The 5 best strength training exercises for weight loss!

Okay first let’s get this out of the way – the common belief that cardio is for weight loss while weight training is for building muscle is wrong! The truth is that not only does weight training help you burn more calories while you’re doing it, it will also keep on burning fat long after you’re done!

Fitness icon Kris Gethin writes in his book The Bodybuilding.com Guide To Your Best Body, ‘When you start training regularly with weights, your muscles develop, become denser, and burn more calories all day and night. Though cardio is a great way to assist in fat loss, it burns fat only while you’re performing the exercise, not around the clock. Lifting weights and adding lean muscle, on the other hand, turns your body into a full-time calorie-burning machine. If you were to add just 5 pounds of muscle to your frame, you could burn an additional 250 to 300 calories per day—that’s a whole meal for some people!’ 

The science behind this is that you build lean muscle through strength training when you’re lifting weights or doing any form of strength training and to maintain these muscles, your body burns more calories, thereby facilitating better weight loss.

Of course, any good weight loss regime will need you to combine weight training with a decent cardio regime and a healthy diet. So which exercises do you need to do to burn more fat? The received wisdom is that you should do compound exercises that target more than one muscle group.

 Here are the best five to lose weight:

Shoulder Press (Military Press)

The shoulder or military press is an old school exercises that’s great for your shoulders and works your triceps as well. It’s usually done with a barbell. Read how to do a shoulder press properly. Read how to do the military press properly. 

The Bench Press

This compound exercise is great for the chest and also works the shoulder and triceps. And it’s not just for the guys, bench presses can help ladies tone up, prevent sagging and have more shapely breasts.  Read how to do a bench press properly. 

Pull-up 

The only exercise on our list which doesn’t require any weights other than your body’s, the pull-up is a classic exercise to increase your upper body strength and strengthen the muscles of your arms and back. Read how to do a pull-up properly. 

Squats

Squats are the ultimate lower body exercise. It targets the muscles of your thighs, hips, buttocks, quadriceps and hamstrings and also helps strengthen your bones, ligaments and tendons throughout the lower body. Read how to do a proper squat.

Deadlifts

The mother of all bodybuilding exercises targets the entire back and burns fat over your entire body. Of course, it’s important to do this exercise with proper posture and form throughout the exercise. The right way is to keep your back as straight as possible, then bend your knees and grasp the dumbbells or barbell lifting them about six inches from the floor. Make sure your back is completely straight throughout the exercise even when you’re bending down. Your head and spine should form one straight line and your lower back shouldn’t be arched. Read how to do the deadlift properly.

You may also like to read:

• MS Dhoni’s fitness secrets
• Brad Pitt’s Fight Club Workout
• Cristiano Ronaldo’s fitness regime
• The Rock’s Hercules Workout

For more articles on weight loss, visit our weight loss section. Follow us on Facebook and Twitter for all the latest updates! For daily free health tips, sign up for our newsletter. And to join discussions on health topics of your choice, visit our forum.

1. Prev:Few symptoms of oral cancer that you should never ignore
2. Next:Top 7 fruits that will sweep all that weight off you!