Sure, cardio makes you sweat—but despite decades of advice telling us we had to cardio our way to weight loss, there’s actually a better way. It’s called strength training. Here’s what you need to know to get your mind, workouts, and waistline right.
Why Not Cardio?
Cardiovascular training produces a sense of instant gratification because our apps, wearables, and fitness equipment tell us we’re burning lots of calories, says Eric Johnson, C.S.C.S., strength coach and the co-founder of Homage Fitness. But all that ‘sweat equity’ you put in isn’t really all that efficient in the end. While cardio gives you that satisfying short-term burn, strength training better supports weight loss long-term.
Here’s the thing: a 30-minute cardio session can burn a solid chunk of calories in the moment—how much depends on your size and intensity—and yes, that feels great. But once you step off that treadmill or bike, the calorie-burning party pretty much stops. With strength training, your body can keep burning some extra calories after your workout as it repairs and rebuilds muscle tissue—especially after tough, high-effort sessions. That “afterburn” can last for hours (and sometimes longer), but it’s usually a bonus—not the main event..
The Cardio Trap
It’s easy to fall into what fitness pros call the “cardio trap”:
- You spend an hour on the elliptical
- Your watch says you burned 500 calories
- You feel accomplished (totally valid!)
- But your metabolism returns to baseline within hours
Meanwhile, someone who spent that same hour lifting weights might see a smaller number on their calorie tracker during the workout—but their body continues burning extra calories well into the next day. Over weeks and months, that adds up to serious results.
How Strength Training Boosts Weight Loss
Though the process takes time, regular strength training signals your body to build muscle. Ultimately, muscle is the golden ticket for weight loss—and cardio just doesn’t stimulate muscle growth the way strength training does.
Why does muscle matter? Muscle tissue is ‘metabolically active,’ meaning it requires energy to maintain. Fat? Not so much. So, the more muscle mass and density you build, the more your metabolism rises—and the more calories your body automatically churns through every single day.
Research suggests resistance training can increase your resting metabolic rate—how much depends on your starting point and how you train, but adding (and keeping) muscle works in your favor. What does that mean in real life? If you normally burn 1,500 calories a day just existing—sleeping, breathing, scrolling through your phone—adding muscle could bump that up to around 1,600 calories without any extra effort on your part.
Sure, you can burn extra calories every day by slogging away on a cardio machine. However, if you build enough muscle, you’ll burn extra calories every day even if you don’t leave the couch!
In fact, one study published in Current Sports Medicine Reports shows that resistance training can increase metabolic rate by seven percent.
Plus, you’ll still burn calories while hitting the weights, too. A 170-pound man burns about 462 calories per hour of strength training, while a 120-pound woman burns about 324.
Beyond the Scale: What’s Really Changing
Here’s something worth knowing: muscle is denser than fat, which means you can look leaner even if the scale doesn’t move much. That means as you build muscle and lose fat, the number on the scale might not budge much—but your clothes will fit differently, and you’ll look noticeably leaner.
This is why trainers often say to focus on body composition rather than just body weight. You might weigh the same as you did three months ago but have:
- Lost inches around your waist
- Gained definition in your arms and legs
- More energy throughout the day
- Better posture and fewer aches
That’s the magic of strength training at work.
The Best Way To Strength Train To Shed Fat
If you want to lose weight (and keep it off), Johnson recommends starting with three 45-minute strength-training workouts per week. Just make sure to schedule your sessions at least 24 hours apart to allow your muscles ample time for recovery and regeneration.
Here’s something important to understand: your muscles don’t actually grow during your workout. They grow during rest and recovery, when your body repairs the tiny tears in muscle fibers that happen while you lift. Skip the rest days, and you’re shortcutting your own progress.
For best results, each workout should light up all of your major muscle groups (yes, upper and lower body) to maximize muscle-building and calorie-burn, says Devon Levesque, personal trainer at Performix House in New York City.
The Right Moves
To get there, focus your workout on big lifts that work multiple muscle groups at once.
“Bench pressing, squatting, and deadlifting are all excellent functional, compound moves,” says LA-based personal trainer Seth Broadstreet, C.P.T. These exercises stimulate the most muscle tissue and require the most energy to perform, so they’ll best boost your workout’s immediate calorie-burn and support maximum gains in muscle mass over time.
Related: The 5 Workout Moves That Show The Fastest Results
Make sure every workout starts with two or three of these big, compound exercises.
