Understanding the health benefits to weight training, cardio, and weight loss all come hand in hand for the everyday ‘gym rat’–and especially those just getting started.
What we demand from our body during weight training is in equivalence if not greater than the demands from our mind. With this, we cast a great “burden” of fat depletion as well as muscle demand, breakdown, and rebuilding through variations in weight loss and muscle building routine.
A few variations of weight training and tips to promote ‘fat blasting’:
- Consider accompanying heavy weight lifting routines with the addition of push ups, pull-ups, and mixing it up with sprints outside, or jogs on an optical machine. Try to choose different days for each of the aforementioned mixed workouts.
- Go for a 30 minute run pre-workout to really get your heart pumping, and up to a desirable range that is optimal in fat burning—typically around 60% to 70% of maximum heart rate is the range in which will promote the most effective weight loss.
- Understand the value and differences between fat burning, endurance, and performance zone heart rate balance and training. While fat burning so to speak is between 60% and 70% of maximum heart rate, 70%-80% is considered endurance level, and 80-90% maximum heart rate is considered performance zone, which provides the most effective weight loss heart rate zone and effective training module to burn those calories and make you sweat! Additionally, those in this zone will achieve more VO2 for their bodies, which is added oxygen that is much needed during intense workouts, and will prevent both short term and long-term fatigue.
- Eat a HUGE breakfast and really get your metabolism moving first thing when you wakeup and start your day! The added calories will not only give your body something to feed on for hours to come, but also speed up your metabolism and fat burning process.
Additionally, we might consider the value of doing full body weight training exercises to promote weight loss in that it includes muscle confusion (for enhanced toning and growth effects) as well as psychologically, and of course physically—keeping us and our body challenged.
For an added burn in the gym, make sure to practice and maintain proper form while using weights. Proper form not only prevents injury, but also gives a more intense workout, and promotes a higher consistency of burning unwanted fat and getting the heart pumping—also important for weight loss.
Consider the benefits and challenges that may be experienced through routines involving dumbbells such as the P90X program, or other fitness routines designed by like-minded nutrition and fitness experts. Military styled boot camp programs and classes given at gyms that involve the usage of (commonly low weight) dumbbells also see great results because their combination between dumbbell usage, weight training, and lifting are all combined to burn the maximum fat possible and challenge the body.
Consider purchasing and maintaining a weight loss journal, keeping track of current weights with dumbbell routines and resistance training. This is very effective for not only increasing weight, but also endurance, physical, and psychological performance improvement and keeps you on your feet!
Image credit: TONO BALAGUER
