Using Weight Lifting Workouts for Weight Loss?
Written by Thaya Kareeson   
Thursday, 10 December 2009 10:00
Unlike the advertisements on TV, weight lifting workouts are not primarily designed to help you lose weight. Find out why this is the case in this article.
by ThayaKareeson


Unlike the advertisements on TV, weight lifting workouts are not primarily designed to help you lose weight. Find out why this is the case in this article.

First, weight lifting does not necessarily burn a lot of fat. Heart rate and overall fat burning capacity is relatively low, because weight lifting addresses only a group of muscles at a time for the most part. Therefore, the same time spent in an exercise that engages more muscles at the same time will burn a lot more fat and energy.

Weight lifting exercises actually contribute to weight gain because they workout only specific muscle groups. A proper diet and a good amount of fat burning exercises should be added to your workout routines to avoid weight gain from weight lifting workouts.

Because of this, a balance "weight lifting workout" should consist of a cycle through different actual weight lifting exercises that are changed up with fat burning exercises like jogging or bicycle. It is also important to give the different muscle groups time to build and "digest" the strengthening exercises for certain time intervals before addressing them again with intensity.

The way you come up with your workout schedule will vary depending on your goals. If you are just starting to exercise and only have 3 days per week to exercise, you will have a significantly different schedule than a person that is in tip-top shape and is available to workout 5 days per week.

A general rule of thumb is that 2 parts of fat burning exercise with one part of muscle and strength building exercise will help people lose weight and lose weight and gain a better overall fit appearance.

If you can only work out 3 days per week, you can perform two days of fat burning and one day of muscle building. If you can workout 5 days per week, you can do 3 days of fat burning and 2 days of muscle building. For best results, you can just try alternating fat burning and weight lifting days.

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