10 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.
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!
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!
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Strength training for weight loss: Can it help?
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. Obesity Reviews released a research that found strength training to be beneficial for overweight or obese people.
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10 strength training exercises for weight loss
Here are the top ten strength training activities that can help you lose weight and burn more calories:
1. Squats 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.
How to Do Deadlifts:
- 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.
strength training exercises for weight loss
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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 the chest, shoulders, triceps, and core muscles. They also increase upper-body endurance and balance.
How to Do Push-Ups:
- 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.
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 workouts have several benefits for ladies. Image courtesy: Adobe Stock.
7. Bench press
The bench press primarily works the chest, shoulders, and triceps. It is efficient in increasing upper-body strength and muscular mass.
How to Do Bench Press:
- Lie on a bench, feet flat on the floor, and a barbell or dumbbell held squarely over your chest.
- Slowly lift the bar or dumbbells while keeping elbows at a 45-degree angle.
- Push the weight back up until your arms are straight.
- Perform 8-12 repetitions over 2-3 sets.
strength training exercises for weight loss
8. Glute bridge
This exercise works the glutes, thighs, hamstrings, and core muscles. It can improve lower-back stability and strengthen your glutes.
Strength Training Exercises for Weight Loss
How to Perform a Glute Bridge:
- Lie on your back, knees bent, feet flat on the floor, hip-width apart.
- Keep your arms at your sides, palms facing down, for support.
- As you lift your hips off the ground, engage your core and tighten your glutes to make a straight line from your shoulders to your knees.
- Hold the bridge posture for 2-3 seconds before slowly lowering your hips back to the beginning position.
- Repeat for 12 to 15 times.
Try this workout to strengthen your glutes. Image courtesy of Adobe Stock.
9. Russian twists
Russian twists activate the core muscles, such as the obliques and abdominals. They increase core strength, stability, and rotational power.
Strength Training Exercises for Weight Loss
How to perform Russian twists:
- Sit on the floor, knees bent and feet raised, and lean back slightly to activate your core.
- Hold a weight or medicine ball with both hands.
- Twist your body to the right and place the weight beside your hip.
- Return to the middle, then twist to the left.
- Repeat 12-15 twists per side for 2-3 sets.
10. Kettlebell swings
Kettlebell swings focus on the posterior chain, which includes the hips, glutes, hamstrings, and lower back. They increase both physical and cardiovascular fitness.
How to perform kettlebell swings:
- Stand with your feet shoulder-width apart, holding a kettlebell in each hand in front of you.
- Hinge at your hips and swing the kettlebell between your legs.
- Swing the kettlebell up to shoulder height while you thrust your hips forward.
- Allow the kettlebell to swing back between your legs, then repeat in a continuous manner.
- Perform 15-20 swings over 2-3 sets, concentrating on hip power and control.
strength training exercises for weight loss
1. Boosts muscle strength
Strength training is widely established to help you maintain and build muscle mass at any age. Regular practice can help grow muscle and decrease muscle loss. Strength exercise also helps your body gain strength and endurance, enhance stamina, and minimize tiredness.
Strength Training Exercises for Weight Loss
2. Lowers blood pressure
While we often think of aerobic exercise as the ideal activity for decreasing blood pressure, research published in Scientific Reports suggests that strength training might also help. It improves blood vessel function, which reduces excessive blood pressure and the risk of heart disease.
3. Reduces the risk of metabolic syndrome
A metabolic syndrome is characterized by a collection of illnesses that raise the risk of heart disease, stroke, and diabetes. According to a 2018 study published in Cardiovascular Diabetology, developing muscles through strength training may lower the risk of metabolic syndrome, which in turn reduces the risk of chronic illnesses.
4. Improves joint health
Strength training boosts bone growth and slows bone loss, lowering the risk of osteoporosis and fractures associated with old age. According to research published in the Journal of Bone and Mineral Research, conducting strength training activities on a daily basis significantly enhances bone density.
Strength Training Exercises for Weight Loss
While weightlifting and strength training have many similarities, they are not fully identical. On the one hand, strength training include activities that use resistance to develop muscle strength, endurance, and general fitness. It uses a range of techniques, including body weight, resistance bands, free weights, and machines, to improve muscle tone, bone density, and general physical fitness.
Weightlifting, on the other hand, is the sport or activity of lifting large loads. While weightlifting may assist increase strength and muscle, it is primarily a competitive activity rather than one aimed at increasing general fitness.
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Strength Training Exercises for Weight Loss
Who should avoid strength training?
Strength training, when done correctly, may help everybody; nevertheless, a few people should avoid this activity. Who are they?
Strength training should be avoided by those who are in their middle or older years and are not used to exercising.
- People with osteoporosis, recent joint injuries, and arthritis should avoid strength training.
- Women who are pregnant should exercise caution.
- Those who are sick, feverish, or recuperating from surgery should avoid strenuous exercise.Aside from that, if you experience any discomfort when lifting or exercising, you should stop immediately and seek medical attention if the pain persists.
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