Muscle burns fat?

Options
dolcefarniente
dolcefarniente Posts: 7
in Fitness and Exercise
So far I have been focusing primarily on cardio and toning, but have not seen huge results for shedding pounds, losing inches, etc. and several people have told me this is because I havent incorporated weight training in my regime. Is it true the muscle helps burn fat? Do you have any statistics, numbers, etc to show this? maybe a rough idea of the % increase in the rate of weight loss?
Thanks!

Replies

  • BigBoneSista
    BigBoneSista Posts: 2,389 Member
    Options
    http://weighttraining.about.com/od/fatlossweighttraining/a/fat_burn.htm
  • safetypins
    safetypins Posts: 70
    Options
    The better, more developed your muscles are, the more efficient your cardio is. So, to answer your question, yes. Muscle aids in weightloss.

    I do weights maybe once a week or so, or some kind of weight bearing activity. If you're a member at a gym I highly recommend a step aerobics class! They do lots of cardio and weights!
  • safetypins
    safetypins Posts: 70
    Options
    The better, more developed your muscles are, the more efficient your cardio is. So, to answer your question, yes. Muscle aids in weightloss.

    I do weights maybe once a week or so, or some kind of weight bearing activity. If you're a member at a gym I highly recommend a step aerobics class! They do lots of cardio and weights!
  • kimmerroze
    kimmerroze Posts: 1,330 Member
    Options
    I thought this was common knowledge..

    I would try googling it. there are numerous articles on this...

    You can read the article in my signature too. Its a great example of what happens when you weight train verses if you don't. And I think she is a personal trainer.

    Basically muscle speeds up your metabolism which helps you burn fat, and it also allows you to eat more, I don't know about you but I always wanna eat more! haha
  • bmontgomery87
    bmontgomery87 Posts: 1,260 Member
    Options
    true. but it's not burning a ton of extra calories every day.

    weight training is great, and it's gonna help you lose weight. but it takes a lot of muscle to really effect your metabolism in a drastic enough way to notice
  • kimmerroze
    kimmerroze Posts: 1,330 Member
    Options
    true. but it's not burning a ton of extra calories every day.

    weight training is great, and it's gonna help you lose weight. but it takes a lot of muscle to really effect your metabolism in a drastic enough way to notice

    But if you don't incorporate weights you wont have a toned body when you get down to your goal weight, you will still be "soft" Even pro athletes that do cardio sports train the weight room. Muscle improves your endurance and your performance when you do cardio.
  • bmontgomery87
    bmontgomery87 Posts: 1,260 Member
    Options


    But if you don't incorporate weights you wont have a toned body when you get down to your goal weight, you will still be "soft" Even pro athletes that do cardio sports train the weight room. Muscle improves your endurance and your performance when you do cardio.

    definately agreed.
    I'm a huge believer in weight training. I'm just saying it takes a ton of muscle to burn extra cals.

    But I don't think you can have a good body without lifting weights.
  • jkeide
    jkeide Posts: 2
    Options
    Am I missing something in the recording of strength training....Does it show that you DON'T burn any calories when doing sit ups push ups, bicep curls etc???
  • RunHardBeStrong
    RunHardBeStrong Posts: 33,069 Member
    Options
    Am I missing something in the recording of strength training....Does it show that you DON'T burn any calories when doing sit ups push ups, bicep curls etc???

    There is strength training under cardio. It is really hard to calculate strength training cals burned because everyone is so different and lifts at different levels, etc. I do mine in circuit training style and keep my heart rate up so I feel ok logging it under cardio :)
  • RunHardBeStrong
    RunHardBeStrong Posts: 33,069 Member
    Options
    A great book to read is "The New Rules of Lifting for Women, Lift Like a Man Look Like a Goddess". It debunks alot of myths about women lifting and goes into detail why you should lift. Lays out easy to follow routines. It truly is a great book!
  • decu68
    decu68 Posts: 78
    Options
    Muscle will most definitely add to burning fat. Adding weight training is highly beneficial and the more muscle you have the more calories it will take for them to operate. Even after your workout your body will still be burning calories.

