This fat loss hierarchy doesn't come from nowhere. Rather, it is the respected truth among the fitness industry's leading professionals and it is based in scientific research and a wealth of hands-on experience.

The hierarchy of fat loss is:

 1. Proper nutrition. (You can't out-train a bad diet.)

2. See number one. (Yes, nutrition is that important.)

3. STRENGTH TRAINING 

Most people get why nutrition is so important when it comes to fat loss. It makes logical sense that what you eat directly affects your waistline. Plus, most of us have experienced this first-hand after a particularly 'bad' holiday season, for instance, when we splurged just a little (or a lot) too much.

The rule that is harder for many people to understand - and one that still remains slightly unknown to the general public - is the power of strength training for fat loss results. Why is strength training the most important exercise component to fat loss?  It has to do with your BMR - basal metabolic rate, sometimes called your resting metabolic rate. 

Your BMR is what burns the bulk of your daily calories, roughly 75%.  This is not to discount the remaining 25% that comes from overall daily activity, because they will contribute and they do add up. 

So, back to strength training and fat loss. Here's the crux of it: the BEST way, hands down, to raise your BMR is to STRENGTH TRAIN. This is because your BMR is largely a function of how much muscle you have in your body in comparison to your body fat and how hard that muscle works.

A 1999 research study hammers home this hierarchy of fat loss.  In the study, overweight participants were broken up into 3 groups: diet only, diet + aerobic training, & diet + aerobic training + weight training.  The diet group lost 14.6 lbs of fat in 12 weeks.  The diet + aerobic training group lost 15.6 lbs of fat in the same 12 weeks. The aerobic training was 3 workouts a week, starting at 30 minutes and progressing to 50 minutes each workout.  That's a lot of work for a mere 1 lb difference. 

The diet + aerobics + weight training group, however, lost 21.1 lbs of fat over the 12 weeks!  By far, the best results of all three groups.

As the evidence plainly illustrates, strength training is supremely important for fat loss results - and for keeping the fat off once you've lost it! To help you take this knowledge into the 'real world' here are some tips and strategies for strength training and fat loss:

1. If you only have 3 hours / week to exercise, all your workouts should be dedicated to strength training.  If you have more than 3 hours to workout in a given week, feel free to move down the hierarchy of fat loss to number 4:  High Intensity Interval Training (HIIT).   (It is possible, by the way, to build HIIT into your strength training workouts. All of our classes at Evolution Fitness are designed this way, with both strength training and HIIT incorporated.) 
2. All strength training workouts should be TOTAL BODY workouts, utilizing all of your muscles. Focus on compound exercises because they recruit more muscle and burn more calories than isolation exercises. It is best to choose functional movements that work all planes of motion. Stay away from machines which restrict motion.
3. Your 2 BIGGEST ENEMIES for burning fat from your strength training workouts are efficiency and adaptation.  Therefore, keep your workouts fresh!  Just when your body becomes efficient at an exercise or workout, change it up! Unfamiliar exercises get the most out of your fat burning system and are the most effective for fat loss results from strength training.
4. Periodization of your workouts is a key component to keeping them fresh, along with changing your exercise program design every 4 - 6 weeks.  The most efficient periodization is undulating periodization vs a linear one.  A linear periodization of a 6 week program would go something like this:  First 2 weeks, do 12-15 reps/set.  Second 2 weeks, do 8-12 reps/set.  Third and final 2 weeks, do 4-8 reps/set.  An undulating periodization, on the other hand, would be more of a constant change-up, such as:  Monday, do 4-8 reps/set.  Wednesday, do 8-12 reps/set.  Friday, do 12-15 reps/set. 
5. Get the most out of your workout by employing the Sherrington Law of Reciprocal Innervation:  "For every neural activation of a muscle, there is a corresponding inhibition of the opposing muscle."  In other words, while you do an exercise that works your chest muscles, the opposite back muscles are forced to relax, thereby resting.  So, instead of waiting 2 minutes between sets of push-ups, you can rest 1 minute, do a set of bent-over rows, rest another minute and go back to the push-ups.  Using this law to your advantage allows you to do more in less time.
6. Resting between sets is as important as the sets themselves.  For the best fat loss results, take shorter rest periods as you progress through your program.
7. FORM is KING and INTENSITY is QUEEN.  A less-than-stellar exercise program done with good form and intensity will outperform the most perfect, periodized routine done with bad form and zero intensity.