Strength Train to Shed Pounds

Exercise physiologist and certified personal trainer Bob Greene has helped millions of people slim down, most recently with his online program TheBestLife.com. The best-selling author shares the sure-fire strategies for losing weight, protecting your health and living your best life.

When it comes to peeling off pounds, most people focus on either all cardio or all strength training. But the truth is, to lose weight and stay healthy you need to include both in your fitness plan. Running, swimming, biking and other aerobic activities help you burn more calories. They boost your oxygen consumption (both during and after a workout), which causes a number of changes in the body that increase your metabolism.

But if you combine aerobic activity with strength training, you get extra calorie-burning benefits. As you strengthen your body, you enable it to work at an even higher level aerobically, and thus, you increase the number of calories you burn. Plus, the more muscle you have, the more calories you burn. Often, when people start shedding pounds, they tend to shed a bit of muscle, too. While the number on the scale may be lower, you're actually at a disadvantage from a weight-loss perspective because it takes the body more energy (aka calories) to maintain muscle tissue than fat. Basically, if you lose muscle, you're losing vital calorie-burning tissue, and that's where strength training comes in.

Working with weights can be intimidating at first, but you don't have to use complicated machines or even do that many exercises to see results. A simple set of dumbbells (the weights should to be heavy enough to fatigue your muscles after eight to 10 repetitions) and these eight moves are all you need to get a complete strength-training workout. Besides working all the major muscle groups, this routine will help you lose body fat, improve your overall health, increase your muscular performance and enhance your overall appearance.



Begin with one or two sets per exercise, eight to 10 repetitions per set, three times a week. (Take no more than 15 to 30 seconds rest in between sets). You may find you can't make eight to 10 reps in the second set, but that's OK -- it's evidence you're working hard enough in the first set to produce changes in your muscles and, as your strength improves, you'll eventually make the reps. Finally, don't forget to assess your progress, adding a set or two and/or adjusting your weight as the moves become easier. Eventually, you can add another day. Your ultimate goal: Three sets of each exercise, eight to 10 reps, every other day. Remember to check in with your doctor before making any changes to your exercise routine.