Every weekend over the next few months, I am going to be examining each of the New Rules of Lifting from Lou Schuler and Alwyn Cosgrove’s new book. This is rule #18.
You don’t need endurance exercise to burn fat.
The idea is that weight training can lead to an increased metabolism for a few days, while endurance exercise only revs up your metabolism for a few hours after you are done working out. If you work out hard enough in the gym and eat properly afterwards, then you will have no trouble losing weight.
I can not really comment on this. I agree that after a really tough workout in the gym I tend to be really hungry afterwards, but I am also really hungry after a tough running workout. My regimen usually includes a fairly balanced mix of weight lifting and running, and the only problems that I have controlling my weight are making sure that I eat enough to not waste away.
I’ve gotten pretty good at controlling my weight over the last 4 years after having gone through a decade of obesity. There are two issues in weight loss: getting calories down and keeping your metabolism up as calories go down.
I know of no one who has tried serious weight loss who has not had issues with the second. That is where cardio almost always plays a role.
The trick is to not rob your body of too many calories, though. Otherwise, your body will start to store fat as it prepares itself for a famine, which is the opposite of what you want to happen by starving yourself.
I think you’re right. It’s a fine line. My current approach is to figure out what I need for maintnenance and then to cut from there. I think multiple meals per day helps.