Trying to lose weight and doing all the right things – training, nutrition etc – but struggling to achieve your goal? It could be your method of training that’s the problem.

If you’re relying soley on aerobic activities such as running, cycling and dancing for weight loss, this is where you are going wrong. This is why the weight isn’t shifting as quickly as you would like, and why you’re not getting the lean and toned look that you desire.

In truth, if weight loss is your goal then resistance training is one of the best ways to achieve it, whether that resistance is weights at your local gym or your own body weight.

The reason for this is that resistance training boosts metabolism, which is the rate at which your body burns calories to sustain itself, more effectively than aerobic activity and is the key to effective, long-term body fat reduction. The higher your metabolism the more effective your body is at burning calories even while you are resting.

Muscle is metabolically active tissue, so increasing the amount of muscle mass through resistance training substantially increases your body’s abilities to burn body fat.

Will it make me look bulky? No! In fact research has revealed that resistance training significantly decreases body fat, and while it increases muscle tissue, there is no increase in physical size. So the muscle built simply gives tone and shape to your figure.

The best way to benefit…To include resistance work in the form of interval training, which is where you work for a short period of time at a high intensity, recover by working at low intensity or resting for a short period of time and then repeating the cycle again. Training in this method places high energy demands on the body and is a more effective way to burn fat.

A simple example of this would be to complete a circuit of exercises – such as squats, press ups, lunges, plank rows, burpees and mountain climbers – working for 40 seconds on each one, resting for 20 seconds, then moving on to the next and repeating the circuit three or four times.

If you are committed to your cardio programs and reluctant to introduce resistance work, just try it for a month, you’ll be surprised by the results.

By Ali Croft, Certified Personal Trainer. www.alicroft.co.uk