Resistance Exercise Burns More Fat

How many times have you read that if you want to lose weight that you need to do regular aerobic exercise? The truth is that resistance exercise (strength training) can be just as important, if not more important for weight loss success.

The reason is because more calories are burned with resistance exercises post exercise. If the aerobic exercise (walking, swimming, cycling) is challenging enough then the resting metabolic rate (RMR) will be increased temporarily for up to a few hours after the workout. Compare this to resistance exercise (weight lifting, resistance band exercises) which increase the RMR permanently.

Even though you are not burning more calories during the workout with resistance exercise, the important thing to take into account is that the RMR accounts for 60 to 75 percent of daily calorie expenditure, so even a small RMR increase will greatly benefit fat loss.

The study “Fat metabolism and acute resistance exercise in trained men” conducted by East Carolina University highlights this point. In a nutshell, the study suggests that resistance exercise improves fat metabolism by upregulating adipose tissue lipolysis and whole body fat oxidation. While aerobic exercise burns fat primarily during exercise, anaerobic work burns fat primarily in the interval following the workout.

Study Publication Abstract

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