How To Blast Fat By Lifting Weights

BOOST THE BURN
Muscle uses up more energy than fat so by focusing on working the muscles, the body will, in turn, burn more calories, resulting in fat loss. “Weight training helps the body increase its metabolic rate so you end up burning more fat when at rest,” says PT and owner of Breathe Fitness (breathefitness.uk.com) Anthony Mayatt. “Fat is always used up as an energy source so focus on the muscles more than the fat itself.”

BE INTENSE
Personal trainer and Welsh officer for the Register for Exercise Professionals, John Byers, says: “A vigorous routine rather than time is the key. It has been proven that high intensity exercise can burn nine times the amount of fat than steady state aerobics. The days of long, plodding runs on the treadmill are gone – big movement in a circuit format is the way you should be going to burn fat!”

TIRE YOURSELF OUT
Weight training is more effective for fat loss and reduction than aerobic training alone, reveals shaun egan, from les mills. the key ingredient is fatigue. “you want to be tired at the end of each set,” says shaun. “but, of course, you still need to be able to complete the reps with good form to avoid injury. weight train 2-3 times a week – either a dedicated gym session or a weight trainingbased class like bodypump (lesmillsuk.com ).
Allow at least a day between sessions/classes for your body to adapt – this is essential to help your body maximise production of lean muscle.”

KEEP ON BURNING
If you’re short on time, do compound exercises that use multiple muscle groups e.g. squats, lunges and the clean and press, and minimise your rest time between exercises.
“This not only increases the amount of fat burning that occurs long after you finish the session, but also what we call excess post-exercise oxygen consumption,” says Shaun Egan.

DO SOME DAMAGE
“When you lift weights, your muscle fibres are damaged in the process,” says Giorgio Andrews, head health coach from My Zenergy (myzenergy.co.uk). “As they regenerate and grow back stronger, this renewing process raises our basal metabolic rate (the amount of calories you burn when doing nothing). Up to 48 hours after a strength training session you could be burning up to 25 per cent more calories than you normally would. In fact, for every pound of lean tissue, you could burn 50 more calories a day.”

DOUBLE UP
“A great exercise for fat burning is the squat and press,” advises pt anthony mayatt (@breathefitpt). “this works the lower and upper body at the same time resulting in more energy expenditure.
Start by holding a weight across your shoulders and perform a squat, dropping down as low as you can. when you return to the start position, push the weight directly above your head. repeat 10-15 times.”

MAINTAIN YOUR FORM
“Ensure you select a weight that means you are tired at the end of every set of exercises (or track, if you are doing a class), and one that enables you to keep good technique,” says Shaun Egan. “You should be getting to a point where you are having difficulty keeping good technique and maintaining full range of movement through the exercise.”