Even novices to the world of diet, fitness, and exercise realize that strength training and cardiovascular fitness routines will lead to fat loss. But, while most people have a solid general idea about this, they may not have a clear idea on the specifics. In other words, they may have questions about the time they need to spend in the gym or how long it will take to achieve certain fitness goals or what specific exercises to perform. Here is a brief look at the basics of strength and cardio training. Hopefully, it will help start you on the right track towards your fitness goals.

First, it is important to understand you need to gradually work your way into complex fitness routines. You need to build up your strength and stamina with low intensity workouts with the intention of moving on to more complex workouts once initial fitness levels have improved. Trying to work out for two hours a day the first week of your new fitness routine will not deliver results. Instead, it will lead to burnout. That is why it is important to stick with the basics at first and then move forward.

Strength Training

The most basic of strength training workouts should include a mix of compound and isolation exercises with 75% being compound exercises. These compound exercises involve the use of several muscle groups to perform the exercise. A bench press would be an example of this since it involves all the muscles in the chest, arms, and shoulders to perform. An isolation exercise targets a single muscle group. Supine chest flyes would be an example of this as they only target the middle area of the chest.

When it comes to the amount of time you need to invest in the gym for your strength training workouts, it is best to stick with short, concentrated workouts. Specifically, 45 minutes to one hour would be enough time. Also, avoid hitting the gym more than 4 days a week since you will need your body to rest and recover from its muscle building workouts. Working out too frequently and for durations that are too long will undermine any and all progress you make in the gym since such practices can lead to the atrophy of the muscles. Obviously, that would be a situation best avoided!

Cardio Workouts

In terms of cardio workouts, these are the best workouts bar none for reducing body fat. The higher the intensity of the cardio workout, the more fat you will burn. But, do not dismiss the value of low intensity cardio workouts because they can deliver great reductions in calories as well. Simply adjust your cardio workouts to your fitness level. For example, you can select among walking, jogging, or running depending upon your current abilities. Actually, you could mix and match high, low, and mid-intensity workouts in the same session. This could form the basis of a great workout program that delivers excellent results without requiring excess and strenuous effort.

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Most people have a general idea as to what is needed to lose weight. There understand they need to clean up their diet and reduce the amount of excess calories they ingest. They also realize they need to exercise in order to burn up the stored calories they may have on their frame. However, there definition of exercise is often limited. They consider fat burning weight loss exercises to be solely cardio and do not see the value of weightlifting as a means of fat burning. Well, contrary to popular belief, lifting weights is not all about adding muscle. It also places great emphasis on the ability to burn stored body fat.

The Metabolic Process of Muscle Building

When you lift weights, the goal is to overload the muscle so that it breaks down. After the muscle is broken down, it will need to repair itself in order to grow larger. This process requires the body to use its energy reserves to properly perform the repair work. In other words, the body needs to burn calories in order to repair the muscles and it will target the stored calories in your body in order to do so.

Also, once the muscles start to grow larger in size, they will need a steady supply of calories in order to maintain their enlarged size and shape. Muscles are very lean and dense and this is what gives them their unique and distinct look. In order to maintain such a look, the muscles will burn a large number if calories. This also aids in the process of reducing stored body fat.

Does that mean you have to pack on a lot of muscle to see noticeable results? No, it is not necessary to put on 40lbs of muscle in order to achieve noticeable results from fat loss. Even a mere 5lbs of muscle gain will have a positive impact on the body’s fat burning capabilities. This is why lifting weights is so highly recommended to those looking to drop excess pounds.

Calorie Burning During the Actual Weightlifting

Weightlifting involves physical movement and that means when you lift weights you will be burning calories during the exercise process. When you lift heavy weights for low reps, however, you will not burn many calories since this involves little movement. But, when you lift low amounts of weight at very high reps, you will discover great fat burning and cardio benefits to lifting weights. Actually, you will also experience muscle growth but not to the same degree you would lifting heavier weights. However, if weight loss is your goal adding a number of high rep/low weight sessions to your lifting routine may prove to be a smart move since it is an effective fat burning strategy.

Those that exclude weightlifting strategies when looking to lose weight and burn fat are making their workout goals a lot more difficult to attain. Lifting weights delivers solid and fast fat loss results and that is why its benefits should never be overlooked.

Tags: Calorie Burning, Fat Burning Exercises, how to lose fat fast, Lifting Weights, Muscle Building, Muscle Gain, weight loss, Weightlifting