Strength Training For Fat Loss

By far, the question I get asked the most is "What's the best exercise for fat loss?". The short answer is strength training. Most people I talk to are doing either none or very little training using weights. How many calories a person burns each day is basically a function of how much muscle he/she has and how hard that muscle works. Strength (resistance) training creates more metabolic disturbance, which causes the body to burn more calories overall, than any other form of exercise. So strength training should be a part of everyone's exercise plan, but especially for those who are trying to lose fat.

Not all forms of strength training are created equal when it comes to training for fat loss. Intensity and duration are important as the following study shows.

Schuenke MD, Mikat RP, McBride JM

Eur J Appl Physiol. 2002 Mar;86(5):411-7

The study participants performed a three exercise circuit four times in 31 minutes. Intensity was high and duration was short. The study found that EPOC was significantly higher for up to 38 hours after the exercise session.

EPOC is Excess Post-exercise Oxygen Consumption. Higher EPOC means the study participants were using more oxygen for 38 hours after 31 minutes of circuit training than other forms of exercise. Using more oxygen equals burning more calories and burning more calories equals greater fat loss.

Circuit resistance training has to be a part of your routine if want to lose fat. And if you have very little time for exercise, then it should be your number one choice. Get with a personal trainer and have them design a full body circuit strength training program that you can perform 3 times a week and can be done within 40 minutes and you'll be burning fat in no time. If you like to do things yourself, then check out Turbulence Training or Afterburn in the right hand margin. These are the best programs I've found so far that do exactly as I've talked about in this post.

My next post will be how to add the right cardio for fat loss.