In one of my favorite weight loss books by Bill Phillips, he says that if you start out looking like a pear, and do nothing but cardio for your weight loss, you will just end up looking like a smaller pear. Sure, you will lose weight, but to really transform your body you absolutely need to incorporate strength training.

A common misconception is that you will “bulk up” if you do any kind of strength training. The truth is, you have to lift a LOT of heavy, heavy weight for a long time to really bulk up. When you do regular strength training for weight loss, your body will look toned and defined, not bulky. I’m not saying that you need to spend hours in the gym every day pumping iron to burn fat. I AM saying that by incorporating weight training into your regimen, you will lose more fat and reshape your body.

Strength Training for Weight Loss – Why is it important?

When you only do cardio, you burn calories while you are doing the cardio, and for a short time afterward. If you want to burn more calories during the day, you have to do more cardio. When you do strength training, you burn calories while you are doing the exercise, and for a lot longer after you are finished. Burning calories for longer after an exercise session is not the only benefit. As you increase your muscle mass, your resting metabolism increases because muscle takes more energy to maintain than fat. An increased metabolism means that you are burning more calories all day long, even when you are not exercising!

It is important to incorporate a balance of different types of cardio AND strength training for weight loss. When you consistently do both, combined with a healthy diet and plenty of rest, you will see the results you are looking for.

I have always believed that it’s not really crucial to be perfectly accurate, but more important to be consistent. If you think you are burning 2500 calories per day, and your weight loss is stalled, you can increase your activity until you think you are burning 3000 calories per day. Whether those numbers are perfectly accurate or not isn’t really too relevant (as long as they are reasonable). However, if you want to be more accurate, then there are ways you can do so.

I have been looking into various armbands that are supposed to track your daily calorie burn for you. One that many of us have seen on the Biggest Loser is the BodyBugg. One of the biggest drawbacks of this particular system is the cost. As of right now, you pay $250 upfront, and $9.95 per month for a subscription to access and analyze your data. I don’t think there’s any way to use it without paying that monthly fee. Correct me if I’m wrong.

Another one I have looked at is the dotFit exerspy. Again, you pay upfront and also have to pay a monthly fee, although in the long run it looks to be a better deal than BodyBugg. I do like a lot of the features of this one though.

I want to hear from you! If anyone has had any experience with these or any other calorie counting arm bands, please post in the comments. Let us know what you like or dislike about them.