Looking to lose weight?

If so, then join the club, as hundreds of thousands, if not more, of other people all across the globe right this second, are looking to do the exact same thing as you.

The problem with losing weight is the fact that unhealthy food tastes so darn good, and, in another of lifes cruel yet highly ironic twists, it is much, much harder to burn fat than it is to gain it.

It can take weeks, if not months, to lose just a few pounds of body fat, yet one or two calorific meals later, and all of your hard work can potentially be undone, leaving you right back at square one.

For those of you looking to shed some serious pounds, however, the thing to remember is that weight loss, whilst complex, can be relatively easy at the same time, if you understand the basic mechanics.

Weight training for weight loss, is often vastly underappreciated and underutilized, as people tend to believe that the only physical method of burning fat is by performing cardiovascular exercise, which generally, will be performed on a treadmill or elliptical machine.

Weight training for weight loss, however, is hugely beneficial, providing you make a few tweaks here and there and understand what youre doing, and why youre doing it.

Here well be taking a look at a few basic fundamentals of weight training, common weight training and fat loss misconceptions, along with a few weight training for weight loss hints and tips that you can incorporate into your training routine.

Weight loss fundamentals

Before we take things any further, we will first begin by taking a look at a few basic weight loss fundamentals that you will need to follow, whether or not you are looking to lose weight by lifting weights or not.

Consume fresh and healthy produce The simple fact of the matter is that, in terms of weight loss, it doesnt matter how physically active you are and how intensely you exercise, if your diet and nutrition isnt on point, you are simply not going to make any real progress and you wont get anywhere fast.

Forget about the Michael Phelps diet, and Usain Bolt, who are renowned for consuming vast quantities of unhealthy food, and still performing at record-breaking levels and maintaining fantastic physiques in the process, because they are world class Olympic athletes, with amazing genetics and access to the best supplements and training equipment in the world.

For most of us, in order to lose weight, we are going to have to ensure that we consume fresh and healthy produce on a daily basis.

Avoid processed foods and foods rich in trans fats, and opt for fresh vegetables and fruits, along with fresh and natural meats, fish, and seafood.

Get your fats from healthy sources, and make sure that, for most of the time, your carbohydrates are complex as opposed to simple.

Eat at a caloric deficit It doesnt matter whether you eat cheeseburgers, pizza, ice cream, or boiled spinach leaves, all foods and drinks contain calories, and if you consume more calories than required for your BMR (Basal Metabolic Rate) you are going to gain weight.

If you consume just enough calories that are required for maintenance, you are going to maintain, and, if you consume less and create a slight caloric deficit, you are going to lose weight.

Aim for around 300 400 calories below maintenance, as that will allow you to lose weight at a healthy rate, without crashing due a lack of energy.

Drink water Forget about diet sodas and other diet beverages that are supposed to encourage weight loss, if you want the ultimate beverage that enables you to lose weight, whilst improving your health and your appearance in the process, stick with good old H20 instead.

Water boosts the metabolism, it regulates internal conditions, it promotes healthy organs and senses, and it is essential for hydration and cellular health.

Aim for around 2 litres of mineral or filtered water per day, and you will quickly see and feel the benefits.

Sleep Sleep is another critical component of any weight loss plan, and it is one which many people tend to overlook.

When we are lacking sleep, our metabolisms slow down, meaning that we struggle to lose weight and gain weight far too easily.

On top of that, a lack of sleep leaves you tired and irritable, meaning that you are less likely to want to go to the gym and train.

On the flip side, getting enough sleep boosts the metabolism, and leaves you feeling fresh and energized, so your workouts become much more productive.

Weight training for weight loss

As mentioned, people tend to think that weight training is only for people trying to build muscle, and fat loss is only achievable by performing cardio.

In reality, however, you can still burn off countless pounds of body fat, and build and maintain lean muscle mass in the process, by simply lifting weights.

Here is a look at weight training for weight loss and how you can tweak your training so that the pounds melt right off of you.

Increase rep ranges Most typical bodybuilding routines will require you to perform a steady 8 12 reps per working set, and whilst those rep ranges are beneficial for hypertrophy, for people looking to burn body fat, you should think about increasing your rep ranges.

Rather than 8 12 reps, try 20 25 reps instead. In order to do this, you will need to reduce the amount of weight you lift slightly, but by the time you reach 15 reps or so, your muscles will be on fire, and your heart rate will be elevated a fair deal.

The more your heart rate increases, the more calories you will be burning, which means that the more fat you will burn as a result.

Reduce recovery times Another great way of increasing the number of calories you burn during your resistance training sessions, is to simply reduce your recovery times in between working sets.

Most people will perform a working set and will rest for 2 4 minutes before jumping onto the next set.

Some people will reduce their recovery times for just 1 minute, but for maximum calorie burning efficiency, aim for around 30 45 seconds of recovery in between working sets.

This will help your heart rate elevated into the fat burning zone, which is around 65% of its max capacity, which obviously will result in some impressive fat losses.

Never compromise form or technique, however, so if you are still weak and tired during your next set, either have longer to recover, or reduce the weight slightly.

Circuit training Another fantastic way of really shedding those stubborn pounds of fat whilst avoiding the dreaded treadmill is to perform circuit training workouts.

With circuit training, you will set up several stations for each round, and will jump from each station the next, with virtually no rest between stactions or recovery.

So, for example, a typical circuit may look like:

Circuit 1

Flat bench barbell press 10 reps

Wide grip lat pull downs 10 reps

Leg press machine 10 reps

Repeat the circuit for 3 rounds

Circuit 2

Seated dumbbell shoulder press 10 reps

Double arm dumbbell curls 10 reps

Triceps rope pushdowns 20 reps

Repeat the circuit for 3 rounds

Super sets Finally, for those of you looking to maximize muscle growth, and fat loss in the process, you may wish to consider super setting various exercises.

Say for example, you train chest, you will perform one heavy compound exercise, with a slightly lighter isolation exercise that targets the same muscle group.

So, again, barbell bench presses, may be a super set with cable crossovers.

With this, you would perform, say, 8 12 reps on the bench press, and would then jump onto the cable machine and would perform, say 15 reps of cable crossovers.

Repeat this process a further 4 times and your heart rate increases, and you have a fantastic cardio workout.