Can strength training reduce fat?

The answer is yes, but its fat loss logic is completely different from the familiar aerobics such as jogging and aerobics. Even many fitness enthusiasts who have been practicing for three to five years have initially stepped on the cognitive pit in this matter.

Many people think that strength training cannot reduce fat. In fact, it is not completely unreasonable - after all, when you practice heavy compound movements, the main energy supply is the glycogen stored in the body. In addition, you have to rest between sets. The real-time calorie consumption of one hour of actual training may not be as much as running for 40 minutes continuously. A little while ago, I took care of a young girl who had just graduated. She had this obsession at first. After every 40 minutes of strength training, she had to climb a hill for 40 minutes. She was afraid of overloading her calories even when she drank water. After half a month of training, her aunt was delayed. Her body fat rate was stuck at 24% and she almost gave up on fitness.

Later, I asked her to cut down her after-school aerobics to 2 times a week, with 20 minutes each time being enough. The focus was to increase her daily protein intake to 1.6g per kilogram of body weight. She tried to ensure that she did enough sets of compound movements during strength training, and checked her phone for ten minutes between sets before doing the next set. After three weeks of adjustment, she came over last week to report that her waistline had dropped by 3.5 centimeters, her weight had increased by 1.2 pounds, and the jeans that were tight before were all loose. In fact, this is the core of fat loss through strength training: it does not rely on the current consumption to "make quick money", but relies on the excess oxygen consumption for more than ten hours after training, and the increase in basal metabolism caused by muscle gain - which is equivalent to opening a passive buff for your daily consumption. Even if you sit and fish at work, you can burn almost half a cup of milk tea more calories every day than before. The long-term fat loss effect is more stable and less likely to rebound.

Of course, there are many studies in the field of sports science that point out that ordinary fitness enthusiasts can only gain muscle at a limited speed, and the extra consumption of the afterburn effect is not as evil as the marketing claims. If you hold a 2kg dumbbell and paddle every time you do strength training, and squat while watching short videos between sets until you forget to do the next set, then the fat loss effect is indeed not as good as walking briskly downstairs for half an hour.

My own experience after practicing for so many years is that strength training is most suitable for office workers who don’t have much time to go to the gym. You can practice compound movements such as squats, deadlifts, and chest presses for 40 minutes three times a week. You don’t have to be hungry deliberately. As long as you don’t eat fried food and drink milk tea, the rate of body fat loss is not necessarily slower than that of people who run for an hour every day. After losing weight, the skin will not be loose, and lines such as waistcoat and shoulder lines will gradually appear. Of course, there is no need to praise it. If you just like the refreshing feeling of running and aerobics, the effect will only be better if it is combined with strength training. After all, no matter what training method, it cannot stop you from getting up in the middle of the night to eat crayfish, right?