Does Strength Training Burn Fat?

As a workout type, strength training comes with a host of benefits, including building muscle, strengthening bones, supporting brain health, and reducing the risk of many chronic conditions. Because of this, it has become increasingly popular and a highly recommended component of so many fitness routines. But before adopting strength training, many people want to know if strength training will help them burn fat, specifically.

A common misconception here is that only cardiovascular exercise burns fat. While cardiovascular exercise certainly does burn fat—along with strengthening the heart and lungs, lowering blood pressure and heart rate, and boosting the immune system—strength training can help you burn fat as well.

For those with limited time for an exercise program—or who just don’t enjoy doing a lot of cardiovascular activity—this is good news. While strength training shouldn’t be the only type of exercise in your fitness plan, it can certainly help you burn fat and burn calories, if that’s your goal.

Below, we’ll dig into everything you need to know about strength training’s effect on fat loss, including:

• How your body burns fat

• How does strength training burn fat?

• How does strength training compare to cardio exercise for fat loss?

• Tips for using strength training to burn fat

• Common myths about strength training and fat loss

Let’s dig in!

How your body burns fat

The body’s process for burning fat for energy is complex, and everyone is different. Any physical movement you do requires some form of energy, and when you exercise, your body burns through the stored energy in your muscles first. Then, if you continue the exercise activity, your body uses the energy stored in your fat cells to sustain the activity you’re engaging in. 

Since everyone’s body processes are different and unique to them, the fat-burning process may take less time or more time for any given individual. 

How does strength training burn fat?

Over the long term (and when done correctly), strength training—also known as resistance training—increases your body’s muscle mass. Your body’s resting metabolism is influenced by the amount of muscle you have, so increasing muscle mass can help boost your metabolic rate.

Building muscle will boost your metabolism, which will in turn, help you burn fat. In fact, a review of 18 studies indicates that resistance training may even be more effective than cardiovascular exercise for boosting your metabolism.

Plus, according to recent research, when resistance training is done properly and consistently, it places stress on the muscles that causes cellular changes that can more efficiently trigger the fat-burning process in fat cells.

Strength training also triggers an afterburn effect, which means your body continues to burn fat even after your workout is done (sometimes for several hours after!). While you’re working out, you take in more oxygen than you do at rest, and that oxygen remains in your system after you exercise, supporting the fat-burning process for a period of time after your training session. 

How does strength training compare to cardio exercise for fat loss?

Both types of exercise are important for different benefits, and they can both help your body burn fat. Rather than choosing between the two types of exercises, the best approach is to alternate between strength and cardio training as part of a comprehensive exercise plan. 

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommends at least 150 minutes of moderate aerobic activity or 75 minutes of vigorous activity weekly, plus muscle-strengthening exercises twice a week. Ideally, you’ll want a 12- to 24-hour recovery window in which you perform cardio one day and strength training another day. 

Mixing up your workout routine with a variety of cardio and strength training exercises can also help with your recovery efforts, prevent burnout, and keep you motivated to keep prioritizing exercise. 

Tips for using strength training to burn fat

Looking to incorporate strength training into your exercise routine to help burn fat? Here are some tips to maximize its effect and make it work for you: 

1. Prioritize proper nutrition

You’ve probably heard the saying, “You can’t outtrain a bad diet.” Proper nutrition is a necessary component to lose body fat and see progress over time. Good nutrition habits can’t be ignored or overlooked and should be considered an essential part of an overall fitness program.

As a general guideline, you’ll want to avoid processed foods, ensure you’re eating enough protein, and aim for more nutrient-dense meals that include a mix of vegetables, fruits, lean proteins, and whole grains. Stick to your nutrition plan and pair it with regular strength training for effective fat loss.

2. Learn proper form 

Good form is key for strength training. Making sure you are doing exercises properly will help you avoid injury and ensure you’re getting the most benefit from the workout. Hydrow’s library of strength workouts are led by qualified instructors and can take you through a full workout and help you learn proper form.

