When most people want to lose weight, they tend to gravitate toward treadmills, ellipticals, and other cardio-based exercises. Fewer people try weightlifting because they believe adding these workouts to their routines will result in bulky muscles and weight gain. 

However, adding weightlifting to your routine can actually help you achieve your weight loss goals faster. In this blog, we'll explain how weightlifting speeds up weight loss.

Increases Metabolism

When you add weightlifting exercises to your workout, you grow your muscle mass. As your muscles develop, your metabolism also naturally increases over time. Boosting your metabolism is essential to weight loss because a higher metabolism will allow your body to burn more calories faster.

Although running, walking, and other cardio exercises will also burn calories, having a boosted metabolic rate will help your body burn calories at a heightened pace throughout the day and ultimately speed up your weight loss.

Tones Muscles

Many people fear that weightlifting at the gym will cause weight gain instead of weight loss. However, this thinking is flawed for several reasons. Technically, yes, since muscle weighs more than fat, weightlifting can increase your weight.

However, this additional weight does not mean that your muscles will become large and bulky. For your muscles to gain considerable size, you would need to follow a high-calorie and high-protein diet to maintain them. 

If you don’t follow such a diet, growth in your muscles will mainly burn surrounding fat in your arms, legs, and core. As a result, weightlifting will tone your body into a more lean and slender figure. While you may technically weigh more, your body mass index will be significantly lower.

The Afterburn Effect

One of the most impressive ways that weightlifting speeds up weight loss is by burning calories even after you’ve finished exercising. Since weightlifting naturally boosts your metabolic rate, regular bursts of intense weightlifting workouts can raise your metabolism high enough to burn calories for hours even after you’ve completed your exercise sessions. This reaction is known as the afterburn effect, and it’s commonly linked to faster weight loss. 

If your weight loss journey has plateaued, adding weightlifting to your routine could give your body the boost it needs. Don't let the fear of gaining bulky muscles prevent you from trying these beneficial workouts and seeing great results. 

Here at American Home Fitness, our workout supply stores offer the best in weightlifting and strength-building equipment to make your weight loss journey simpler. Visit our website for more information on how we can support your fitness goals.