Resistance Training for Weight Loss

More and more people are learning that resistance training is one of the best ways to speed up your weight loss program. We are finally getting away from the starvation diets and educating ourselves about proper health and nutrition. The funny thing is a lot of people, women more then men, still think that pure cardio is the only way to burn fat for weight loss. Don't get me wrong, cardio is very important in fat burning as well as your all around health. I just find it hard to believe how many people still think the resistance training myths are fact.

I own and operate a full time Karate studio and earned my personal Training certification in 2002 with the ISSA. My kickboxing program has helped a lot of people reshape their body and I incorporate resistance training in all my classes for maximum weight loss.

Here are the top 5 things I hear from people when it comes to resistance training.

1. This is from the women, will I get to bulky or huge? I get this from about 70% of the women that train with me. We use resistance bands and they always go for the light one saying" I don't want to look like a man". Lady's let me tell you straight, You will NOT get huge just by training with some resistance. Look at every man at the gym who wants to get bigger. If it were just a matter of lifting moderate weights every guy would be huge. What freaks most women out is they are not used to seeing definition and mistake it for being bigger and more manly.
2. I am too old to do resistance training. This is just not true. What is true is the saying you are as old as you feel. Remember that resistance training doesn't have to be ridiculously heavy weights. Start out with very light weight and work your way up. My morning classes are basically mom's mid 40's and up. They all started out with light weights but now can go fairly heavy. They are leaner and stronger due to the resistance being added to the routine
3. Will I lose flexibility? Not at all, just look at some of the UFC fighters or even bodybuilders. If you have ever seen a good bodybuilder posing you know they are pretty flexible. If done in a full range of motion many exercises will actually make you more flexible. The key to keeping your flexibility is stretching the muscles. If your muscles are strong and well stretched you will stay flexible.
4. Doesn't Cardio burn more fat? In the short term maybe but long term no. As your body rebuilds the stronger muscle tissue it burns fat for a much longer period of time.If you do nothing but cardio you will be burning your muscle as well as fat in turn slowing down your metabolism. Lean muscle will help raise your metabolism and burn more fat all day long. A combination of Cardio and resistance training is the quickest road to weight loss.
5. If you stop lifting weights the muscle turns to fat. Not at all possible. Muscle and fat are 2 totally different things in the human body.one cannot, will not, and has not ever turned into the other. Less of one simply means more room for the other. When you stop using your muscles, your body becomes significantly less efficient at burning calories, which allows the pounds, in the form of fat, to creep back on. If, say, a 150-pound woman stopped strength training, she may continue to see the same number when she steps on the scale, but her ratio of fat to muscle will shift dramatically. It is the use it or lose it principle in action.

The Bottom line is if you are serious about weight loss then incorporate some resistance training in your routine. Cardio + Resistance = Leaner, healthy body.