    DON'T ever worry about gaining too much muscle; that is a common misconception. Gaining muscle is harder then people would lead you to believe. I cannot tell you how many times I've heard they don't want to train as they don't want all of that bulky muscle. Yeh, right, like that is an easy task. You don't have to lift huge weights and understand you should lift weights for how you want your body to develop and how you want your body to react. By that I mean if you want to be explosive like athletes then you need to lift explosively. Lifting slow will not accomplish your goals if you want to be explosive. And always use good form and technique. Have somebody critique you or use mirrors.

    And remember, when lifting any amount of weights make sure you don't over do them and make sure you replenish your protein stores. After an intense workout the the body pumps out cortisol (a built-in "survival" hormone) which breaks down protein into their constituent amino acids and routes them to the liver for conversion to glucose. This glucose is used for energy. The longer the workout, the more cortisol is pumped in and the more protein is destroyed. This causes a "catabolic state" as the largest supply of protein lies in the muscles so that is where the cortisol goes first. The protein will help to lessen/eliminate this from happening. Research has shown that one hour of intense strength training will increase the protein stores in our immune and skeletal systems, but that any further training will only begin to deplete these stores. Without replacing these the body over time can be forced into a weakened physical state and make you more susceptible to flues and colds. You don't have to over do your protein intake and you don't have to buy supplements, just make sure you are eating protein based foods.

    Cardio, weight training with increased protein intake has led to weight loss, increased strength, increased energy and overall well being.
  • jackal75
    jackal75 Posts: 95
    Options
    I also log my strength training under cardio, and I stay conservative with how many calories I take credit for (rounding down the number that comes up.)

    I log my weight routines with a seperate application that helps me see progress as I increase weight and how often I do that particular muscle group, etc.

    The article linked in the first response to this thread echos what my trainer at the gym is telling me. I am down 75 pounds, but still have some flab on my belly. The trainer told me that I have hit a point that the only way to lose that in a healthy way is to start incorporating some strength training on top of all the cardio I was doing. I think that she takes more stock in the benefits of muscle than that article does, but there is no doubt that plenty of trainers will tell you to incorporate lifting.

    Personally.. I started off concentrating on core muscles. Some trainers will make it ALL about the core, but it is only that way to start. The reason to start building the core (midsection, back, etc...) is because most of the training you will do requires good posture and balance to mitigate the possibility of injury. Once you can keep your posture (back straight young man!), then it opens up safe execution of other mucle groups. Since I have just started this, I haven't seen much results yet, but hope to have significant change by the end of summer.
  • Russellb97
    Russellb97 Posts: 1,057 Member
    Options
    There are a lot of myths about muscle building. You body actually burns mostly glycogen for energy while weight training, it doesn't normally tear down muscle for glucose. It can rip amino acids out of one muscle and bring them to another which is why it's important to have a high protein diet, and specifically after you workout.

    Yeah extra muscle burns more calories, but the biggest metabolic benefit is the extra calories it takes to rebuild muscle tissue after you workout. So you burn more calories while you do it, after in recovery, and then you also boost your daily metabolism when you have more muscle.

    This is a far bigger benefit then the glucose you burn while doing just cardio. After diet, strength training is the most effective way to burn fat.
  • dolcefarniente
    dolcefarniente Posts: 7
    Options
    wow thanks everyone for the fast response. I didnt realize how much of an impact weight training had.. I honestly didnt realize it affected metabolism.. so I started my weight training regime today :)
    As per the post about gaining TOO much muscle.. I'm not worried anyways. And to the other post about losing weight and not doing toning: I agree.. i dont want to be "skinny", I want to be healthy and really fit, and /toned/. So I will definitely be adding more weights and toning to my workouts.

    Thank you all for your feedback!! I didnt expect to get so many answers so soon!!
    love <3

Categories