session. In addition to stretching, warming up your muscles by going through the lifting motions you will be doing will help avoid injury. A general warm-up doing cardio, such as running or biking for 10 minutes, will get the blood flow going and warm the muscles. This will help them function better, in addition to helping avoid injury.
Step 2
Do circuit training. Circuit training involves using lighter weights with a higher amount of repetitions with only a short rest period in-between. It works the muscles and cardiovascular systems and burns more calories than just lifting. Do one exercise for each major muscle group -- the chest, abdominals, biceps, triceps, hamstrings and quadriceps, working in at least 15 repetitions of each movement. Rest for 30 seconds between each set of exercises. Once you feel comfortable, you can design your own training program if you want to do different muscles on different days, or if you want to focus on doing multiple exercises for just one muscle group, such as the chest. The American Council on Exercise recommends having the machines or weights your are using very close to each other to allow for quick movements between them.
Step 3
Use heavy weights to work out. Incorporate a workout using weights that you can only do for eight to 10 repetitions. Isolate each muscle group and focus on form and slow movements. Lifting with heavier weights will focus more on building muscles. Lean muscle burns more calories than fat, even when at rest, and it signals the body to to take extra calories it needs from fat instead lean-muscle, which it won't really do if the muscle isn't toned.
Step 4
Rest the muscles. When working out, muscles experience micro-tears in the fibers. The process to repair the muscles takes at least 24 hours to do properly, so resting them for a day should be enough. The process of repairing the small micro-tears is what builds muscle bulk, so it's important to rest them, especially when using heavier weight because they strain the muscles the most.
Step 5
Change up your workout. The muscles have a tendency to stagnate if they are not pushed to the limit or if you are using the same movements over and over. Changing the exercise intensity level can help, but you should also change up your workout by choosing different exercises for each muscle, or by using different equipment. For example, you could use dumbbells to do butterfly chest presses one day, and then use a bench-press machine the next day you work the chest; that would cover a change in both equipment and movement.
Step 6
Stretch your muscles after a workout. Stretching them lightly afterward will help you avoid cramping and spasms, as well as assist in the healing process by allowing for better flow of blood and oxygen to the muscles.
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