Weight Lifting Exercises for fat loss

Earlier in the blog, I mentioned the idea of weight lifting to lose weight, but I did not specify what sort of weight lifting would be best or what exercises to do for it, and so I thought I would do that now.


For the best effects, you need to lift weights that engage as much muscles as possible and cause you to work hard. Therefore the best thing to do is compound exercises that work multiple muscle groups, because these will cause you to work hardest, raise your heart rate the most, burn most calories and all those muscle fibres engaged will cause a large calorie burn in the hours after your workout.


Rather than write out a workout plan, I recommend the excellent routine on here http://www.menshealth.co.uk/lose-weight/burn-fat/lose-fat-with-weights-barbell   and I recommend doing it 3 times a week with 48 hours or so between workouts, eg Monday, Wednesday, Friday or Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday.


Also, a barbell routine may seem like a thing for just men, but I recommend this to everybody, male or female.

Fat Burning Drugs

This entry is more a word of warning.  


As well as fat burning supplements, there are also drugs on the market that are widely available for fat loss.  Although they often work very well for weight loss, they are also very dangerous and so PLEASE stay clear of them.  An example of one of these drugs is  Clenbuterol, an illegal but highly used fat burner.  It is extremely effective at fat burning, but it comes with lots of side effects.  Cramps, shaking and high blood pressure are the most common sides, but others include: nausea, dizziness, drowsiness, tremors, dry mouth and vomiting.  These drugs all come with side effects and are not worth it.  This is not to mention that clenbuterol is classed as a class C drugs and its possession could get you imprisoned. 

Please stick with a healthy diet and exercise and you will lose weight, it may take longer than with drugs, but it will certainly be a lot safer!

Weighing yourself regularly

Another weigh to track your progress is to weigh yourself regularly.  I recommend weighing yourself once a week, and I recommend doing it first thing in the morning wearing the same clothes every time so that there are no weight fluctuations due to heaviness of clothing or added food and water weight that you gain as the day goes on. 

Remember you are aiming for around 1lb to 2lbs weight loss each week and so if you see this reflected in your weigh ins then you know you are on track! 

Measuring your body parts to see weight loss

Another very simple way to measure your fat loss progress is to take regular measurements of your body. This requires no fancy equipment, simply a measuring tape.  Even when you think you are making no progress, you may actually have lost some weight and measurements are a great way to prove this.  


Places to measure include:

• Chest-  Measure around the chest in line with your nipples, be careful not to pull the tape too tight as this will effect the results.
• Waist-  Measure at approximately half an inch above your belly button around your waist.
• Thighs- Measure around the largest part of your thigh
• Calves and forearms- Measure around the biggest part of your forearms and your calves.

A simple way to track the progress is to take measurements every couple of weeks and I would recommend placing the measurements into a simple spreadsheet, or simply making a table so that you can easily see your progress as the weeks and months go by.  

Taking Progress pictures

I recommend to everybody serious about losing weight that you regularly take pictures of yourself to monitor progress.  Doing so once every 2 weeks in the same pose, in the same lit room, will enable you to see yourself progress as time goes by.  This will be a great motivator and will make those hours of hard work feel worth it.


For best results I recommend taking a picture of yourself front on showing your torso in a relaxed state, a side on picture of your torso and a front on picture tensing your abs.  

Cheat Meals

I believe a very important part of healthy weight loss is to actually eat unhealthy foods occasionally!   Eating the same old healthy foods over and over again can become very boring and can bring on the urge to binge on bad foods. By having a cheat meal once a week, where you eat whatever you want, you keep yourself sane and motivated to work hard for the rest of the week.  It is enjoyable to have the cheat meal, and it also means that if you go out to a restaurant occasionally, you don't have to ask for a bowl of salad.

Consuming your needed vitamins and minerals

This step is less to do with weight loss itself and more to do with being generally healthy.  By consuming all your needed vitamins and minerals, your body can function properly. This will boost your energy and reduce your risk of health problems.


By eating a varied diet, you should get all the necessary nutrients, but a good way to be sure is to take a daily vitamin supplement. These can be purchased in most food stores or health shops. There is some doubt to their effectiveness, but personally I think they are worth the additional cost just to be sure.

Drinking lots of water

We all know that water is vital for your general health, but what isn't as well known is that drinking lots of water is great for weight loss.


Firstly, when you feel hungry, rather than reaching for an unhealthy snack, drink a big glass of water.  This fills the stomach and gives you a feeling of fullness, reducing your urge to snack and so keeping your daily calorie consumption down.


Unknown to many, drinking water boosts your metabolism.  In a study the consumption of 500ml of water (about a pint, or your average water bottle) causes you to burn an extra 25 calories in the following hour.  This is thought to be down to the fact that water consumed is colder than body temperature, and this water must be heated in the stomach, burning calories.  25 calories may seem small, but do this 3 times a day every day and that is approximately 7lbs more fat burnt in a year!


