Does Lifting Lower Weight Really Burn Fat?

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Well readers, it’s time to debunk yet another Paul Bunyan gym myth.  And that is that lifting lower weights in high reps burns more fat that lifting heavier weights with low reps. 

This myth most likely came about when pro lifters were preparing for a competition and they had to cut fat.  They would change their diet and go into a calorie deficit to burn more calories during the day.  The lack of proper nutrients in their diet and calorie intake didn’t properly allow them to lift the same weights as usual, so they were forced to drop weight, but keep the number of reps up.  So the change in their workout plan was a reslut of their diet, not the fact that they were trying to burn fat.

That burn you feel in your arms when you lift 15 lbs 20 times is from lactic acid build up.  People think they feel that burn and they think they are really doing something significant.  It’s the same burn you get when you do a higher weight with fewer reps..your muscles are responding in a similar fashion. 

As discussed in my last blog about how to get ripped abs, when you train doing more that 12 reps or so, you are beginning to target your Type II muscle fibers, which are slow twitch.  These muscle fibers are activated when you doing some type of physical exursion for longer than 30 secs.   Slow twitch muscles are a lot harder to grow in size, because they are built for endurance.  When your body is going for endurance, the last thing it wants to do is bulk up.  When was the last time you saw a buff marathon runner? 

Since Type II muscle fibers don’t grow a lot, they don’t burn a lot of calories on their own.  They may get a bit denser, but not a lot of growth in size will occur.  

If you really want to burn fat, work on your Type I muscle fibers, your fast twitch, which are designed to grow in size.  Since they can grow, they’ll eat up more calories than the Type II fibers.  I’ve seen it myself.  I usually eat the same thing, with a few variations, everyday.  That’s just me, but it allows me to keep track of my calories, protiens, carbs, and fats mainly.  It gets my body in a rhythm and my metabolism is super effecient after a week or so.  But I have to make gradual increases in my diet as they grow because when my muscle weight increases, my rate of calorie burn increases through an increase in my metabolism.

I’m not able to cut fat doing this, however, because I keep myself in a calorie surplus.  The key to cutting fat or losing weight is to keep yourself in a calorie deficit.  That’s why it’s virtually impossible to cut fat and gain weight at the same time.  He who chases two rabbits ends up with neither. 

So I hope this cleared that myth up for you.  Stop going to the gym and doing reps of 20 and thinking you’re burning fat.  In a sense, you are, but there a far more efficient ways to do it through your diet and proper cardio timing.  

You may be burning calories, but you’re not building muscle quickly.  Why not burn calories while you build muscle quickly which will actually burn more calories around the clock? 

Until next time, Happy Lifting! 

Mitchell

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Tags: does lower weight burn fat, gym myths, low weight vs. high weight, weight lifting to lose weight