Does strength training help you lose weight?
It burns fat but barely shifts the scales. In trials of people with overweight or obesity, weights alone cut about 1 kg of fat. Lean mass, like muscle, rose 0.8 kg, so weight hardly changed.
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Does strength training help you lose weight?
It helps you lose fat more than weight. A review of 114 trials looked at people with overweight or obesity. Weights alone cut about 1.0 kg of fat and 1.6% body fat, compared with people who didn’t train.
The catch is lean mass, everything in your body that isn’t fat, such as muscle. It rose by 0.8 kg. So body weight fell by just 0.1 kg, too small to count.
| What changed | Weights alone | Weights plus eating less |
|---|---|---|
| Fat | About 1.0 kg less | About 5.3 kg less |
| Lean mass, like muscle | About 0.8 kg more | Kept, no clear change |
| Weight on the scales | 0.1 kg less, too small to count | About 5.3 kg less |
Sources: Lopez 2022; Lopez 2022 tables
Think of a packed suitcase. Swap a jumper for boots and it weighs the same, but what’s inside has changed. So a flat scale doesn’t mean the weights aren’t working.
Check your waist as well as the scales. If your BMI is under 35, the NHS says try to keep your waist under half your height. It adds that BMI can’t tell muscle from fat.
Cardio or weights: which is better for fat loss?
For fat on its own, cardio. In a US trial, 119 inactive adults with overweight or obesity trained for 8 months. Cardio cut more weight and fat than weights did.
Weights built more lean mass. Doing both took twice the time, and didn’t cut more fat than cardio alone.
| Training | What it did best |
|---|---|
| Cardio | More weight and fat loss than weights. |
| Weights | More lean mass than cardio. |
| Both | Fat loss like cardio, more lean mass, twice the time. |
Source: Willis 2012
UK advice asks for both. The NHS says do strength work on at least 2 days a week. It adds at least 150 minutes of moderate activity, like brisk walking.
Weights also protect muscle while you diet. An overview of reviews looked at adults with overweight or obesity. One review in it found weights cut the lean mass lost during weight loss by about 0.8 kg.
Our gym plan for weight loss fits both into one week.
What is the best weight training for fat loss?
There isn’t one best routine. A review of 58 trials in healthy adults found full-body weights cut 1.46% body fat. How much people did, and how plans were built, wasn’t linked to the size of the result.
So pick a plan that works your whole body and that you’ll keep doing. The NHS lists lifting weights, resistance bands, push-ups and sit-ups.
Weight training for fat loss, step by step
- 1
Whole body
Work your legs, hips, back, belly, chest, shoulders and arms.
- 2
2 days a week
At least 2 days, on the same or different days as your cardio.
- 3
Work hard enough
Keep going until you need a short rest before the next set, a round of repeats (reps).
- 4
Build up slowly
Add reps over time as each exercise gets easier.
New to weights? Start with our two-day strength routine. Then use progressive overload to know when to add weight.
Does weight lifting work for women and belly fat?
Yes for women. In the 58-trial review, the effect on body fat didn’t differ by sex. The 114-trial review found the results held across age and sex groups.
For belly fat, weights cut visceral fat in both reviews. That’s the deep belly fat around your organs.
Sit-ups on their own are a different story. In one small trial, 6 weeks of belly exercises, 5 days a week, didn’t shrink belly fat or waist size. People could do more curl-ups, though.
So train your whole body, not just your belly. See strength training for women and how to lose belly fat.
How do you lose weight with weight training?
Add eating less. In the 114-trial review, weights plus eating fewer calories cut about 5.3 kg of fat, and lean mass was kept.
The UK’s Chief Medical Officers, the government’s top doctors, agree. They say diet is the important factor in weight management, and activity plays a supporting role.
Your lifting for fat loss checklist
- Do full-body strength work on at least 2 days a week.
- Keep up at least 150 minutes of moderate activity a week, like brisk walking, as well.
- Keep each exercise going until you need a short rest before the next set, a round of repeats (reps).
- Add reps slowly as each exercise gets easier.
- Eat and drink fewer calories than your body uses.
- Check your waist as well as the scales.
Sources: NHS: activity guidelines; NHS: strength exercises; NHS: obesity
Not sure how much to eat? Our guide to calories to lose weight sets out the numbers.
On a GLP-1 weight loss medicine, such as Wegovy? Both fat and muscle drop. The CMOs say strength work is likely to be especially important for keeping muscle.
Never stop or change a prescribed medicine without your prescriber.
When to speak to a GP
Speak to a GP if:
- You haven’t exercised for some time, or you have medical conditions or concerns. The NHS says speak to your GP first.
- Your BMI is overweight or obese and you want help to lose weight, or your waist is more than half your height.
- Your BMI is overweight or obese and you have pre-diabetes, diabetes, high blood pressure, joint pain, high cholesterol, or heart or blood vessel disease.
- Your BMI is overweight or obese and you have sleep apnoea, where breathing stops and starts in sleep, or a family history of obesity.
- You have, or think you may have, an eating disorder, such as binge eating.
Call 999 for sudden chest pain or discomfort that doesn’t go away. It can feel like squeezing or pressure inside your chest, burning or indigestion.
The same goes for pain that spreads to either arm, your neck, jaw, stomach or back. Or chest pain with feeling sweaty, sick, light-headed or short of breath.