Top 10 Strength Training Exercises for Effective Weight Loss

Top 10 Strength Training Exercises for Effective Weight Loss

Shed the excess kilos with these ten strength training exercises for weight loss.

If you want to reduce weight, you can’t avoid strength training! Here are the top ten strength training exercises to help you lose weight and burn calories.

For weight loss, try these strength training activities! Picture sourced from Adobe Stock.

When it comes to losing weight, we frequently hear about the benefits of high-intensity interval training (HIIT) and aerobic exercises. But don’t forget about strength training! Strength training does more than simply make you stronger; it also boosts your metabolism, allowing you to burn more calories. Plus, the more muscle you gain, the more energy your body requires, which aids in long-term weight loss. And the greatest part? You are not only reducing weight, but you are also maintaining the muscle you have worked so hard for, making you appear toned and fit. Don’t underestimate the benefits of strength training activities for weight loss!

Also Read: Strength training: Get stronger, leaner, healthier

What is strength training?

Strength training, often known as weight training or resistance training, is practicing exercises to increase strength and endurance. It usually consists of lifting weights, utilizing resistance bands, or using your own body weight as resistance. “While the primary goal is to overload muscles, strength training also improves bone density, metabolism, and overall quality of life,” says Jashan Vij, a health and fat loss coach. It is critical to practice exercises with perfect technique to reduce injury risk and maximize benefits!

Can strength training help with weight loss?

Weight reduction occurs when you consume fewer calories while burning more. In this case, weight training can be an excellent way to burn calories! “It increases muscle mass, which boosts the resting metabolic rate, meaning you burn more calories throughout the day even at rest,” Vij says.

Furthermore, strength training helps to maintain lean body mass while reducing weight, ensuring that the weight reduction is predominantly from fat loss rather than muscle loss. So, if you combine strength training with a calorie-restricted diet, you might lose weight. According to a research published in Obesity Reviews, persons who are overweight or obese benefit from strength training.

Exercises including strength training can aid with weight loss. Picture sourced from Freepik

10 strength training exercises for weight reduction.

Here are the top ten strength training activities that can help you lose weight and burn more calories:

1. Squat with a medicine ball.

Squats are strength exercises that work many muscular groups, including the quadriceps, hamstrings, glutes, and core. They are great for burning calories and increasing lower-body strength and stability.

How to Do Squats:

• Hold a medicine ball in front of your chest with both hands.
• Stand with feet hip-width apart and toes slightly twisted.
• Engage your core, keep your chest up, and drop your hips back and down as if sitting in a chair.
• Lower your thighs until they are parallel to the ground or slightly lower.
• To return to the beginning position, press through your heels.
• Repeat for 10-15 reps in 2-3 sets.

2. Deadlifts.

• Deadlifts are a basic strength training exercise that focuses on the posterior chain, which includes the hamstrings, glutes, and lower back. They help to strengthen muscles and improve posture.
• Stand with feet hip-width apart and toes beneath the barbell.
• Hinge at your hips, keeping your back straight and chest high, and hold the barbell or dumbbells outside your legs.
• Lift the barbell by straightening your hips and knees and keeping it close to you.
• Lower the barbell to the floor to return to the starting position.
• Perform 8-12 repetitions for 2-3 sets, maintaining perfect form and control throughout.

 

The deadlift works a variety of your body’s muscular groups. Picture sourced from Adobe Stock

3. Reverse lunges.

Lunges work the quads, hamstrings, glutes, and calves. They enhance balance, coordination, and lower-body strength.
How to Do Lunges:

• Stand tall, feet together, and engage your core.
• Step backward with your right leg, lowering your hip until both knees are bent at a 90° angle.
• Keep your front knee in line with your ankle, and your rear knee slightly above the ground.
• To return to the beginning position, push through your front heel.
• Alternate legs, doing 10-12 repetitions each leg for 2-3 sets.

4. Push-ups

Push-ups help to develop

How to Do Push-Ups:

the chest, shoulders, triceps, and core muscles. They also increase upper-body endurance and balance.

• Begin in a plank stance, with hands slightly wider than shoulder width apart.
• Lower your body until your chest is almost touching the ground, maintaining your elbows tight to your body.
• Straighten your arms by pushing through your palms, then return to the beginning posture.
• Perform as many repetitions as possible while maintaining perfect form, with the goal of completing 2-3 sets.

Aim for weight loss with push-ups. Picture sourced from Adobe Stock

5. Pull-ups

Pull-ups work the back, biceps, and shoulders, increasing upper-body strength and muscular growth. If you are unable to do a full pull-up, you can execute this exercise with the assistance of another person.

How to Do Pull-Ups:

• Hold an overhead bar with hands slightly wider than shoulder width apart.
• Hold your arms fully extended, engaging your core.
• Pull your body upwards till your chin clears the bar.
• Lower yourself back down with control.
• Perform 5-10 repetitions over 2-3 sets.

6. Dumbbell Rows

Dumbbell rows help to strengthen the upper back, lats, and biceps. They improve posture and increase pulling strength.

