Stronger, Leaner Body Goals for 2023? Let’s Do This.

Our new, expert-designed weight training plan will help you shed body fat and build muscle.

3 min

foodspring

By foodspring editors
December 30, 2022

Why trust us?

Let’s just get it all out into the open. Dieting sucks. There are weight loss plans out there that will have you trying to scrape by on 12 almonds and a glass of lemon water for eight hour stretches and nibbling on a salad while all your friends are having pizza, which is no way to live. Plus, some dieting will have you not eating enough, or eating an imbalanced diet, and then it’s no wonder you’re tired all day. Worse, you don’t have the stamina to exercise.

So we want to propose a better way: body recomposition through strength training. Let’s break it down. Your body is made up of bones, organs and tissue; muscle; and fat. Body recomposition means increasing the percentage of body mass that’s muscle and decreasing fat. The most effective way to do this is through strength training. That’s because adding muscle actually boosts your metabolism, meaning your body is utilizing more calories at rest—leading to weight loss. According to research from the University of New South Wales in Australia, even if you didn’t change your eating at all, just adding in strength training could lead to a 1.4 percent drop in body fat percentage. And let’s be honest. We’d much prefer picking up some heavy things banishing bread from our lives.

That’s why we created Your Guide to Losing Weight with Weight Training—which you can download here. You’ll work out up to five days a week: two days of upper body, two days of lower body, and an optional high-intensity interval training day, plus two rest days. Changing things up means you won’t overtax any one part of the body, while also fending off imbalances that can come from overemphasizing one area over another. We also keep it interesting by adding things like waterfall rep schemes—where the number of reps you perform goes down as the workout goes on—and EMOMS and AMRAPS (gym code for “every minute, on the minute” and “as many rounds as possible). Don’t worry! The plan explains everything to you. That’s why it’s great for beginners, intermediate, or advanced exercisers who want to focus on weight loss through strength training.

Here’s what one of your lower body days looks like:

Activation: deadbugs, hydrant hip circles, side plank hip openers

Straight set 1: Goblet squats (waterfall rep scheme)

Straight set 2: Single-leg deadlift (waterfall rep scheme)

Superset: Dumbbell reverse lunges & squat jumps

AMRAP: Plank taps & bicycle crunchesDownload the plan now!

Looks tough, right? Not going to lie, this plan will push you in all the right ways. That’s on purpose. Weight training is the secret sauce for lowering your body fat percentage, but that’s not the only reason why you should add strength training into your life. It helps with any other sports you love—football, hockey, tennis, golf, dancing, yoga—plus it seems to lower anxiety and help with brain health. And research in the British Journal of Sports Medicine suggests lifting weights will help extend your life, and keep you healthy along the way.

And of course, how you fuel your body plays an important role in your body composition. In this plan, we give you options. Since you’re going to be working out harder than usual, especially if you haven’t exercised consistently in a while, you can eat pretty much the same amount of calories as you were before, but focus on making a bigger percentage of them protein. (The thinking is that you’ll naturally create a calorie deficit—or close to it—just by upping the amount that you’re working out.) Some people want to go for the more traditional weight loss method (eat less, move more), and the plan gives you pointers for creating a calorie deficit that way too. Either way, you’re going to want to make sure you’re consuming enough protein, because it’s the building block for muscle.

And we’ve put together a list of products that will help you along the way:

Whey and Vegan Protein Powder

Shape Shake 2.0

Protein Pizza

So this year, feel your most powerful and strong. That your jeans fit more nicely will be a bonus. And check out our other two plans, Starter Guide to Strength Training and Your Ultimate Muscle Building Program.

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Sources for this article

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