Resistance training doesn’t burn as many calories compared to cardio, but you can tweak things to your advantage. Learn how to burn more calories lifting weights and achieve your fitness goals.
A 2012 study involved 119 participants who ate the same amount of calories (2,000 per day) that were divided into three groups:
- Cardio + dieting
- Resistance training + dieting
- Cardio + resistance training + dieting
Unsurprisingly, the group that did both experienced the most fat loss: 5.37 pounds of fat (2.44 kilos) after several months. In comparison, the cardio-only group lost 3.65lbs (1.66 kilos) and the weight training group lost a mere 0.57lbs (0.26 kilos).
How to Diet to Lose Fat For Good (Science-Backed Advice)
So for those thinking that to burn fat you just need to do cardio, this study proved wrong. So how to burn more calories lifting weights? Jeremy Ethier has 3 tweaks you should do to achieve that.
Jeremy Ethier is a kinesiologist and fitness trainer, co-founder of Built With Science. His YouTube channel has over 4 million subscribers and he delivers clear information with sound background research.
Source: i yunmai / unsplashHow to Burn More Calories Lifting Weights
1. Less Weight, More Reps
Another study, published in 2011, found that participants could nearly double the number of calories they burned in a set by lifting lighter weights for more reps.
Ethier recommends not going too light. Something between 40-60% of the maximum weight you could lift for that exercise.
2. Increase Muscle Mass Used
In a nutshell, compound exercises burn more calories than isolation movements.
- Isolation exercises: only work one small muscle at a time (such as bicep curls or triceps extension)
- Compound exercises: work several different muscles simultaneously (such as deadlifts and pull-ups)
Source: Photo Courtesy of CrossFit Inc3. Implement Circuits
The most important thing you can do to find out how to burn more calories lifting weight is to improve your time efficiency.
Implementing a circuit style of training, in which you do several exercises one after the other without sacrificing gains and with little rest between them, will increase the level of fat burn compared to traditional resistance training.
In the video below, check out Ethier’s deeper explanation and also a circuit-style workout that will help you burn more calories.
VIDEO – How to Burn More Calories Lifting Weights
Read More: The Perfect Workout to Lose Weight
Image Sources
- Feet on scale weight: i yunmai / unsplash
- Conventional-Deadlift: Photo Courtesy of CrossFit Inc
- Man-Lifting-Weight-in-Garage-Gym: Corey Young on Unsplash