If you’ve been dieting long term and not seeing the results you want, then it could be your training that’s the problem. You want to not only cut your weight but also improve your body composition. And lifting weights can help you lose weight. 

On episode 44 of the Rebuild Health and Fitness Podcast, James and Coach Darius talk about how to build a better-looking body. 

People tend to try and cut calories and reduce mass, but James says that’s not the way to go

James says, "When people focus on losing fat, they end up really lean in terms of low body fat, but they want to get leaner since they don't have the body they want. With this, they think if they keep going, they'll eventually achieve that."

Though this concept is subjective, James says people should think differently. He continues, "With less body fat percentage, it's not going to give you the body you want. What you want to do is to look better, you want to have more mass - toning is what comes into play here. Toning is where body fat meets muscle, that is what you want."

Darius also explains that strength training helps build a better relationship and physique. Darius says: “Strength training’s going to give you better long-term success, it’s going to give us a better body and will also build our relationship with food.” 

James says when you’re looking to ‘shred’, you also need to lift weights, to create muscle hypertrophy

Hypertrophy is the increase and growth of muscle cells and the easiest way to achieve that is through lifting weights as well as exercising your muscles to their limit.

“Hypertrophy is pretty much just training to optimise muscle mass, and in order to build muscle, it is crucial to get a certain amount of volume per week” says James. Volume, in simpler terms refers to the number of training sessions you do per week, and James says: “It is the single most reliable predictor of muscle growth.”

If you’ve plateaued with dieting and high intensity workouts or cardio, James says strength training will help you get to where you want to go 

“The benefits with going off course is that you learn so many things. Even if you end up liking the change, you’d have learnt skills that are transferable in terms of being more comfortable with nutrition maybe or learning how to move more optimally because you did strength work, so there’s not much to lose.”

James emphasises “I just want you to think differently. Only benefits and positives can come from taking a bit of a break from dieting, going out and doing a high intensity workout and working in that good strength.”

Listen to the podcast below, or if you want help with your nutrition, get in touch with our team. Team@rebuildhealthandfitness.com.