Bring on the Weights

by Leslie Aronson — April 14, 2008

Adding resistance training to your cardio routine is one of the most effective ways to aid weight loss goals. Because muscle burns calories faster than fat, the more muscle you have, the more efficiently you'll burn calories and shed more pounds. This can be particularly helpful if your weight loss has reached a plateau and you need an extra kick to get it moving again. Focus on the biggest muscle groups first, like quads, hamstrings, butt, and back, and then move on to smaller groups, like abs and calves. Since they contain more muscle (because they're bigger) these larger muscle groups burn more calories than smaller muscle groups. For those who want to bulk up a bit, strength training is necessary. These folks will add more weight and do fewer reps, whereas the folks who want to trim down and not bulk up will do less weight and more reps.

Strength training is also beneficial in preventing injury. In running, for instance, having strong quads will help prevent against knee injury because the knee is better protected by muscle than a lack thereof. Whatever your reason for resistance training, the majority of your training schedule (if you're training for a specific event or focused on one specific cardio activity, like running, swimming, cycling, and so on) should be spent doing the activity itself, with strength training added as supplemental assistance about twice a week.