20 Reasons to Start Lifting

20 Reasons to Start Lifting

The simple act of picking up a weight, putting it down, and repeating a few times bestows a boatload of benefits
By The Editors of The Men's Health Big Book of Exercises menshealth
 

You'll Lose 40 Percent More Fat

This might be the biggest secret in fat loss. While you've no doubt been told that aerobic exercise is the key to losing your gut, weight training is actually far more valuable.

8 ways to cut fat without realizing it

Case in point: Penn State University researchers put overweight people on a reduced-calorie diet and divided them into three groups. One group didn't exercise, another performed aerobic exercise 3 days a week, and a third did both aerobic exercise and weight training 3 days a week. Each of the groups lost nearly the same amount of weight--around 21 pounds. But the lifters shed about 6 more pounds of fat than did those who didn't pump iron. Why? Because the lifters' weight loss was almost pure fat, while the other two groups lost just 15 pounds of lard, along with several pounds of muscle. Do the math and you'll see that weights led to 40 percent greater fat loss.

This isn't a one-time finding. Research on non-lifting dieters shows that, on average, 75 percent of their weight loss is from fat, and 25 percent is from muscle. That 25 percent may reduce your scale weight, but it doesn't do a lot for your reflection in the mirror. It also makes you more likely to gain back the flab you lost. However, if you weight train as you diet, you'll protect your hard-earned muscle and burn more fat instead.

Think of it in terms of liposuction: The whole point is to simply remove unattractive flab, right? That's exactly what you should demand from your workout.

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