Lose Weight With Weights | It's possible? Like?

By the healthiergang writer , personal trainer with a degree in Exercise and Sports Sciences.

How many times have you heard: "I don't do weights because then I wholesale", "to lose weight you have to do cardio for a long time at low intensity", "when I was in the weight room I was fat !!"?

Many times, right? Unfortunately, in much of the fitness environment there is still the rule that weight training is the enemy of slimming, while interminable and exhausting cardio sessions represent the holy grail for all those people (especially women) who identify in the balance their worst enemy.

But is it true that weights are not used to lose weight (indeed they make things worse) while cardio is?

The answer is obviously No., but let's go in order.

1. How are we made?

Our body is an incredibly complex system, but we can identify four major components in it: bones, organs, muscle e adipose panniculus, to which must be added the liquids.

Bones and organs are components that, basically, we can consider fixed (i.e. not subjected to oscillations), while muscles and adipose tissue are the two variable components to which we can and must refer when we talk about weight loss.

2. What is Weight Loss?

By slimming we mean the improvement of the relationship between fat mass e lean mass, as the second increases, the first will decrease and vice versa; and in all this weight plays a marginal if not nil role (except in particular conditions).

Also it must be said that fat and muscle have two density completely different for the same weight, which means that if in a period of time X we trained with weights and lost 3 kg of adipose mass, in favor of 3 kg of lean mass, in front of the mirror we would turn out much more dry, while always weighing the same.

3. The Weight

Cross and delight of anyone who should (or think they should) lose weight, some come to consult the balance even several times a day despairing or enjoying fluctuations of a few pounds, wasting precious time and energy. In fact, our weight is a sufficient value in itself empty, which indicates the sum of all our tissues, liquids and so on; it gives us a quantitative, but not a qualitative, estimate of our current condition.

So, unless you fall into the category of the fort overweight or the 'obesity (condition in which losing weight is necessary, at least in the first phase), you can safely consult the scale no more than once a week, or even better every two).

4. Metabolism, This Unknown

Our body consumes a certain amount of Calories every day to maintain our vital functions (basal metabolism) and to allow us to carry out all our daily activities, from work totraining; and we ingest a certain amount of calories daily to make sure everything works properly.

Each tissue in our body uses a certain amount of calories, and the tissue that uses the most is the muscle; It goes without saying that the more muscle (lean mass) we have, the more calories our body will use for its functions.

5. Cardio VS Pesi

In summary, weight loss is considered by comparing the percentage of fat mass with the percentage of lean mass, weight is not a fundamental discriminant and muscle is our main ally to raise the metabolism and make the weight loss process more effective.

From these considerations it is clear that working with weights (obviously well organized and structured) is certainly preferable tocardio workout (which can still be combined), because it allows us to strengthen and strengthen those structures that will allow us to have a more efficient metabolism and more fast, to the detriment of fat mass.

Having a higher percentage of muscle will also allow you to eat more (not cheesecake), because it is a substrate more energy efficient.

In all this, let's not forget that cardio training can be an excellent ally, if also performed with criteria; they are in fact not recommended interminable carpet walking sessions that have the only result of making you die of boredom, much better a shorter session (even twenty, thirty minutes maximum), but organized according to intervals of variable intensity, which will allow your body to never get used to what you are doing, reacting and improving the metabolic response.

A tip not to be forgotten

To conclude, weight loss is undoubtedly a process that must be faced from several angles (nutrition, training, integration), but which finds in theweight training its main tool of success, and if you can overcome all legends and myths (mostly wrong) that surround it, you will realize how many and what positive and lasting results you can achieve through it.

Also, and this is especially true for the women, do not be fooled by the story that weight lifting is equivalent to becoming like men, because yours hormonal picture it would prevent you even if you wanted to, moreover the muscle quality and compactness that you can obtain with strength training are unattainable following any other practice, much less doing only cardio.

The only risk you will run with serious weights is that it becomes an addiction!