Maeve Madden: "Transformations can occur in as little as two weeks from first picking up a dumbbell weighing just 2kg".

Hate running and aerobics? There’s good news for those who believe these sweaty, lung-busting activities are unavoidable if you want to get fit. In a slew of new studies, scientists have confirmed that weight training is just as effective for weight loss and toning as aerobic exercise. 

An unlikely convert to pumping iron is Victoria Beckham who recently was singing the virtues of lifting heavy weights five or six days a week in her pursuit of “as good a bottom as I can get” and a more feminine figure. “I’ve always been a bit scared of weights but it turns out I love them,” she told Grazia magazine . Beckham is not alone as female celebrities from Daisy Ridley and Jessica Biel to Jennifer Lawrence and Gal Gadot admit they owe their lean, toned physiques to weight training.

Many studies have shown that, compared with sedentary individuals, people who do aerobic exercise - power walking, jogging, cycling or swimming – regularly lose more weight and keep it off by creating a calorie deficit, so they burn more calories than they consume. Add weights to the equation and the increased lean muscle mass makes for a more efficient metabolism so that fat-burning is intensified.

But in the latest study, researchers at Edith Cowan University (ECU) in Australia insist that if you don’t want to – or can’t – get sweaty and out of breath on a bike ride or run to shed some surplus weight, resistance training on its own will produce positive results.

Writing in the journal Obesity Reviews , researchers from the Exercise Medicine Research Institute at ECU looked at 114 published trials involving 4,184 overweight people to find out if resistance training combined with calorie-cutting was enough to transform their physiques. In adults who reduced their calorie intakes by about 500 per day, regular resistance training was shown to be similar to aerobic exercise in terms of overall improvements. And dieters who used weight training as their only form of exercise achieved an average 5kg (11 pounds) reduction in fat mass and body weight in as little as 12 weeks. Part of the benefit is down to muscle being a metabolically active tissue that burns calories.

“It is well known that caloric restriction and aerobic exercise can reduce fat and body weight, but also that both of these strategies also lead to substantial reductions in lean muscle mass,” says Pedro Lopez, a scientist at the Exercise Medicine Research Institute at ECU. “Our results indicated that weight training could maintain or increase muscle size, even with a deficit in calories, and this means slightly increased metabolism even at rest.” 

The findings come hot on the heels of another Australian study that demonstrated we can lose 1.4% of our body fat through strength training alone, matching the amount lost through cardio or aerobics. Dr Mandy Hagstrom, senior lecturer in exercise science and exercise physiology at the University of New South Wales in Sydney, reviewed 58 papers that included cutting-edge body scanning techniques, such as DEXA and CT scans, to measure the outcome of strength training programmes for around 3,000 participants. On average, people worked out with weights two to three times a week for 45-60 minutes over five months, with most losing about half a kilo of fat mass in that time through resistance training. None of the participants was on a diet. 

“Resistance training increases muscle mass and while that contributes to your total daily calorie burning, it’s not the only benefit,” Hagstrom says. 

“The greatest effect when it comes to fat loss is likely down to the burning of calories through the actual resistance exercise itself, with more energy then used in repair and growth of muscle tissue, and perhaps some small increases in overall metabolism.” 

The news that lifting weights can keep us in shape is particularly appealing to those wary about subjecting their joints to the pounding of running or aerobics when carrying a few surplus pounds. “It can be uncomfortable and it’s easier to injure joints and ligaments when you are carrying your whole body weight doing a lot of repetitive aerobic exercise,” Lopez says. 

If you are overweight, resistance training might be a better starting point.

Weight training will also help condition muscles around the joints recruited when you walk, jump, run or cycle. “If you haven’t done much exercise or have been sedentary then you are going to get benefit from strength training before progressing to more intense cardiovascular exercise if you choose to,” Hagstrom says.

Irish fitness trainer Maeve Madden, who has 341k followers on Instagram, says compound resistance exercises – those that work large and multiple muscle groups simultaneously – produce the greatest calorie burn. 

“People associate weights and resistance training with becoming more muscular but what they create is a powerful and lean, toned physique,” Madden says. 

"Everyone can benefit and transformations can occur in as little as two weeks from first picking up a dumbbell weighing just 2kg for beginners and performing these basic compound movements.”

Madden says that many of her mostly female clients are reluctant about resistance training at first. “They think they need to work out on machines at a gym, but actually you can use your own body weight to begin with and then progress to light dumbbells before you even need to think about a gym,” she says. “And because you gradually lift heavier weights you raise your heart rate the more you lift which adds to calorie burn.” 

Consistency is key. Weight training could help to stave off creeping weight gain from mid-life onwards if you stick at it for the long term. People who do resistance training of any kind a few times a week are considerably less likely to become obese when older, regardless of whether they also do aerobic exercise or not, according to a study published last year in PLOS Medicine . A team from the Iowa State University and other institutions, tracked the health records of 12,000 middle-aged participants to find out if there was a link between waistline thickening and activity habits over six years. Men and women who did strength training for one to hours per week were 30% less likely to become obese, based on their waist circumference or body-fat percentage measurements.

None of this means that we should ignore cardio for good. Working your heart and lungs, as you would on a power walk or run, remains the best route to improved cardiovascular health. 

“Having an exercise program consisting of both aerobic and resistance training would always be the most beneficial scenario for health and fitness,” says Hagstrom. “But it’s all relative and there still seems to be this lingering belief that aerobic exercise is the only way to lose weight which it is not.” 

Madden says that weights are essential for healthy living. “Past our 40s we all start to lose muscle mass and that is accelerated in women after the menopause,” she says. “Unless we attempt to stem those losses we will become frailer and frailer, and the best way to preserve muscle and burn more calories is to lift weights or work against a resistance.”

Maeve Madden’s resistance training guide

Start by lifting your body weight Exercises such as squats, lunges, push-ups and mountain climbers are all excellent starting points for beginners.

“The idea is to get good technique before adding weights, so ideally do them in front of a mirror or go to a class or a personal trainer for guidance on form,” she says. “Pilates and yoga are also a form of strength training for complete beginners.”

Resistance bands are a great way to activate muscles, add a little resistance and warm-up, and cost a couple of euro, Madden adds.

“Do not spend a fortune on gear. Buy it cheap so that you can afford to progress when you need to.”

Add resistance when ready Start with a light dumbbell when you first add weights.

“About 2-3kg is fine for beginners, and although it seems light for some, you have to remember that our muscles and tendons are small in the upper arm and side raises and lifts take their toll so you will get that burn,” she says.

“After a few weeks, it’s great to invest in a set of medium 4-5kg and something heavier but not too heavy — a weight you can lift for a maximum of 10-12 repetitions. That way, you have a good range of weights and options to work out with.”

Aim for two to three sessions per week Weight training just twice a week, for about an hour in total, has been shown in studies to boost metabolism and aid fat loss. Madden says two to three sessions is ideal for the best results.

“If you can manage even three sessions of 20 minutes a week as a beginner, working different body parts on different days, you will definitely get results,” she says.

“Squats, deadlifts and lunges are functional movements that we use in everyday life such as when we pick up a baby or push open a door so you will begin to find life gets easier.”

Read MoreVideo: Find your workout mojo with Maeve Madden's fitness tips

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