Resistance Training & Weight Loss

Aerobic exercise and resistance training should be part of a well-planned weight loss program. Although aerobic exercise alone will help you lose weight initially, you run the risk of plateauing well before you reach your weight loss goal. Resistance training also increases the body's metabolism, which means that you burn more calories and lose more fat pounds over time.

Tone While You Lose

• Resistance training, also known as strength training, requires the body to perform actions like pushing, pulling, and lifting, in relationship to an object or surface. Weightlifting and calisthenics provide resistance training for your muscles. Unpacking the groceries from the car and placing items where they go after a trip to the store includes resistance exercise. Calisthenics like pushups and squats use your own body weight working against gravity to strengthen and tone muscles.

  For some people, a trip to the grocery store may conclude with a strain, sprain, or an unlucky fall that causes a bone fracture. If you don't include resistance training in your weight loss program, you'll lose muscle as well as fat (see Reference 2). Long term, this can prove detrimental to your bone mass. Your bones grow to accommodate your muscle mass; decreased muscle mass leads to decreased bone mass or weak bones. It also adversely affects your physical appearance, posture, and daily function (see Reference 2).

Prevent and Break Plateaus

• During weight loss, it is not uncommon to reach a plateau, stop losing weight, before you reach your goal. The body adapts and begins to conserve calories. Ironically, if you've included the recommended amount of aerobic exercise, five moderate-intensity 30-minute sessions, in your current program, your increased level of fitness also leads to your body making more efficient use of the calories consumed.

  Resistance training helps break plateaus by challenging your body to use more calories. Resistance training increases your overall burn time by increasing your metabolic rate for up to two hours post-workout (see Reference 3). Muscle also requires more calories than fat to maintain, so you elevate your resting caloric burn rate by small increments after each workout.

Long-Term Benefits

• Adding resistance training to your workout program is simple. Complete at least two resistance training sessions that work all of the major muscles groups, legs, arms, chest, back, shoulders, and abdominals, weekly. Do your resistance training on non-consecutive days to allow your muscles time to recover. Alternating your aerobic workout with a resistance training workout is the easiest way to begin.

  When you incorporate resistance training into your workout and weight loss regimen, you gain long-term benefits. Muscle requires more calories for maintenance than fat tissue; your body will burn consumed and stored calories more efficiently. You become stronger, which makes it easier to perform daily tasks. Resistance training also builds strong bones and increased muscle response, which helps prevent injury in training and during daily activities.