Lift And Lose– In Less Time

Step away from the tread mill. If you’reaiming to carve yourself into shape, the iron is your best friend. Here’s how to lift and lose– in less time.

- Joel Snape

Think of fat loss, and your mind jumps – probably unwillingly – to teeth-gritting spin bike sprints, retch-making burpee intervals or, if you’re really behind on the science, endless cardio. Good news: none of the above is necessary.

“Your body is smart about how it regulates the energy it uses,” says trainer AdamWakefield. “If you go out and run, cycle or swim for an hour each day for a year, then you won't be burning the same number of calories twelvemonths down the line as when you first started. Your body’s used to the stimulus – and now you’ll need to do more than before to get better results.”

With weights, this isn’t a problem, because it’s far easier to make little tweaks to your sessions - whether that’s exercise selection, equipment, weight, sets, reps, tempo or rest - to keep your body guessing. “When it comes to lifting weights, the body never gets used to the stimulus being thrown at it,” saysWakefield. “And having a large amount of muscle helps your body burn more calories, so doing this type of training over the long term puts you in the best position to burn more body fat.”

You’ll still need to be in a calorie deficit to lose fat, of course, but there’s another benefit to getting there via the barbell instead of the bike: the shape you’re in once you’ve stripped the fat will be – well, more of a shape.

“Send your body the right signals through your training and you’ll preserve – and build –muscle mass,” says Wakefield. “Cardiovascular exercise doesn’t send that signal – you’re just burning calories, and your body’s likely to rid itself of its calorically expensive muscle tissue. So you might end up lean, but you’ll have no chest or arms to fill out a T-shirt, either.”