Strength Training Is No Slouch for Shedding Pounds

September 28, 2021
Steven Reinberg

Strength training can help you lose weight, Australian researchers report.

Their new study reports you can lose a percentage of body fat through strength training alone that is similar to weight loss through cardio or aerobics.

"A lot of people think that if you want to lose weight, you need to go out and run," said researcher Mandy Hagstrom, an exercise physiologist and senior lecturer at the University of New South Wales School of Medical Sciences.

"But our findings show that even when strength training is done on its own, it still causes a favorable loss of body fat without having to consciously diet or go running," she said in a university news release.

Hagstrom's team looked at 58 previously published studies that included 3,000 participants in all, none of whom had any previous weight training experience.

Participants worked out for about 45 to 60 minutes each session an average of three times a week. On average, they lost 1.4% of their total body fat, roughly equal to 1.2 pounds in fat mass.

Despite these findings, Hagstrom thinks the best approach to lose fat is to eat nutritiously and have an exercise routine that includes aerobic/cardio work and strength training.

"If you want to exercise to change your body composition, you've got options," Hagstrom said. "Do what exercise you want to do and what you're most likely to stick to it."

The report was published recently in the journal Sports Medicine.

More information

For more on losing weight, see the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

SOURCE: University of New South Wales, Australia, news release, Sept. 22, 2021

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