Strength Training for Weight Loss

Guest Article by Tony Rovere

Many people do not think of strength training for weight loss. Instead, they often perform only cardio exercises to burn fat and calories.


One of the saddest sights I see at the gym are the people who are there day-after-day and are not getting the results they are seeking.

For the most part, if I was to stereotype these people, I would describe them invariably as women in their 40’s just walking on the treadmill. 

They have the belief that if they do enough cardio exercises they will eventually lose weight and finally achieve the body they are seeking.

But unfortunately, this is not the case.

This lack of results is not from a lack of effort or a lack of willpower…it is from not understanding how your body works and not doing exercises in the right way to permanently lose weight.

And that’s what we are talking about…making your weight loss permanent.

Now, how do you do this?

How Strength Training Helps You Lose Weight

The only way to make your weight loss permanent is for you to naturally increase your metabolism so that you burn more calories BETWEEN your workouts. 

What I am saying is…it’s not the time in the gym that’s important…it’s the time you AREN’T in the gym that is more important. 

This is when you need to be burning more calories, whether it is sitting in your cubicle at work, watching TV at night…even sleeping!

And the only way to naturally increase your metabolism is to add muscle to your body. 

Now, I am not talking about lifting heavy weights or even having to go to the gym to accomplish this. 

 What I am talking about is about 30 minutes worth of resistance band and body weight exercises two to three times a week to add this muscle.

You can do this from home if necessary.

I am not saying to completely eliminate the cardio exercises, but you definitely need to add the strength training element to your fitness routine.

This will help ensure your weight loss is permanent.

Strength Training At Home

So what I want to do is to give you an example of the type workout you can do from home that will accomplish this.

girl lifting dumbbell weights Perhaps the simplest would be to do what is known as the ‘55’ workout.  You start by doing 10 push-up.

If you can’t do that, then do an assisted push-up where it is on your knees on the floor as opposed to on your feet…that will make it easier to start out.

 When you have completed the 10 push-ups, do 10 squats and then take a 30-60 second break. 

You will then do 9 push-ups and 9 squats…take your 30-60 second break, and then do 8 and 8, and so on and so on until you get to the last push-up and squat.

When you have completed this, you will have done 55 push-ups and 55 squats.  Was that too much to start out? 

Then start with a lower number of repetitions.  Do 5 push-ups and 5 squats and build from there.  The choice is totally up to you.

But here are the benefits you will receive…
  • The pushups will work your chest shoulders, upper back, arms and your core…from holding the plank position.
  • The squats will work your legs…and give you a far better cardio workout than you will ever get from walking on the treadmill.

And in this way, you will start to add the muscle to your frame that you need to in order to increase your metabolism.

Strength Training - Not Bulky Muscles

The one thing that I always hear when recommending strength training to women is that women do not want to 'get bulky' by strength training.  I understand your concern but you have nothing to worry about. 

Women don’t have enough testosterone in their system naturally to build that type of mass. We are talking about toning and getting firm…and this is what every women wants, isn’t it?

There is one word of caution that I do want to give you when starting a program like this…throw out your scale!  Why?  Because if you are serious about increasing your metabolism in this way, when you start to work out like this over the first few weeks you might actually gain a few pounds. 

DON’T PANIC!  You are not doing anything wrong.  What is happening is that as you are working these muscles, they will need to recover from the workout [this is the soreness that you feel after a workout]. 

To facilitate this process these muscles retain more water to help with the recovery process.  So if you get on the scale you may end up weighing 1-3 pounds more and think that this workout doesn’t work.

The real measure of how the workout is working will be how your clothes feel. They will start to get looser because you are burning more fat.  And isn’t that what we all want after all?

About The Author: Tony Rovere regained his health, strength and vitality by losing 60 pounds and managing to keep it off for over 4 years.

This is why he created Health-and-weight-loss-tips.com, where he shares his passion for health and fitness with others so that they can accomplish the same goals that he has achieved.


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