If there was one thing many people found surprising, it would be the way in which weightlifting can significantly help someone burn fat. One reason this is surprising is because most people think of lifting weights as a means of packing on solid muscle. No one thinks of a weightlifting at 175lbs. Instead, they develop a visual image of the 240lb Mr. Olympia. However, there are different approaches one take stake towards weightlifting. So, you do not need to lift weights solely for the purpose of building mass. You can take part in a program that helps develop a leaner, more ripped physique instead.
First, it is important to understand that lean muscle must metabolize calories in order to maintain its size and shape. This means when you lift weights your body ends up burning a great deal of calories in order to grow the muscles. The more massive the muscles, the more calories will be burned. However, lean, defined muscles can easily burn a great deal of calories. That is why packing on bulk is not necessary and a lighter weightlifting routine can effectively change your physique to the better.
At the core of all weightlifting programs designed for reducing fat and developing a lean physique are two components: lower amounts of weight and higher levels of repetitions. When you want to pack on mass, you want a lot of weight and train to failure which would usually be between 6 – 10 reps. Lighter weights at 15 reps will definitely stress the muscles and spur them into growth. They will not lead to significant growth since the lower amount of weights does not force the muscle to grow to huge size to handle an excessive load. Of course, stressing the muscles with high reps will definitely lead to the muscles getting stronger which is why they develop a special look.
Also, higher reps mean more motions and longer training sessions. This will definitely burn a lot of calories during the workout session which will aid in fat loss. That is why some like to use extremely long weights for hour long cross training exercises.
Of course, it is the rest period after the workouts that burn the most fat. The muscles need to repair themselves and grow stronger in order to respond the stress the workout session caused. Literally, you will burn fat while you sleep since this is when most of the muscle repair occurs. Over time, consistent workouts of this sort will definitely lead to the lean, ripped, unique physique that most people desire.
