Strength training as part of your weight loss and fitness routine is a great way to help you get the body that you’ve always wanted. Using strength training can lead to weight loss, an increase in muscle mass and raised metabolism – as well as having a very beneficial effect on your general wellness and wellbeing. Alongside a healthy diet, strength training and cardio training can help your body to reach its peak condition.
Unless you have been diagnosed with sickness and injury or another limiting issue, strength training is definitely suitable for you. People – women in particular – can be concerned about weight training, fearing that it will make them develop large, bulky muscles and an unfeminine body shape but actually the opposite is true. If you are doing correct combining of the cardio and strength, you will simply replace fat with muscle, which is smaller than fat and actually takes up less space.
Strength training is the bit that builds lean muscle, and then the muscle helps you to burn fat, even when your body is at rest. No matter how strong your muscles are, however, if they are hidden under layers of fat they will not show and so this is where the cardio training comes in. If you do lots of exercise that boosts your heart rate, it will help to burn off the fat and let you see the muscle underneath.
If you are looking to lose weight rather than bulk up, you should follow a very specific strength training program. You will find that a personal fitness instructor or even an assistant at the gym can help you devise a programme with the correct number of sets, repetitions and weight to help you achieve your goals.