If you are anything like I was years ago, maybe you have HEARD IT, but you can’t quite understand HOW Strength Training IS Fat Loss training- and the BEST thing you can do for body composition (besides nutrition being #1).
Long before I was a trainer myself, I never believed this, and my workouts would show it. I’d go to the gym and run my heart out on the treadmill for at LEAST an hour. Because in my mind the MOST important thing was running off any calories I had eaten and losing weight. Running like this would SURELY be the answer. It only made sense. Calories in, calories out. And besides, my appetite was HUGE. And if I didn’t run every day, how would I EARN my food? But after years of doing it this way, the amount of running I did STILL did not give me the results I wanted.
So what did I do? I ran MORE. I began running 40 + miles a week.
Occasionally, after my long runs, I’d head over to the dumbbell area of the gym. Because I DID like the “toned” look and I wanted to achieve muscle definition. Looking back now, I see how my results weren't achieved that way either, because I was overdoing the cardio and I couldn't build muscle to save my life.
I remember a VERY fit female trainer asking me at the gym one day what my goals were and how many calories I ate per day for that goal. I told her I never went over 1500 calories. Her eyes widened and she was quick to tell me that it WAS NOT ENOUGH for the “toning” goal I had--not with all the hours of work she saw me doing.
Well, of COURSE, I was SO much smarter than the trainer. LOL. So I left giving her the biggest eye roll. Because OF COURSE I had to be the exception. I COULD NOT understand how a few of these other women lifting weights were so fit. I assumed they lived off lettuce, supplements, protein shakes and hours of cardio. Years down the road, I faced the fact that my cravings, appetite, weight, bingeing episodes, and emotions were COMPLETELY OUT OF CONTROL. Cardio was taking HOURS of my day at this point. I was depressed, anxious, overwhelmed, consumed, and incredibly run down physically. I did the hardest thing I’d ever done before: I quit long endurance cardio, replaced it with short/intense sprint sessions, but MOST of all, I focused on lifting weights.
To my surprise, my body began changing more than ever--in less time!
I was getting tighter overall, leaner, and I even developed ab muscles for the FIRST time. My appetite wasn’t as ferocious, and I stopped the weight gain/weight loss cycle.
That mental shift COULD NOT HAVE BEEN MORE DIFFICULT. Nothing like taking the ONLY thing you know, and then trying something new that MAY or MAY NOT work.
So is this a total knock on cardio? Absolutely not. Everyone should do some cardio for their overall health. I still run occasionally and its freeing to NOT have to think about how many calories I am burning while doing it. I NEVER have to earn my food. I am so thankful to be free of that mindset.
So why am I telling you all of this?
Because if you are looking to lose fat and get tighter overall--to really change your body composition-- strength training with progressive overload will do more for your body composition than hours of cardio ever will. And I’m here to let you know that it wasn’t easy for me to make that switch. It was PAINFUL right to the core.
To really see lasting change, prioritize getting stronger in your strength training. Stick with the exercises for a time (instead of ALWAYS CHANGING IT UP) and improve those in form, increase your reps and/or use heavier weights. These are all forms of what we call progressive overload. And it is a GAME CHANGER. You won’t blow up and look like a man. I’ve been lifting consistently heavy for over 15 years and I can testify to that. Strength training is THE BEST thing you can do for your metabolism. After the age of 30, we lose muscle mass every year IF we aren’t maintaining it OR building muscle with strength training.
And I see so many women struggle and asking WHY weight gain seems to happen so quickly and why they can’t feel comfortable in their own skin. It’s NOT because your aging. It’s because year after year, you are losing that metabolic fire of muscle. Strength training makes staying on the LEAN-ISH side SO much easier.
If you take two people of the SAME weight and height, the one who strength trains CONSISTENTLY and picks up heavy weights will carry less body fat and be tighter overall.
I encourage you to give it a try if you always feel like you are struggling with weight and cardio is just not giving you what you want anymore. Let me know if you need help getting started. You don’t have to go crazy with it or spend your life in the gym and I am happy to help guide you in the right direction.
There are PLENTY of women doing some form of Resistance {Strength} training with body weight only OR dumbbells) FOR JUST 20 MINUTES. And they are getting insane RESULTS.
You can see that RIGHT HERE in this 5 x 20 Challenge.
Sign up will only be available from September 3rd thru 6th this time.
I hope this helps and if you need anything at all, just reach out!
Emily
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