Tips

The workout itself is only about 5 %. So why train at all, if you want to lose weight?

Because strength training changes the biggest share. More muscle means a higher resting metabolism, which is a faster metabolism, and it runs every day, including the days you do not train. You are not losing weight on the three days you were in the gym, you are losing it on all seven.

The second biggest share is everyday movement: walking, stairs, standing. That is why a brutal session does not always pay off. If it puts you on the sofa afterwards, you hand back at one end what you gained at the other.

And cardio? It stays important, just not mainly for losing weight. It is there for your heart, your circulation and your endurance, and those are good reasons on their own. For losing weight it helps, but the work is done by the strength training.

Mobility is not an extra at the end of a session.

If you cannot sit into a deep squat without your back rounding, you cannot load it safely. If you cannot get your arms overhead without arching your lower back, pressing overhead will cause problems sooner or later.

So mobility is not the opposite of strength, it is what makes strength possible. It keeps joints healthy, and it has a lot to do with whether you still move freely at 60.

Lifting will not make you bulky.

It is the worry I hear most often and it misses the point. Building muscle is slow and has to be wanted on purpose. What you actually get in the gym is shape, strength and better posture.

The most important reason is the one nobody says out loud: bone density. It starts declining slowly from around 30 and considerably faster after menopause. Strength training is one of the few things shown to work against that.

And then there is the part above: more muscle means a higher resting metabolism. If you want to lose weight, that is the part still there after the diet ends.

1.8 to 2 g per kilo of lean body mass.

Complete proteins: egg, chicken, fish, yogurt, quark, whey. Combine plant sources so the amino acid profile is complete. Simple rule: legumes and grains at 1:2, so lentils with rice.

Spread it across the day. If you ate enough 1 to 2 hours before training, you do not necessarily need anything right afterwards.

A calorie deficit, but not starvation.

Never eat below your resting metabolism. Below that your metabolism slows down and it gets harder over time, not easier.

Choose filling foods rather than less of everything. And remember the calories you cannot see: one tablespoon of oil is about 120 kcal.

It is not about perfection.

Judge your progress by how you feel: energy, sleep, strength, mood. A missed meal now and then is normal.

Planning is there to keep you consistent, not to put you under pressure.