As a result of our misguided media and lack of credible health and fitness resources, many people don’t understand how important and necessary weight training is for weight loss. Now, this isn’t to say that cardiovascular training doesn’t play a pivotal role in weight loss, because it absolutely does. I like to think of cardiovascular training and resistance training as best buddies; on their own they do just fine, but together, they can rule the world….or in this case, help you lose weight. 🙂

You’ve all probably heard this before: to lose weight you need to have a negative energy balance (your energy expenditure should be greater than your energy consumption). Given this statement, it is no wonder most people turn to long, draining hours on the elliptical, treadmill, bike, etc. to lose weight. But let’s take a look at what determines energy expenditure:

1. Thermic Effect of Food (TEF) *The energy necessary to break down the food we eat
2. Resting Metabolic Rate (RMR) *The energy we burn at rest, excluding mechanical work (movement)
3. Physical Activity *The energy necessary to move our bodies

Yes, cardiovascular exercise will result in substantially greater caloric expenditure acutely compared to resistance training. This means that one 30 minute bout of moderate intensity aerobic training will burn more calories than 30 minutes of moderate intensity resistance training. However, that only addresses one of the categories that determine energy expenditure (physical activity). Resistance training, on the other hand, addresses both the physical activity and the RMR category. Not only will resistance training acutely burn calories (during the activity itself), but it will also have a chronic effect as well (by increasing fat free mass). Intuitively, resistance training increases one’s muscle mass (hypertrophy), which in turn, increases the amount of metabolically active tissue [1].  Metabolically active is a fancy way of saying the muscle tissue will need more energy and thus burn more calories at rest. This means by adding in resistance training to your routine, you can increase the amount of calories you burn while driving to work, sitting at work, driving home from work, sitting on your couch….you get my point.

My suggestion: aim to incorporate 3-4 days of resistance training per week into your fitness routine. Don’t jump the gun though! If you haven’t lifted weights ever, begin with 1-2 days a week and progress from there. Also, take advantage of the free personal training sessions that are so commonly offered at local gyms. Remember, the point of this article was to stress the importance of weight training in losing weight, not to suggest replacing cardiovascular training with resistance training. Resistance and cardiovascular exercises are friends….let them hang out together. 🙂

Disclaimer: The advice mentioned above is for the moderately obese and/or overweight person looking to lose weight. Those individuals who are morbidly obese and/or have other special considerations (hypertension, dyslipidemia, etc.) may need to follow a slightly different exercise prescription and are advised to seek approval by their physician prior to starting an exercise routine.

1. Geliebter, A., et al., Effects of strength or aerobic training on body composition, resting metabolic rate, and peak oxygen consumption in obese dieting subjects. Am J Clin Nutr, 1997. 66(3): p. 557-63.