Cardio exercises have a place in weight loss because you can consume many calories through high-energy courses, long walks, or smashing it on the elliptical. However, suppose you rely on cardio only to achieve your weight-loss goals. In that case, you might be losing out on an important alternative.

Strength training at home is increasingly being recognized for its potential to improve body shape, providing a boost to weight loss. Furthermore, you don't necessarily have to pick up weights to get there. There's a wide range of bodyweight exercises that rely on gravity as resistance.

Improves your metabolic rates

When you lose weight solely by cardio, you begin to lose muscle mass as well as fat. That's a concern because, for most people, less muscle mass means a slower metabolic rate — in other words, you're not burning calories as quickly as you should be. The rate can get slower as you lose more mass. As a result, there will be a chance of reaching a weight-loss plateau.

While cardio exercise can promote muscle development, the effect isn't as strong as it would be with strength training. This is significant because as your muscle mass increases, your body consumes more calories at rest.

Extends your calorie burn

Strength training also forces the body to "injure" muscles to a minor degree and rebuild them over a 48-hour recovery period. You'll be burning more calories during that period to help the repair process. This is referred to as the "afterburn effect."

Blasts belly fat

Since you can't spot-reduce fat, you'd think concentrating on calorie burn total — rather than process — wouldn't matter when it comes to reducing belly fat. Then why will a weight-training session be superior to a Zumba class if the total number of calories burned is the same? Here's why.

Over a 12-year period, researchers examined more than 10,000 men in a study comparing various types of behavior. They discovered that weight training had the most significant connection to lower belly fat as opposed to aerobic exercise.

Another study showed that high-intensity strength training with moderate-intensity cardio resulted in higher levels of belly fat loss among participants who relied purely on cardio.

Conclusion

Strength training will help you achieve your weight-loss goals, particularly if you do cardio and strength training exercises together. Even better, you don't have to lift something heavy. According to a recent report, lighter weights with more reps will produce the same amount of muscle growth as heavier weights with fewer repetitions.

If you're not at your desired weight, there are many benefits of strength training for you. These range from increased endurance to bone density to a lower risk of chronic disease.

If you prefer bodyweight workouts, weight training, or a mix of the two, you can benefit from a wide range of fitness options. You may contact us for any doubts or if you need a new york personal trainer.