The Truth About Strength Training for Fat Loss

Once upon a time, I trained at a commercial gym.  I plopped myself down on a recumbent bike and counted down the minutes until my time was done.  I watched the movement of the gym– the weightlifters doing weird looking movements, the cardio folks pushing hard on the treadmills– and often thought about what the weightlifters were doing.  Why were they spending so much time lifting heavy things when half an hour on the bike or treadmill got my heart pumping much faster?  Does a fast heart rate equate to a good workout?  And isn’t cardio better for fat loss anyway?  There’s a lot to decipher, so let’s talk about it! 

Generally speaking, strength training is superior to endless cardio for long-term fat loss due to a few key factors:

Increased Muscle Mass = Higher Metabolism 

Anytime we’re talking about fat loss, we tend to also talk about your metabolism.  What does your metabolism actually do, though?  “Metabolism” refers to all the chemical reactions that occur in the body to convert food into energy and maintain life.  It includes breaking down nutrients, producing energy, building and repairing tissues, eliminating waste, and regulating body temperature.  In essence, metabolism is the engine that keeps the body running by making sure we have enough energy to perform all our daily activities.  So where does strength training come in?  Strength training builds and preserves muscle mass, and more muscle mass means a higher resting metabolic rate (RMR), which means your body will be burning more calories even when at rest.  You’re still burning calories during cardio, but it doesn’t build muscle as effectively and is not known to increase RMR. 

Prevents Metabolic Slowdown 

Excessive or prolonged cardio, especially without sufficient rest and nutrition, can potentially slow down the metabolism.  If you consistently engage in intense cardio but don’t consume enough calories, your body may adapt by slowing down the metabolism to conserve energy.  Additionally, as we just mentioned in the previous section, muscle tissue burns more calories at rest than fat tissue. Thus, losing muscle by focusing exclusively on cardio can lead to a lower RMR, meaning your body will burn fewer calories at rest because it is conserving them for energy. 

The Afterburn Effect

When you engage in cardio, your body works harder to meet the need for increased energy.  This temporary increase in energy expenditure continues after exercise and is called Excess Post-Exercise Oxygen Consumption (EPOC). This can potential lead to a slightly higher calorie burn for a short period of time.  However, l

ifting weights, especially heavy or high-intensity training, creates a longer EPOC and the body continues to burn calories for hours (sometimes even days!) after lifting.  Steady-state cardio has a shorter afterburn effect, meaning calorie burning stops soon after your session ends. 

Body Composition Improvements

Make no mistake: cardio itself can lead to weight loss.  However, prolonged cardio without strength work can result in a “soft” physique.  Cardio has a lot of benefits– enhanced cardiovascular function and improved lung capacity, to name a few– but can also result in a body composition where someone has a low body weight but a high percentage of body fat because there is a lack of muscle mass.  This is because cardio focuses primarily on burning calories and improving cardiovascular health, not necessarily building muscle.  Strength training, on the other hand, sculpts and shapes the body by building lean muscle, leading to a more defined and toned look. 

So are we saying that you should never train cardio and only do strength training?  No way!  The best approach is to combine both! While lifting weights is superior for long-term fat loss, a combination of strength training and moderate cardio provides the best results.  Adding both means you’re giving your body the benefits of both— lowered RMR, muscle building, increased cardiovascular endurance, improved lung capacity, and fat loss.  

Interested in a training program that incorporates BOTH strength training and cardio?  Our Functional Strength class is a great way to get the heart pumping while utilizing free weights.  DM us now to sign up or schedule your FREE No-Sweat Intro Session!