RESISTANCE TRAINING

Resistance training, like some simple weight training, with the objective of increasing your strength may benefit you in terms of your overall fitness and physical integrity. It will also help you to lose fat. Any form of exercise gives your muscles some form of resistance training. If you suddenly start waking and running, you will not only burn fat, but you will build up muscle mass as a result of resistance. This is why sometimes your weight loss might plateau – muscle weighs more that fat. Persevere, though, because you are still losing fat – which is the goal.

Metabolic Rates

At this point let’s talk about metabolic rates. There are two metabolic rates, your resting metabolic rate RMR and active metabolic rate AMR.
Resting metabolism or burn fat whilst you sleep. This is one of the wonders of the human body – when you exercise or pull weights you will be increasing your resting metabolism. This means you will burn fat, when you are resting. It takes more energy to keep muscles going so the more muscles you have the more energy they take – energy in the form of fat. What’s more, research has shown the effects are long lasting – up to two weeks. This is great news. It means that if you suddenly stop exercising for two weeks when you go on holiday for instance, you won’’t lose the benefit. Be sure to get back on track when you return though.