Why You Need Weight Training For Weight Loss

Have you been trying to lose weight, but you've been unsuccessful? Do you spend hours at the gym and yet your body doesn't seem to change one bit? Then you need weight training for weight loss.

When you go to the beach, you notice the people who are completely fit. Their muscles are toned, they look healthy and strong. This is the ideal body that we all want, and the one we are actually designed to have.

In order to get a body like that, you need to put stress on your muscles. (You also need a good nutrition plan, but that's a topic for another article!)

You see, cardio is absolutely important. It decreases your stress. It boosts your mood. It conditions your heart and makes it strong. And it just feels darn good to get up and move! Because weight loss is, in basic terms, burning more calories than you take in, you can certainly lose weight by doing cardio. But you want to look fit, right?

There are two problems with doing endless amounts of cardio:

#1. You get burnt out from it, and then you start to lose the mood-boosting benefits. :(

#2. It doesn't stress your muscles enough and therefore doesn't change the shape of your body. :(

Weight training for weight loss gives you maximum benefits because:

#1. Stressing your muscles changes their shape, which in turn changes the shape of your body, making it look leaner and stronger. :)

#2. Muscle burns more calories than fat, even at rest. :)

How to lose weight by weight lifting.

If you're someone who's stressed for time and money, I have great news for you. You do not need to join a gym to get the benefits of weight lifting! While that's something you can certainly do if you enjoy going to the gym, it's not necessary.

Here are a few other ideas of how you can stress your muscles, tone your body and lose weight – quickly and easily.

#1. You can purchase a piece of equipment that you can use at home. Find something that allows you to work plenty of muscle groups and that's easy to set up.

#2. You can purchase a few sets of dumbbells and use them to do curls to work your biceps, kickbacks to work your triceps, chest presses to work your chest, lunges to work your legs and a variety of other challenging exercises to transform your body.

#3. You don't need to purchase anything! You can simply use your body weight to get a fantastic workout. Think push-ups, planks, crunches, lunges, jumping jacks and squats. Do a search on the internet to find tons of exercises and videos.

How much weight-lifting is necessary for weight loss?

More good news! You really don't need to do any crazy 3 hour weight-lifting sessions. Only professional body-builders really need that much weight lifting. (And even they might be overdoing it?)

You really only need about 15-45 minutes of intense weight training 2-5 days a week to get great results. A 15-minute workout that includes cardio (jumping jack squats, for example) can be a great 5 days a week workout. It's quick and effective.

If you'd like to just work on your muscles and not rush through the process, then a slower 40 or 45-minute workout might be better for you. In that case, you probably would only need to do this type of training 2-3 days a week, alternating cardio on the other days.

You will most likely want to vary what you do. The more you change what you're doing, the more your muscles will get confused, and the more areas you'll work. Plus, you're less likely to get bored. :) So, continually change what you're doing.

How will you know when your weight training is paying off?

Look in the mirror! Yes, that's obvious, but you'll notice the most changes by looking in the mirror. When you're building up your muscles, you might not notice a huge change on the scale. That's because muscle weighs more than fat. So don't be concerned with the scale! Look in the mirror. Notice how your clothes fit. Notice how you feel. These are the factors that are most important when losing weight.  

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