Did you know you can supercharge your weight loss journey with strength training?
Losing weight requires time, consistency and a willingness to push yourself in order to achieve your goals. However, it's entirely possible to lose fat while building muscle, leaving you stronger than when you began working out. There are plenty of things can help you lose weight including committing to a balanced diet and consistently working out. Adding a strength training program to your regimen isn't always the most common strategy, but it can make a huge difference in helping you hit your fitness goals. Strength training increases your overall metabolism, amps up the calories you burn while working out and helps you to build more muscle mass during your time at the gym. By changing your body composition, you're able to burn fat even when you're not actively working out. To break it all down, I spoke with fitness experts who explained exactly how strength training supports fat loss and what strategies will help you maximize results. Looking for more fitness tips? Check out how many calories you need to burn to lose weight, simple ways to shed body fat at home, and how to achieve that elusive balance of losing weight while gaining lean muscle. Strength training can help you burn more fat. Grace Carey/Getty Images Cardio versus strength training There's a constant back-and-forth argument about which is more efficient in reaching your ideal physique: cardio or strength training. According to New York City-based personal trainer Oscar Colon IV, cardio is ideal for burning more calories during a workout session — and it's key to keeping your heart strong — but strength training affects your body differently. "Strength training has a two-pronged effect because you burn calories during the workout and during the recovery and restoration of muscle groups you worked," he says. As a result, you get more results for your effort. It's still a good idea to incorporate both cardio and strength training into a well-balanced fitness plan, so you can reap all the…