Does Weight Lifting Burn Fat? (From A Physician)

Lifting weights stands out in weight loss by simultaneously building muscle and shedding fat.

Muscle tissue, even at rest, burns more calories than fat, meaning as you build muscle, your body increases its resting fat-burning rate [1].

As a result, your resting metabolic rate rises, and you burn calories each day. The more muscles you have, the higher the metabolism and the faster you lose body fat, according to the WebMD [2].

Adding muscle-building and strength training workouts such as lifting heavy weights can be a game-changer to your weight loss goal.

I’ve seen a huge shift in my clients’ overall performance and body composition once they swapped endless cardio sessions for weights, especially after introducing weight sessions focused on compound movements.

Strength training workouts, especially those based on stop-start weight training exercises, also burn through muscular glycogen, according to the Nutrition Reviews [4].

After refilling the glycogen with food after working out, the blood sugar doesn’t hang around much, and with time, your body’s insulin sensitivity improves [5].

Your body will improve at using the blood sugar for muscle energy rather than converting it into fat.

"Obviously, burning more calories throughout the day, in conjunction with a balanced diet, will boost your fat loss."

- Wendy Batts, Master Instructor at National Academy of Sports Medicine

Lastly, the total calorie burn is much higher than with cardio workouts. See, after cardio, the heart rate and metabolism resume normalcy in a few hours, according to the Journal of Applied Physiology [6].

But if you jack up your weights, you’ll enjoy the effects of the workout even much later after you’re done (afterburn) [7].

Think of it as getting a two-for-one benefit from your workouts. The added muscle from heavy resistance training not only aids in fat loss but also helps prevent fat regain by using more calories for muscle maintenance instead of fat storage.

In addition to its physical benefits, weight lifting significantly enhances mental well-being, contributing to fat loss by improving mood, boosting self-esteem, and reducing stress levels, all of which are crucial for a sustainable fitness journey.

Compound workouts are highly effective for fat loss, generating substantial responses due to their increased demand.

This not only accelerates fitness gains but also aids in weight loss. For instance, squats engage multiple muscles and burn more fat compared to isolated exercises like lateral raises.

Prioritizing complex exercises in your training provides more muscle-building value for your efforts at the gym, based on my experience.

According to the Asian Journal of Sports Medicine, compound exercises have been demonstrated to promote power and lean muscle mass growth faster than isolation workouts [8].

3. Keeping Your Lifting Sessions Short

It’s easy to assume that longer lifting sessions will burn more fat. But that’s not the truth.

Instead, I suggest you switch your mentality from counting the number of hours spent in the gym to focus on the intensity of your workouts [9].

For example, a genuine and intense workout shouldn’t be longer than 45 minutes. If you’re doing everything correctly, you’re likely to get fatigued in a short time, based on my experience.