You lose more fat when you combine lifting weights with dieting

Trying to lose weight? You need more than a good diet to burn the most body fat

Weight loss isn't just about diet, and it's certainly not about endless amounts of cardio. To really burn off the most body fat, you need to combine a diet that has you in a calorie deficit with a solid weight training programme. Diet alone won't cut the mustard - as proven by research published in the Clinical Nutrition journal. Scientists took a group of people, all of whom were given a very low calorie diet. However, the group was split. Half were told to stick to their diet alone, while the remainder were prescribed three weights sessions a week alongside their meal plan. The two groups were monitored for 14 weeks. After this period was up, both had lost a significant amount of weight. However, the group combining diet with exercise lost much more body fat. Those following a diet alone saw 75% of their weight loss coming from stored body fat, but for people combining diet with resistance training, 96% of weight lost was from body fat. What this shows is you shouldn't forget to go lifting if you're looking to lose weight. Many people think pumping iron is just for the purpose of bulking up and gaining size, but that simply isn't the case. Scientists behind the study also discovered the group who didn't lift weights lost a lot of muscle mass. However, those who did hit the weights room as well as dieting saw no real changes to their level of muscle tissue. By continuing to weight train, this group also saw their strength levels and ability to contract muscle tissue protected. If you're trying to trim down but still want to keep that hard-earned muscle mass, lifting weights is essential. Too much cardio could prove costly. Read more from JOE