How Many Calories Do You Burn Lifting Weights? Strength Training for Fat Loss

Burning Calories with Strength Training

When it comes to weight loss and burning calories, most people think of cardio workouts like running, biking, or swimming. However, strength training with weights can also be an excellent way to create a calorie deficit and lose weight over time. The number of calories burned lifting weights depends on the exercise, sets, reps, and your body composition. Building muscle with strength training can also raise your daily resting metabolic rate so you burn more calories around the clock.

Calorie Burn from Full Body Weight Lifting

A general full body weight training workout can burn around 300 calories per hour for a 160-pound person. This can vary based on the number and intensity of the exercises. A lighter workout with high reps may burn around 200 calories, while a intense session with heavy weights may torch over 400 calories. The more total work performed (sets x reps x weight), the more energy expended and calories burned.

Calories Burned Based on Weight Lifted

In general, lifting heavier weights burns more calories as it requires more muscle activation and effort. However, don't sacrifice proper form just to lift heavier. Here is a rough estimate for calories burned per hour based on the total weight lifted:

• Lifting 50-100 lbs per hour burns ~200 calories
• Lifting 300-500 lbs per hour burns ~300 calories
• Lifting 500-800 lbs per hour burns ~400 calories
• Lifting 800-1200 lbs per hour burns ~500 calories

Of course, these numbers depend greatly on your body size and composition as well as workout length and effort level.

Calories Burned by Muscle Group

Certain muscle groups require more energy to train than others. Larger muscle groups like legs and back use more calories per exercise than smaller groups like arms and shoulders. Here is a general comparison of calories burned per hour training different muscle groups:

• Legs: Up to 400 calories
• Back: Up to 300 calories
• Chest: Up to 300 calories
• Shoulders: Up to 250 calories
• Arms: Up to 200 calories
• Abs: Up to 150 calories

Compound exercises like squats, deadlifts, rows, and presses burn the most calories as they activate more total muscle. Isolated exercises like bicep curls or calf raises use less energy in comparison.

Other Strength Training Variables

In addition to total weight lifted and muscle groups trained, other variables impact calories burned with strength training:

• Number of Sets: More sets require more energy so burns extra calories.
• Rep Range: Generally higher rep sets of 15-25 reps burn slightly more calories than heavier low reps.
• Rest Periods: Shorter rest periods keep heart rate elevated for added calorie burn.
• Tempo: Slow, controlled eccentrics and explosve concentrics require more energy.

Building Muscle and Boosting Metabolism

While lifting weights may not burn as many direct calories compared to high intensity cardio, strength training plays a key role in weight loss. Each pound of muscle burns about 6 calories per day at rest. So adding just 5 pounds muscle by weight lifting can burn 30 extra calories daily.

Lifting weights also builds metabolically active muscle tissue, which can boost your resting metabolic rate. Having more muscle raises your daily calorie burn even at rest, leading to more passive fat burning.

Impact on Fat Burning Hormones

Resistance training helps support fat loss by improving body composition and hormonal environment. As you gain calorie-burning lean muscle, it becomes easier to lose fat cells. Strength training also triggers positive changes in fat burning hormones:

• Growth Hormone: Lifting heavy weights releases growth hormone, which mobilizes stored fat for energy.
• Testosterone: Compound lifts like deadlifts and squats boost testosterone to enhance fat burning, especially around the midsection.
• Insulin Sensitivity: Weight training can improve insulin sensitivity so your body more effectively shuttles nutrients into muscles rather than fat cells.

Afterburn Effect

Intense strength training causes an afterburn effect, where your body continues burning extra calories even after you finish your workout. This is called excess post-exercise oxygen consumption (EPOC). The more intense your lifting workout, the greater the EPOC effect.

Nutrition Support for Fat Loss

While lifting weights burns calories and builds metabolically active muscle, your nutrition and diet has the biggest impact on fat loss. To see results on the scale you need to be in a caloric deficit, burning more calories than you consume. Some diet tips for losing fat effectively:

• Maintain a 500-750 calorie daily deficit through diet and exercise
• Focus on high protein, eat 0.7-1 gram per pound of body weight daily
• Reduce refined carbohydrates and added sugars
• Eat plenty of fiber from vegetables, fruits and whole grains
• Stay well hydrated with water throughout the day

Pre and Post Workout Nutrition

Proper pre and post workout nutrition helps fuel your strength training sessions to get maximum calorie and fat burn. It also optimizes muscle repair and growth from weight lifting.

Have a pre workout snack or light meal about 30-60 minutes before lifting, focusing on protein, complex carbs and healthy fat. After training replenish with a protein shake or meal to aid muscle protein synthesis.

Cardiovascular Exercise Combinations

While strength training is excellent for building calorie-burning muscle and boosting metabolism, adding cardiovascular exercise accelerates the fat burning process. Combining weight lifting with higher heart rate cardio a few times a week is an effective approach.

Metabolic Resistance Training

Metabolic resistance training combines weight lifting with bursts of intense cardio intervals all in one workout. For example, you would perform a set of squats followed by 30-60 seconds of high knees or jumping jacks to spike heart rate before the next set. This helps burn extra calories while supersetting strength and cardio.

Cardio Acceleration

Another option is dedicating a few days per week to focused cardio workouts like running, cycling, swimming, inclined walking, or rowing. Choose whatever cardio modalities you enjoy that get your heart rate into the 60-80% max range for 20-45 minutes. This burns calories directly and boosts metabolism.

Aim for 2-4 dedicated cardio workouts weekly in addition to your resistance training days. This gives your body sufficient muscular recovery while accelerating fat burn through calorie-torching cardio.

Conclusion

While strength training may not burn as many direct calories as steady-state cardio, lifting weights plays an pivotal role in weight loss. Resistance exercise preserves or builds calorie-burning lean muscle mass while boosting metabolic rate. When combined with proper nutrition and cardiovascular exercise, weight lifting effectively supports fat loss.

Disclaimer: This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute medical advice. Always consult with a healthcare professional before starting any new treatment regimen.