The fact is muscle doesnвЂ™t just make you look bigger it maintains a healthy hormone level, increases your force production and absorption for fewer injuries, and boosts your endurance for those times you do run. It wonвЂ™t turn you into a вЂњmeatheadвЂќ overnight.

ThatвЂ™s a huge lesson for the guys who are afraid of вЂњgetting bulkyвЂќ and thus avoid weights like the bubonic plague. вЂњMany people who lose fat by running switch to StrongLifts 5x5 because theyвЂ™re unhappy going from fat and overweight to skinny, weak, and emasculated,вЂќ explains Mehdi. Over time, doing вЂњless weights and more cardioвЂќ will give you that skinny-fat look - thin with a potbelly - and frustrate the hell out of you. Sure, they say they want to drop 10 or so pounds, but they also want to add slabs of lean muscle and feel confident when they take off their shirt.ДЄnd although running can help you burn calories and lose some weight, it does little to build the muscle underneath the fat that youвЂ™re trying to reveal in the first place. Think about it: dudes donвЂ™t just want to вЂњlose fatвЂќ - they want to look great and get all the head-turning, confidence-building benefits that come from it.

вЂњRunning isnвЂ™t useless for fat loss, but itвЂ™s not effective to build a great physique.вЂќДЄ great physique. вЂњMany people try to lose fat by doing multiple long, steady-state runs every week, but unless they also do something to build muscle, the end-result wonвЂ™t look great,вЂќ he says. I asked Mehdi Hadim, founder of StrongLifts, for his thoughts. Sure, you might lose a few pounds due to the sheer volume of exercise, but itвЂ™s an inefficient approach that risks pushing you further away from the body you want. To effectively lose fat and transform the way you look, you canвЂ™t just ditch weights and do more running. ThatвЂ™s about as accurate as a broken compass. вЂњI want to lose weight - IвЂ™ll just do less weights and more cardio.вЂќДamn, son. One of the worst offenders is this little broscience piece: Sometimes in the gym, I overhear guys saying stuff that makes me shudder like I heard a high-pitched Nicki Minaj. This is the second entry in a two-part debate: is running useless for fat loss? Part I is here.

Stronglifts 5x5 fat loss