3. Be consistent

Being consistent with your exercise program is one of the most important keys to seeing progress. Exercising on a regular schedule reduces the risk of injuries and helps you see progress in burning fat in a realistic timeframe. 

Setting yourself up to exercise at home with dumbbells, kettlebells, or resistance bands is a good way to ensure you get the recommended sessions into your schedule. 

4. Try out compound movements

Compound movements (or multi-joint movements), are movements that engage multiple muscle groups in a single exercise. They are a very efficient way to get a good strength workout and are effective at maximizing fat loss due to the metabolic boost. Some examples of compound movements to include in your workouts are: 

• Squats

• Pull-ups

• Bench presses

• Lunges

• Shoulder presses

5. Incorporate high-intensity interval training (HIIT)

High-intensity interval training (HIIT) is another efficient way to get a very effective workout. HIIT requires you to move from exercise to exercise with short rest intervals in between, raising your heart rate. Keeping your heart rate up for the duration of the workout can boost your calorie burn.

6. Focus on progressive overload

Progressive overload is a critical component of strength training. It’s essential for making progress and seeing body changes. Progressive overload is when you gradually increase the difficulty of your workouts over time. If you continue to do the same thing every workout, you will eventually stagnate and stop making progress. This is referred to as “adaptation,” which you can avoid by keeping yourself continually challenged and changing up your exercises. 

Some common ways to incorporate progressive overload in your workouts include:

• Increase the weight you are lifting

• Increase the number of repetitions you are completing

• Increase the number of sets you are completing

Progressive overload should be done gradually—be sure you aren’t sacrificing form and safety just to add more weight or reps.

7. Don’t forget to recover!

Rest and recovery in between strength sessions gives your muscles time to repair and rebuild, which is necessary to get stronger and produce hypertrophy, or increased muscle size. One to two days in between each strength training workout is the optimal interval for the repair process. Allowing time to rest and repair will give the best results. 

Common myths about strength training and fat loss

There’s a lot of available information out there about fitness and strength training so it’s important to make sure you know the facts. Some common myths about strength training are:

1. Spot reduction is possible

The idea that you can reduce the fat on a specific area of your body (for example, your hips) by doing targeted exercises is not accurate. When your body burns fat, it affects the fat cells all over your body, not just in one area. 

When you strength train one area of the body, the muscles in that area will get stronger and bigger and will change the look and shape of that area. But this is due to muscle tissue, not fat burning.

2. Muscle is heavier

People often say that muscle weighs more than fat. But a pound of muscle and a pound of fat weigh the same. What this common misconception actually means (but is usually stated wrong) is that muscle is denser than fat. One pound of fat takes up three times more volume than one pound of muscle. So as you build muscle, your weight may not change, but your body composition and shape will.

3. “No pain, no gain”

Exercise can be uncomfortable, and it’s normal if it is. But pain is another matter. Pain is a way for your body to tell you something is wrong. Discomfort or fatigue during a lifting session is fine, but if you start to feel sharp pain in a muscle or joint, stop immediately to avoid further injury. 

4. Lifting heavy will make you bulky

For many people, having big muscles is not their goal, and they avoid lifting heavy to avoid being bulky. But realistically, the only way you would get truly bulky is to follow a strict and strenuous lifting and nutrition program for a long time. Your genetics also play a role here. Lifting heavy will add muscle mass, but as part of a comprehensive exercise plan that includes good nutrition and recovery, it will help you burn fat and reshape your body.

Let's lift!

Strength training has a lot of amazing qualities like increasing our muscle mass, strengthening our bones, reducing our risk of injuries, and improving our balance and mobility. And you can add boosting fat burning to that list. Including two to four strength sessions a week into your routine will give you all these benefits and more. 

Hydrow’s extensive workout library includes strength training workouts as well as rowing workouts that work 86% of your body’s muscles in one stroke. Learn more today!