Will Lifting Weights Help You Burn Fat?

Slogging on the treadmill can be an effective way to shed pounds and boost your long-term health, but it’s not your only option. While cardio workouts may torch more calories, studies suggest lifting weights is better for overall fat loss (1). 

The link between strength training and fat loss is more complex than it seems. Strength training builds muscle, and “more muscle equals a higher metabolic rate, which keeps body fat lower over time,” says Montel Hardin, C.P.T., a personal trainer who specializes in body composition. New research also suggests that lifting weights might be particularly good for burning fat (2). 

Still, fat burn doesn’t always equate to fat loss. Experts explain what resistance training can and can’t do for fat loss. And how to tweak your routine to maximize results.

About the Experts

Montel Hardin, NCSF-C.P.T., is a certified sports nutrition and personal trainer, and founder of Hardin Athletix. He combines training, nutrition, and recovery strategies to help his clients drop body fat, build muscle, and maximize their health and fitness.

Cole Fritz, NASM-C.P.T., is a certified personal trainer dedicated to building strength, fitness, and confidence in his clients without restrictive dieting.  

Does Lifting Weights Burn Fat?

Lifting weights doesn’t directly burn fat for energy during workouts like lower-intensity cardio (think jogging and cycling), but it does influence fat burn in other ways. 

While it’s well known that resistance training can indirectly enhance fat burning due to the adaptations created in muscle and other tissues, we’re finding ways it may directly switch on fat burning. For example, animal studies have demonstrated that muscles release compounds that directly initiate lipolysis—the breakdown of fat stores into fatty acids (2). 

Human studies also suggest that high-intensity training, like circuit training or CrossFit, may promote the use of fatty acids released during your workout for energy and muscle repair (3).

You may also burn more calories after your workout because your body needs more energy (aka calories) to recover after resistance training—an effect called excess post-exercise oxygen consumption (or EPOC), explains personal trainer Cole Fritz, C.P.T. Studies suggest strength training and high-intensity exercise are more effective for triggering EPOC compared to steady-state cardio, like swimming, cycling, or jogging (4).

Can Lifting Weights Actually Help You Lose Fat?

Yes, lifting weights can help with fat loss. One study suggests that performing just one to two hours of resistance training a few days a week can significantly reduce your body fat percentage, fat mass, visceral fat, and risk of obesity (1, 5).

Resistance training can also boost your metabolism. “Muscle is like the high-performance engine of your body. The more muscle you have [from resistance training], the more calories your body naturally burns, even while you’re kicking back on the couch,” says Hardin. Ultimately, a faster metabolism helps you burn more calories throughout the day, which could lead to greater fat loss over time. 

So, lifting weights can help you lose fat faster—as long as you’re in a calorie deficit, says Fritz.

Reread that last part. 

Even though strength training can contribute to fat loss, creating a calorie deficit is still the key to losing weight (6). But you can yield faster and better results—for fat loss, overall health, and longevity—if you successfully implement both (7). 

LOSE WEIGHT

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How to Tweak Your Strength Routine for Fat Loss

Here’s what Fritz and Hardin suggest focusing on to boost fat loss.

Strength train for fat loss

Yes, strength training in general can help. But to lose fat, Fritz recommends narrowing your training focus based on where you are in your fat loss journey:

Beginning Stage

Start light, maybe even with bodyweight exercises if this is your first time stepping foot in the gym in a while. Build strength by progressively lifting heavier weights as you get stronger. 

Just don’t overdo it. “You want to do enough to see results but also ensure you’re not going to get injured in the process,” says Fritz. Focus on recovery, especially in the beginning when muscle soreness is at an all-time high.

Middle Stage

When losing fat, it’s easy to lose some muscle along the way. To minimize muscle loss, Fritz recommends moderate-volume strength workouts. Aim for 3 to 4 sets of 8 to 12 reps and a rest period of around 60 seconds in between. This volume encourages muscle growth, while the shorter rest periods keep your heart rate elevated to promote even more fat loss.

Later Stage

The further you get in your fat loss journey, the harder it is to see results from the same tricks. Continue to make your strength workouts more challenging over time. If you hit a fat loss plateau, you may also need to adjust your calorie deficit, protein intake, or cardio routine to ensure you’re striking the right balance to continue losing fat and not muscle. 

Focus on compound moves

Compound movements like squats, deadlifts, and bench presses hit several muscle groups at once. Working different muscle groups in one go means you can build muscle and burn calories more efficiently, explains Hardin. A win-win.

Increase your intensity

Both Hardin and Fritz suggest circuit training to burn more calories during your strength workouts. Firing up the intensity and cutting down on rest time is like a double-whammy for fat burn. Plus, these shorter stints in the gym will save you time and still reap huge benefits. 

“Include compound and explosive exercises like thrusters, power cleans, and kettlebell swings,” Hardin says. “These high-power moves elevate your heart rate quickly.” 

Slow down the eccentric

Want to see even better results in the gym? “The key is to move with control, especially on the lowering phase (eccentric),” says Hardin. Controlling your movements both when lifting and lowering your weights puts more stress on your muscles, burning more energy and ramping up the afterburn effect to torch fat even after you leave the gym, he adds. 

For the average strength workout (4-8 exercises, 2-4 sets, 8-12 reps, at a load of 60 to 70 percent of your one-rep max), EPOC only burns about 35 more calories (8). However, increase the volume (reps and sets lifted) and emphasize eccentric contractions, and you can burn significantly more—550 calories on average over the following 72 hours (9). 

Dial in your diet

You can lose weight with diet or exercise alone, but you’re more likely to lose weight when you optimize both (7). To lose weight, your body needs to burn more calories than it consumes, creating a calorie deficit. 

But working out on less fuel is easier said than done, notes Hardin. Emphasize nutrient-dense, whole foods like fruits, veggies, lean protein, and healthy fats like avocado and olive oil. These foods promote satiety, unlike ultra-processed foods. When you get the vitamins, minerals, and other essential nutrients you need from whole foods, you’ll be less likely to crave highly processed, calorie-dense foods, which makes it easier to stick to your goals. 

Prioritize protein

According to Hardin, sufficient protein intake is particularly important for both fat loss and muscle preservation. Protein increases satiety, which makes it easier to stick to a calorie deficit. It also fuels muscle recovery from intense workouts, like lifting weights.

“If you’re in a calorie deficit, bumping up your protein intake and adding heavy-weight training can really change your body composition. You’ll burn more calories, which leads to more fat loss,” adds Fritz. “The body also wants to adapt, so when you create opportunities for muscle growth, the body will respond well to that.” 

Both Fritz and Hardin recommend consuming 0.8 to 1 gram of protein per pound of body weight per day for muscle growth, but in a calorie deficit, aim for the higher end of that range—1 gram per pound.