During weight loss, the breakdown of body fat produces waste products, these products must be excreted through the kidneys.  To keep your kidneys working properly, it is important to drink lots of water.


It is important not to drink too much water as this can be harmful, but 8 glasses a day is a good general rule.

Eating a high protein diet.

A high protein diet is very beneficial in my opinion to those looking to lose weight.  A diet rich in protein filled foods like chicken, eggs, tuna and milk will help you build muscle while losing fat boosting your metabolism. As well as this, when your body is in calorie deficit, your body will look to fat and muscle to provide the needed energy.  You do not want to lose muscle because this will reduce your metabolism, strength will fall, and you wont look as good once slim.  To avoid this happening, eat a high protein diet and lift weights.


As well as this, protein is important for healthy hair and nails, repairing damaged tissues,  producing hormones and body chemicals and it is an important part of bones, skin, blood and muscles.

Lifting weights

This is a step that many think is just for men, but this is where they are mistaken.  Lifting weights should be a staple part of any persons fitness regime whether male or female. A concern for some women is that they will become "bulky" but this is not the case. Women do not have the hormones needed for noticeable muscle growth without the use of anabolic steroids and so this should not be of concern to females when contemplating lifting weights.


For females the benefits of weight training are:

1. It is a great way to burn fat.  After lifting weights your body has a higher metabolism to recover from the training and so in the hours after weight training you will burn more fat. As well as this, a woman new to weight lifting will gain a small amount of muscle, and this additional muscle will cause you to burn more calories 24 hours a day!  This means more fat burnt in the long run.  Generally it is thought that a pound of muscle equates to up to 50 calories more burnt every day, that equates to over 5lbs of additional fat loss in a year.
2. You will gain strength. This isn't really a benefit that regards weight loss, but is something that can help you in all works of life from lifting children, carrying bags and doing housework. As these tasks become easier, you reduce your chances of injury from doing them.
3. Another benefit unrelated to fat loss is the reduction in the risk of heart disease, diabetes and osteoporosis

For men, the same benefits as above apply, along with the huge benefit of a massively increased metabolism that muscle growth through weight training can bring.  

Cardiovascular Exercise for supreme fat loss.

A great way to burn extra calories and shift that unwanted fat is to do regular cardio. I recommend 30 minutes of cardio 5 days a week, but even if you cant manage this much, do as much as you can and I am sure you will see the benefits.


Not only does cardio help you lose fat, it has a host of other benefits like improved fitness and a healthier heart.  


Cardiovascular exercise doesn't mean sitting on an exercise bike or running on the treadmill all day, unless you enjoy this.  Why not make it interesting with a bike ride or run around your local countryside or parkland.  Another way is to take part in sports, which are not only fun, but great exercise. If the gym is your desired place to do cardio, make sure you vary the machines you use, and why not try out the fitness classes if your gym offers them.


Cardio  doesn't have to be boring, I say go for it, whatever type you chose, I am sure you will see the benefits!

Calorie Counting your way to successful weight loss

This step is one that may be seen as time consuming, but it is certainly worthwhile in the long run to lose weight. Calorie counting is the act of recording and adding up all the calories you eat in a day so that you know that you are eating within your calorie goal.   The nutritional information of food has become much clearer on labels of late, making this process much easier. You can calorie count using pen and paper, an excel spreadsheet, or you can use one of the excellent free calorie counting websites available like www.myfitnesspal.com.  By doing this you can rest assured that you are eating less calories than your body is burning and so you are losing weight.

Calculating your metabolic rate and knowing your daily requirements for calories.

It is important when first starting out to calculate your basal metabolic rate or BMR. This is the number of calories you would burn if you stayed in bed all day. On top of this you must then know the amount of calories your daily activities burn.  This may sound complicated, but in fact websites help you to do this very simply.  

This site will calculate your metabolism by using your body features as well as your activity level to give a reasonable estimate of your daily calorie burn: http://www.webmd.com/diet/healthtool-metabolism-calculator. 

To lose weight you must burn more calories than you consume through food. A good weight loss goal is to lose 1lb per week (roughly 0.5Kg).  For this to be done you must know the number of calories you have to eat a day.  To do this take your metabolism estimate from step one and subtract 500 calories from it, this is now your daily calorie consumption goal.  

The ten tips for a slimmer you.

In this blog I will explain to you what I believe are the ten most important things to weight loss success and they are in no particular order:

1. Calculating your metabolic rate and knowing your daily requirements for calories.
2. Calorie Counting
3. Doing cardiovascular exercise
4. Lifting Weights
5. Eating a high protein diet
6. Drinking lots of water
7. Consuming your needed vitamins and minerals
8. Cheat Meals
9. Taking photographs to see progress
10. Regular weigh-ins

In the following posts I will look into each of the steps in greater detail.