There’s still the misconception that weight training will bulk you up. People trying to lose weight tend to stay away from weights. Instead they put in hours of walking, swimming, and bike riding. All those are fantastic! But to get the best results – in both weight loss and body composition – there’s no trade off for weight lifting.
When you lose weight, you will lose some lean muscle. It’s an unfortunate fact because the more muscle you have, the higher your metabolism, and the more calories you burn. So you can see the problem here. More weight loss, more muscle loss, lower metabolism, less calorie burn.
There is one way to minimize this loss of muscle/metabolism. It is to maintain and build as much lean muscle as possible – through weight training. More muscle means a higher metabolic rate and more calorie burn.
If you don’t do this, over time your metabolism will get lower and lower. You’ll have to eat fewer calories to maintain your weight. You will get flabby and soft.
Yuck.
There is absolutely no way (or reason) to duck out of lifting weights. If you haven’t been doing this, stop making excuses and get started. And, ladies, you will not look like a man. You do not have enough testosterone to bulk up. But you certainly can get toned and buffed!
For weight loss, weight training is essential.
