This week I want to focus on what is probably the most common goal in exercising, and the main motivator for most people to become involved in fitness. I want to talk about weight-loss.
Wanting to lose weight is what gets most people moving, but before we put on our running shoes and start psyching ourselves up for hard work, it’s important to understand the difference between cardiovascular training and weight training.
For most people, thinking weight-loss means thinking cardio; and this is a good start. Cardio is great for conditioning your heart and making the body healthier by reducing blood pressure, improving mental health by reducing stress and reducing the risk of diabetes.
But when you go for a run, or a swim, or a bike ride, you begin burning calories when you start, and you stop burning them as soon as you stop exercising.
Weight training, on the other hand, has a longer lasting effect. During weight training, muscles are forced to adapt to an external load. In doing so, they grow stronger and bigger. That means that during those sore days that follow a trip to the weight room, your body is working overtime to repair muscle tissue and to provide all the nutrients the muscles need to strengthen and grow.
This means the exercise will stay with you, burning calories for days after you’ve finished. That’s right- while you eat, sleep, work and relax; your body is working away, using up lots of extra calories and helping you lose weight.
Now, don’t think I’m saying weight training is the only way to go for weight-loss, or that cardio is not important in this process. Far from it. The point is, beating yourself up by running 10 miles a day is not the answer. You don’t need to work yourself to death and still wonder why you aren’t losing much weight. Don’t make the process harder on yourself, or you’ll be that much more likely to give up.
Your best bet in building a successful weight-loss program is what we call interval training. Incorporate short blasts of cardio (say 2 to 3 minutes at a time) throughout your weight training workout.
Cardio is great for your body, but cardio alone won’t help you lose those extra pounds as fast as you want to. Make weight training a big part of your weight-loss workout, and put your exercise to work for you!

Filed under: Fit Tip of the Week for Dr. Laura, Fitness 805, Personal Training, Burn calories in your sleep, Burning Calories, Calories, Cardio Training, Free Weights, weight loss