Your Compound Exercise Starter List
If you’re not sure where to begin, here are some solid compound moves to build your workouts around:
- Squats – Works your quads, hamstrings, glutes, and core all at once
- Deadlifts – Hits your entire back side, from hamstrings to upper back
- Bench press – Targets chest, shoulders, and triceps
- Rows – Strengthens your back, biceps, and rear shoulders
- Lunges – Great for legs and balance
- Overhead press – Works shoulders, triceps, and core stability
Then, follow those up with three or four isolation moves (like bicep curls or lateral raises) to show specific muscle groups some extra love. Just think of these as accessories—not the main event.
The Right Reps And Sets
While you’ll use fewer reps and heavier weights to build pure strength, go for a higher rep range for fat-loss, says Broadstreet, who recommends sets of 10 to 15 reps. Use weight heavy enough that you’re exhausted—but don’t break proper form—by the end of each set.
This particular rep range provides the ideal stimulus for hypertrophy, or muscular growth—and successful weight loss means building as much muscle as possible.
Related: This 30-Minute Full-Body Workout Will Humble You
Using bodyweight moves? Mix things up by setting a timer for 60 seconds and doing as many reps as possible in that period, suggests Levesque.
To keep your heart rate—and calorie-burn—high, limit rest periods to 90 seconds or less, says Johnson. Give yourself enough time to catch your breath and get going again.
The Secret Sauce: Progressive Overload
Here’s something that separates people who see results from those who plateau: progressive overload. It sounds technical, but it just means gradually making your workouts a little harder over time.
Your body is smart—it adapts quickly. If you’re doing the same weights, same reps, same everything week after week, your muscles have no reason to keep growing. They’ve already figured out how to handle the challenge.
To keep progress coming, try gradually increasing your weights over time (even small bumps help), or:
- Add an extra rep or two to each set
- Decrease your rest time slightly
- Add another set to your exercises
- Slow down your reps for more time under tension
Small changes add up to big results. Just make sure you’re never sacrificing form for heavier weights—that’s a fast track to injury, not gains.
Fuel Your Workouts Right
All this muscle-building requires the right fuel. Protein is your best friend here—it provides the building blocks your muscles need to repair and grow stronger after each session.
Many experts recommend roughly 0.7 to 1 gram of protein per pound of body weight when you’re actively strength training—depending on your goals, training volume, and calories. So if you weigh 150 pounds, aim for around 150 grams of protein daily. That might sound like a lot, but between meals and a quality protein shake after your workout, it’s totally doable.
And if you want an extra edge for those tough training days, creatine might help support your performance—think of it as giving your muscles a little extra energy reserve when you’re pushing through those final reps.
The Place For Cardio
Of course, in addition to a solid strength-training routine, the right cardio can help you shed fat while building muscle.
If you want to incorporate some cardio between lifting sessions, Broadstreet recommends two to three sessions per week.
If you’re newer to exercise or need to recover from a tough lifting workout, stick to lower-intensity steady-state cardio, like walking or jogging.
To kick things up a notch, sprinkle in high-intensity interval training, like sprints or plyometrics. Even just 30 to 40 minutes per session can go a long way in supporting your goals.
Finding Your Perfect Balance
The sweet spot for most people looks something like this:
- 3 days of strength training – Full-body or split routines, hitting all major muscle groups
- 2-3 days of cardio – Mix of lower-intensity steady-state and HIIT
- 1-2 rest days – Active recovery like walking or stretching is fine
This combination helps you build muscle, burn fat, and actually recover—which is when the real magic happens. Studies show that this balanced approach produces better body composition results than going all-in on either strength or cardio alone.
Don’t Forget Recovery
One more thing: sleep matters more than you might think. Your body does most of its muscle repair and growth hormone release while you’re catching Z’s. Aim for seven to nine hours per night, especially on days you’ve trained hard.
Supplements like magnesium might help support better rest and muscle recovery, which can make a real difference when you’re training consistently.
The Bottom Line
Weight loss isn’t just about burning calories in the moment—it’s about building a body that naturally burns more calories all day, every day. Strength training does exactly that by adding metabolically active muscle tissue that keeps your metabolism humming even while you’re binge-watching your favorite show.
Start with two to three sessions per week, focus on compound exercises, progressively challenge yourself, fuel up with plenty of protein, and give your body the rest it needs. Do that consistently, and you’ll be amazed at what happens—not just on the scale, but in how you look, feel, and move through your day.
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