Fat Loss Mistake Number 4 - Lifting wins
STOPPING WEIGHT TRAINING
(or reducing in favour of cardio)
The belief that more cardio is the best way to lose fat is one you should get out of your head…now!
Building muscle is the best way to burn body fat
And you cannot do that without lifting weights!
You see, when you lift weights, the session itself may not burn a huge number of calories
So, you’d be forgiven for thinking that it isn’t very effective when fat loss is the goal
However, it is quite rare that fat loss is the goal without also wanting to at least keep the muscle you already have, if not grow more
If you stop weight training, or really reduce it, to do more cardio, you are sending signals to your body that the muscle you have isn’t required in the same way
And your body will respond by wanting you to become more efficient at performing the cardio
Which may result in reduction of muscle mass
Why is that?
Muscle is very energy inefficient… your body uses a lot of energy to hold muscle tissue
Hence why building muscle is so beneficial for fat loss
The more muscle you have, the more energy your body requires just to keep hold of it
Not to mention the continued demand for energy (calories) for up to 72 hours after a workout for the recovery processes
So, if you really want to lose body fat… and look incredible…
PRIORITISE YOUR LIFTING
