If you’re trying to lose weight and burn fat, there are two different ways that you can achieve this.

One method will help you lose a limited amount of fat in the short term by burning massive amounts of calories per workout. This method is only effective for a short amount of time (usually between 1-3 months) before it loses its effectiveness and you hit a plateau. The other method (incorporating strength training) is a more long-term strategy that yields greater fat loss over time by boosting your metabolism through resistance training. 

Which is the right method for you? The most effective exercise plan to get rid of fat—and keep it off—will include a balance of both methods. 

Lots of Cardio (Duration of Effectiveness: 1-3 months)

Remember that every time you move, your body burns calories to fuel your muscles. The more you move, the more calories you burn.

That’s the logic behind quick fix fat-loss programs that have you doing a bunch of cardio or high intensity circuits and intervals.  You’ll see this kind of training in boot camp-style classes and in workout programs like Orange Theory or Beach Body.

The goal in these workouts is burn as many calories as possible in a single workout instance by getting your heart rate up and keeping you moving. 

When beginners to fitness start these kinds of programs, they usually see a significant amount of weight loss in the first month or two. Then, by about month 3 their progress begins to slow to a halt and they hit what’s called a weight loss plateau. 

If this has happened to you, you may be wondering what happened? What am I doing wrong? Why am I not seeing the same progress as before?

The problem is that doing lots of cardio and high intensity alone isn’t a viable long-term solution for weight loss. 

Our bodies are “adaptation machines,” as Mindpump’s Sal di Stefano says. Over time, your body will get more efficient at doing lots of cardiovascular exercise. It will burn fewer calories and save more energy during the same workout that used to burn tons of calories in the beginning. 

Remember that our bodies are built for the wild. When our ancestors were hunters and gatherers, there would be times when food was scarce and they had to walk or run long distances while avoiding getting eaten by lions, wolves, and bears. Our bodies have a built-in mechanism to slow down our metabolism during times of scarcity and weight loss to ensure our survival. When you cut calories and do tons of cardio, your body thinks that you’re in danger of starvation! 

The bottom line is: programs that heavily rely on cardiovascular exercise alone are only going to get you so far in your weight loss journey. It doesn’t take long for them to lose their effectiveness. 

Once you reach that plateau point, if you want to continue to burn body fat you’ll need to increase either your workout intensity or the amount of time you spend on it. 

The problem is that you will inevitably reach another plateau within 1-3 months again after increasing your time and intensity. Eventually you’ll reach a point where it’s no longer feasible to keep adding more time or intensity to your workouts to keep up your fat loss.

For this reason, you’ll need to incorporate the second method of working out for fat loss--resistance training. This method will allow you to actually trick your body into keeping your metabolism high and even increase your total calorie burn--even on the days that you don’t work out. 

Resistance Training for Fat Loss (Duration of Effectiveness: Infinite)

Many people have found resistance training to be the “secret weapon” to getting rid of body fat and keeping it off. 

Think of your muscles as engines that need fuel to run. The fuel these engines use is calories --coming either from the food that you eat or the fat that your body has stored. When you build muscle, it’s like adding more engines to your body, which each require more fuel. The more muscle you build, the more calories you’ll burn to keep your body moving and functioning.

Resistance training will help you to build muscle, add more engines to your body, and keep your calorie burn high. 

Many people--especially women--are hesitant to incorporate resistance training into their exercise plan because they fear becoming too “muscley” or “bulky.” First of all, please note that it is actually very difficult to bulk up--even if you want to! The body builders that you see in Men’s Fitness magazines have worked for a long time (and probably have had the help of steroids) to get to their size. For women, it’s even harder to grow muscles and “look muscular” because we aren’t built with the same body composition as men (who come with larger muscles to begin with and also have the added help of more testosterone). 

As a woman, you’re not going to experience “bulk” unless you work out in a very specific type of training plan geared towards bulk, for a really long time, and with the help of supplements and/or steroids. If bulk is your goal, just know that it’s going to take a lot of work, a lot of time, and a very specific type of diet to get you there.

Another thing that holds people back from incorporating resistance training in their workouts is that it doesn’t yield the same calorie burn per workout as cardio-based workouts. If you wear a heart rate monitor, you may have gotten used to judging the effectiveness of your workout based on the amount of calories you burned while working out, or the amount of time your heart rate was in a specific target zone. 

Resistance training for strength and muscle building is a completely different way to workout that will take some getting used to. Resistance training sessions might not get you the same high calorie burn per workout as the cardio-based programs. However the long term effects of boosting your metabolism through resistance training is well worth the time and energy, since it will keep your calorie burn high both during your cardio workouts and in your everyday life. You’ll burn more calories overall by incorporating resistance training into your exercise plan, allowing you to lose more fat in the long run.

Experts recommend 2-3 days per week of strength training to keep your exercise plan effective.

Why not both?

Now I’ll be honest. I really love high-intensity, kick-my-butt training sessions that get my heart pumping and make me sweat like a pig. But is it necessary to train like that to burn fat and reach your bodyweight goals?

No.

If high intensity is your particular cup of tea--that’s okay! Many people like to go for this option for a number of reasons. Some people find high-intensity workouts to be more fun (myself included). Others really want to see quick results in a short amount of time. That’s fine.

Just keep in mind that this method is short term and has a limited capacity for sustained weight loss. 

However for long-term, sustainable weight loss, you have to incorporate resistance training into your exercise routine. It may not be as exciting as jumping jacks and plyometrics, but you really can’t argue against a faster metabolism that helps you to burn more fat in the long run.

About the Author

Jayd Harrison is a personal trainer and content creator. She helps people to build muscle, burn fat, and clean up their diets with her online coaching programs and social media content. Check out some of Jayd’s coaching videos on Youtube, or join Jayd live on Twitch and follow on social media.