By Sara Dean

Many people, women especially, shy away from strength training as a tool for weight loss.  To some extent, this is understandable, as there is so much misinformation out there on weight loss.  As someone who used to do 2 or more hours of cardio a day, I can relate to anyone who does not strength train or who feels unsure of the value in strength training.  I mean, if you can burn 600-800 calories in an hour of cardio, why would you lift weights when that may only burn 400 calories in an hour?

There are many reasons.

Additionally, strength training can be confusing.  What exercises are best?  How often should you do it?  How much weight should you use?  Are machines or free weights better?  It is a lot to figure out.

But it is totally worth figuring it out.

Here are a few ways strength training can change your life and your body:

• You can work out for 30-40 minutes 4-6 days a week, instead of 2+ hours a day, 6 days a week.
• You can be leaner than ever been and never do long, boring cardio.
• You can burn more calories at rest than ever before.
• You can eat more and not gain weight.
• You can see muscles everywhere, which will make you feel like a badass.
• You can perform exercises that used to scare you.  You’ll feel stronger than ever.  This will impact every area of your life.

Here is a little picture of how this all works:

Through strength training you build muscle.  Just to be clear, I'm talking about lean muscle mass here.  I'm not talking about body building or adding massive muscle.  As you gain lean muscle mass, your body will burn more fat at rest, as your metabolism will work at a higher level round the clock.

More Muscle = Less Fat

Once you have built lean muscle mass and lost the layer of fat over it, you can do less cardio, because your body is burning more calories than ever before.  From there you can focus on maintaining that muscle mass or continuing to build more strength and definition.  Cardio sessions can be reduced to just a few times a week 20-40 minutes per session.

More Strength Training = Less Cardio

One of the biggest perks to strength training is what it does to belly fat.  Most new clients come to me thinking they need to do more cardio and more ab work to burn belly fat.  Wrong and wrong!  Aside from nutrition, the most effective way to exercise to lose belly fat is through strength training and HIIT (high intensity interval training).  Full body strength training will help you burn over all body fat and belly fat.  Isolated ab work does not give you a six pack unless you are already very lean.  To get very lean, you must build muscle everywhere.

More Muscle = Less Belly Fat

Clearly, strength training is where it's at when it comes to fat loss and weight loss.  If you are unsure how to incorporate strength training effectively into your workout program, be sure to talk to a fitness professional.  There are a million ways to waste a lot of time in the weight room.  You don't want to do that.  Any trainers at The Fitness Lab can show you how to safely strength train and what full body strength moves are best for you.

Here are the 4 best strength exercises for women.

Reach out to us if you have any further questions about how to get the best results from your strength training sessions.


Sara Dean is an ACSM Certified Health Fitness Specialist.