How to Do Dumbbell Rows:

• Stand with one dumbbell in each hand, feet hip-width apart.
• Hinge at your hips, with your back straight and your knees slightly bent.
• Pull the dumbbells to your waist, pushing your shoulder blades together.
• Lower the dumbbells back down with control.
• Perform 10-12 reps each arm for 2-3 sets, using perfect form throughout.

Dumbbell exercise has a lot of advantages for ladies. Picture sourced from Adobe Stock

7. Press-up bench

Bench presses are used to strengthen the triceps, shoulders, and chest. It works well for increasing muscular growth and strength in the upper body.

Bench press technique:

• With your feet flat on the ground and a barbell or dumbbell held straight over your chest, take a seat on a bench.
• Lift the bar or dumbbells slowly while maintaining a 45-degree angle with your elbows.
• Maintain a straight arm position by pressing the weight back up.
• Do 2-3 sets of 8–12 repetitions.

8. Ligamentous bridge

Your glutes, thighs, hamstrings, and core muscles are worked during this workout. It can strengthen your glutes and improve the stability of your lower back.

The glute bridge technique:

• Lay flat on your back with your feet hip-width apart and your knees bent.
• For support, keep your arms at your sides with your palms facing downward.
• Elevate your hips off the ground by contracting your glutes and engaging your core until your body forms a straight line from your shoulders to your knees.
• After two to three seconds of holding the bridge posture, gradually bring your hips back down to the beginning position.
• Do this 12–15 times over.

 

To strengthen your glute muscles, do this workout. Picture sourced from Adobe Stock.

9. Russian nuances

Russian twists work the abs and obliques, among other core muscles. They enhance rotational power, stability, and core strength.
The Russian twist technique:

• With your feet up and your knees bent, take a seat on the floor and slightly incline your back to activate your core.
• Using both hands, grasp a medicine ball or weight.
• As you rotate your torso to the right, place the weight next to your hip.
• After you’ve gotten back to the middle, turn left.
• Twist 12–15 times on each side for two to three sets.

10. Swings with a kettlebell

Kettlebell swings work the muscles of the posterior chain, which includes the lower back, hamstrings, glutes, and hips. They enhance cardiovascular and physical fitness.

Kettlebell swing technique:

• Position yourself with your feet shoulder-width apart and both hands on a kettlebell in front of you.
• Swing the kettlebell between your legs while adjusting your hips.
• As you raise the kettlebell to shoulder height, thrust your hips forward.
• In a smooth motion, repeat allowing the kettlebell to swing back between your legs.
• Focus on hip power and control while executing 15-20 swings throughout two to three sets.

 

Exercises using kettlebells are excellent for burning fat. Picture sourced from Adobe Stock

Additional advantages of strength training

You should be aware of the following four additional widespread advantages of strength training:

Resistance training

Also Read:

Before proceeding to inclination walking, begin with walking on level surfaces. Image credit of Freepik

Metabolism boosting

1. Increases the strength of muscles

It’s commonly recognized that strength training may improve and maintain muscular mass at any age. Regular practice helps prevent muscle loss and promote muscular growth. Strength exercise also helps your body become stronger and more resilient, increases stamina, and lessens tiredness.

2. Reduces blood pressure

Although aerobic exercise is often thought of as the ideal kind of exercise for decreasing blood pressure, research published in Scientific Reports indicates that strength training may also be beneficial. It helps enhance blood vessel function, which lowers excessive blood pressure and lowers the risk of heart disease.

3. Lowers metabolic syndrome risk

a metabolic syndrome marked by a number of illnesses that raise the risk of diabetes, heart disease, and stroke. Strengthening muscles through strength training may lower the risk of metabolic syndrome, which lowers the risk of chronic illnesses, according to a 2018 study published in Cardiovascular Diabetology.

4. Enhances joint well-being

Strength training helps reduce bone loss and promote bone growth by strengthening the muscles in the joints, which lowers the risk of osteoporosis and age-related fractures. Strength training activities efficiently enhance bone density, according to research published in the Journal of Bone and Mineral Research.

Strength training versus weightlifting

Weight loss exercises

Though there are many similarities between strength training and weightlifting, they are not exactly the same. Strength training, on the one hand, refers to resistance training activities that increase muscle strength, endurance, and general fitness. It combines a number of methods, including as employing machines, free weights, resistance bands, and body weight, and its advantages include improving bone density, muscular tone, and general physical fitness.

On the other hand, lifting large weights is referred to as weightlifting. Although they might aid in muscle and strength development, weightlifting is primarily a competitive sport rather than an activity that focuses on increasing general fitness.

For whom is strength training inappropriate?

Strength training is beneficial for everyone when done properly, but there are certain individuals who should avoid this type of exercise. Here is their identity:

Muscle building

• Strength training is not recommended for middle-aged or older individuals who are not accustomed to exercising.
  Consult your physician first if you have high blood pressure or any other cardiac-related issues.
  Strength training is not recommended for those with arthritis, osteoporosis, or recent joint injuries.
• Pregnant women need to exercise caution.
  People who are sick, have a fever, or are recovering from surgery shouldn’t work out hard.

In addition, you should stop lifting or exercising right immediately if you have any pain. If the pain persists, you should consult a doctor.