Why You Still Have The Same Weight Despite Strength Training

Despite the benefits of strength training beyond changing your body composition, lifting weights can help you lose weight. Researchers have shown that lifting alone can burn 1.4 percent of body fat. However, there is no guide on how to pull this off or how long it will take you to lose weight.

Several factors can affect weight loss, including what you eat, how much and how intensely you train, and the length of your sessions. Albert Matheny, RD, CSCS, founder and CEO of Promix Nutrition, says if you maintain your current diet, you should see a change in your weight in two weeks.

Lifting can cause weight loss, but it’s hard to measure because muscle weighs more than fat, and you’re building muscle while losing fat. Matheny notes that you can lose body fat despite keeping the same weight.

Are you struggling to lose weight through strength training? Here’s what you can do to restart the needle if one of these factors is at play.

Nutrition Is Something You’ve Neglected

We tend to focus on one aspect of weight loss at a time, including our workout regime and diet, but we need to take a 360-degree approach. Matheny says nutrition can certainly override your fitness efforts if you don’t manage it properly.

There’s Too Little Intensity In Your Workout

Matheny says keeping track of your feelings after working out is usually a good indication of whether your routine needs to be adjusted. In 99 percent of strength-training exercises, Matheny says you should feel challenged cardio-wise. A training session that doesn’t leave you exhausted afterwards is probably not intense enough.

You Consume Too Much Alcohol

Matheny says alcohol can sneakily provide empty calories that thwart your weight-loss efforts. These calories can add up if you drink more than one drink simultaneously. Alcohol can increase cortisol levels and even inhibit your reaction time or ability to work out as intensely, so you may not get as much strength training as you think.