Why is muscle training so important? The key is that muscle is the "capital" for weight loss

I often say that "muscle is the foundation of weight loss". Although muscle mass will not increase immediately due to muscle training, by gradually increasing the amount of muscle, more calories can be consumed in daily life. As long as we gain a little more muscle in our daily lives, muscles will help us burn more calories even if we accidentally eat or drink too much during a dinner party or travel.

In other words, muscles are like "private money" saved for emergencies. Although muscles are indispensable for weight loss, there used to be a saying that "strength training (anaerobic exercise) cannot burn fat, so it is not helpful for weight loss."

However, studies in recent years have shown that strength training (anaerobic exercise) has the same or better effect than aerobic exercise when losing weight. Specifically, these effects are as follows:

●Consume calories (break down fat).

●Activate and strengthen muscles.

●Promote blood circulation and increase basal metabolic rate.

●Synthesize and dissipate body heat.

Especially the first point about "burning calories". When engaging in anaerobic exercises, such as strength training, calories are not directly consumed, but rather the glycogen stored in the muscles is consumed. This is the main reason for the misunderstanding that "strength training cannot make people lose weight".

However, once the glycogen stored in the muscles is consumed, the substances contained in the muscles will be deficient and must be replenished. Therefore, after exercise, the body will use the fat that has been stored in advance to replenish the reduced glycogen.

The body will break down the fat stored in fat cells, produce glycogen, and then transport them to the muscles for replenishment. In other words, "even after exercise, fat will continue to burn." This is the principle of anaerobic exercise to lose weight.

Therefore, even strength training can burn fat. Not only that, after eating carbohydrates such as rice and bread that easily increase blood sugar, doing muscle strength training under high blood sugar levels will allow muscles to absorb glycogen directly from the blood and have the effect of "preventing fat from accumulating." Therefore, when you feel that you have "accidentally eaten too much", doing strength training can effectively prevent weight gain.

Why do you need to do strength training even if you don’t want to build muscle?

Muscles lie dormant when not in use, so they can be used when needed, but if you don't develop a habit of doing it, it will be difficult to wake them up when needed. If you use your muscles frequently on a daily basis, they will be easier to awaken and can exert greater power in an emergency. This phenomenon is called "muscle activation."

If the muscles are not activated and remain in a dormant state, calorie consumption cannot be increased. Therefore, in order to make it easier to burn calories, it is necessary to wake up the muscles. Just by doing this, calorie consumption can be greatly increased.

Many people have a misunderstanding about muscle activation. The reason why women don’t like to do strength training is that they think “after doing it, they will grow a lot of muscles and become ugly like a Barbie doll”, but this is actually a big mistake.

In fact, even if you start strength training, your muscles will not increase immediately. Especially for women, they will be affected by female hormones, making it difficult to build muscles.

But even so, it cannot be said that strength training is of no help in weight loss. After the muscles are activated, the following effects can be produced:

●Because of frequent physical activities, both the basal metabolic rate and the activity metabolic rate increase, and at the same time, more calories are consumed in daily life.

●There is no increase in muscle mass, so the body shape will not appear to be out of shape.

●Promote blood circulation, thereby accelerating the decomposition of fat.

●Raise body temperature and improve symptoms such as cold hands and feet.

Therefore, strength training is "very helpful for weight loss even if you don't build muscle."

This article is from Yuanshui Culture "Awaken your weight loss brain and regain your slim curves! Dedicated to you who have suffered countless setbacks, this is the last time you lose weight in your life! (revised edition)