A new study in obese mice found that just seven strength-training sessions were enough to shrink visceral fat cells and switch on molecular pathways involved in burning stored fat. The work, reported by ScienceDaily, points to resistance exercise having measurable effects on fat tissue very quickly.
Notably, the mice showed no change in overall body weight during the brief training period. That suggests the benefits of strength training may begin at the cellular level well before any visible change on the scale.
Because this is a single animal study, the results cannot be directly applied to humans. Still, they offer an early look at how resistance exercise might influence metabolism independently of weight loss.