Why Intense Weight Training Beats Cardio For Fat Loss

If you were to stop an exerciser on a treadmill in the gym and ask them why they were running, they would probably tell you that they were trying to lose fat. There has long been a huge misconception that cardio is the key to weight loss when in reality it’s only one piece of the puzzle. Intense weight training is far more effective than cardio for fat loss for the following three reasons:

1) Intense weight training increases muscle mass.

Cardio is a great way to improve heart function and lung capacity, but without metabolically active lean muscle tissue you won’t be very good at burning fat. With cardio you cannot build lean muscle tissue. Weight training exercise like squats, bench presses, and pull-up’s for example put the body under an overload stimulus that forces the muscles to undergo hypertrophy. When you increase lean muscle you improve your body’s ability to burn fat by having more metabolically active tissue.

2) Intense weight training boosts metabolism more.

Cardio “revs up” the body while it is being performed. Weight training keeps the body revved up for hours afterwards. There is a big difference here. When people jog, run or cycle, they bring their metabolism up but once the exercise session is over the benefits stop there. Intense weight training on the other hand increases metabolism and keeps it up for 24-36 hours after the workout. This creates a savings account like storage of fat burning potential. It allows the body to continue burning fat even after you’ve left the gym.

3) Intense weight training creates lasting fat-loss results.

If you stop running for a week you may notice a quick rebounding of your weight on the scale. If you take a week off from intense weight training you’re likely to still keep your improvements. Muscle is stronger and denser than fat, and requires more calories from a metabolic standpoint. A body that has been built through weight training will burn significantly more calories throughout the day even when you’re not exercising. The same cannot be said about cardio which can only burn fat while you’re doing it.

Cardio is an effective tool and need not be removed completely from your exercise routine. It’s certainly a piece of the fat loss puzzle, just not as important as many people mistakenly make it out to be. Intense weight training is what truly “transforms” the body creating real results that last. Don’t fall into the trap of doing lots of cardio and starving yourself on restrictive diets to try and lose body fat. This strategy will fail miserably, especially if you’re over the age of thirty.

As you age hormonal balances and metabolism will naturally decline. The best way to offset these shifts is with intense weight training. My preferred method is doing what’s called “burst training.” This is short-duration, high-intensity, weight training that is done with bursts of all out effort followed by brief recovery periods. It’s far more effective than traditional weight training or resistance workouts due to the hormonal responses.

To learn more about burst training visit my website at www.shapingconcepts.com.