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Topic: Strength Training - Why it is important for fat loss (Read 103 times) previous topic - next topic

Strength Training - Why it is important for fat loss

When a lot of people think of strength training, one of the first thoughts that come to mind is "I don't want to get bulky". For those looking to lose fat through a calorie deficit, strength training is not going to bulk you up or make you look like a bodybuilder.

Bulking up requires extra calories, not reduced calories as happens during fat loss.

When the human body is in a calorie deficit for fat loss, fat is not the only thing you will lose, you also lose lean muscle. The larger the calorie deficit, the more muscle that is lost.

Why is this important you may ask?

Lean muscle is metabolically active, the lower your muscle mass the fewer calories you need to consume, so after a period of time eating reduced calories, the deficit will become increasingly smaller until you are no longer losing and making it much easier to over eat and increase fat levels.

The more aggressive your calorie deficit the faster you will lose muscle throwing you into a vicious circle of ever decreasing calorie needs until you are no longer consuming enough to meet nutritional needs.

Strength training helps to maintain and minimise muscle loss. You can build strength without building size.

 A common comment I have seen from women is "I build muscle easily" when if measurements are taken what may appear as muscle growth is in reality better definition from losing fat from above the muscle layer. Yes there are some who genuinely have a genetic/hormonal profile for building muscle size more than average, but such growth still needs extra calories for building new muscle.

Newbie Gains

The exception, if a person is new to strength training and also has a lot of excess bodyfat, combined with consuming a small calorie deficit then recompositing occurs slowly with both muscle building and fat loss occurring at the same time.

Re: Strength Training - Why it is important for fat loss

Reply #1 –
All very true and important for anyone but especially as we age. Metabolism slowing down after you turned 30 (or 40, or 50, or whatever your local tradition says) is mostly muscle loss. As we start working full-time and/or having kids most of us are less active than we were up to out mid-twenties so we lose muscle mass on top of burning fewer calories through movement. And, unless we actively work on keeping it, somewhere in our 40s most bodies decide they're old enough to need even less muscle mass. And if muscles aren't pulling on bone properly and regularly who really needs such sturdy bones? Couple of decades on and you're suddenly prone to falls and fractures and it's much harder to start rebuilding muscle later in life than it is to maintain it throughout. Not impossible, but definitely harder.

Re: Strength Training - Why it is important for fat loss

Reply #2 –
This is something I am going to work on more when I am able to. My cardio does not want me lifting anything over 5 kg because of my enlarged ascending aorta( aneurysm) but I am grateful for the strength that I have but am going to work on improving it.
Building balance & strength- they will be my goals.

Re: Strength Training - Why it is important for fat loss

Reply #3 –
I would hit "like" on all of your posts if I could find the like button.  It's not in the "Quote" "More" bank of buttons for me.

Re: Strength Training - Why it is important for fat loss

Reply #4 –
I have focused on weight loss in the past (-48 lbs) , & I am now 10 lbs from target weight and want to focus on turning fat into muscle as I approach my target weight, (200 lbs by Xmas this year)