Lifting heavy = Burning Calories?

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infamous1997
infamous1997 Posts: 46 Member
edited November 2014 in Goal: Gaining Weight and Body Building
I've been reading that if you lift heavy, you burn more calories than doing cardio. Also, you gain a better metabolism. If I were to start lifting heavy and eat more, will I start to lose the fat I have? I'm 5'4" and I weigh around 138-141 LBs

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  • arditarose
    arditarose Posts: 15,575 Member
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    Lifting does not burn as much as cardio. If you start lifting and eat more, you will not lose fat. You have to lift on a deficit to lose fat.
  • Sarauk2sf
    Sarauk2sf Posts: 28,072 Member
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    It is very variable - it depends on the intensity, duration and the type of lifting and the intensity, duration and the type of cadio you are comparing it to.

    However, that being said, lifting is not really about the calorie burn, its about body composition and other beneficial aspects.

    The benefit to your metabolism is due to higher LBM (other than the increase from the actual lifting session) - but that is often over-stated - IIRC you add no more than 10 cals a day to your BMR (basal metabolic rate) per 1lb LBM.
  • morgiee_lynne
    morgiee_lynne Posts: 141 Member
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    What they meant by saying that that is that when you lift you do not burn as many calories as cardio up front but the act of repairing your muscle is what boosts your metabolism and "burns" more calories. So kidding heavy and eating more would not help you lose fat.
  • uconnwinsnc1
    uconnwinsnc1 Posts: 902 Member
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    18 year old male? Concentrate on good nutrition and a good weight training program. Learn proper form before you worry about how much weight you can lift. Form is everything.
  • JeffseekingV
    JeffseekingV Posts: 3,165 Member
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    infamous1997 wrote: »
    I've been reading that if you lift heavy, you burn more calories than doing cardio. Also, you gain a better metabolism. If I were to start lifting heavy and eat more, will I start to lose the fat I have? I'm 5'4" and I weigh around 138-141 LBs

    Depends. If you do one set of whatever for a 4 or 8 rep count, then rest for 5 min, then repeat, that's not a lot of calories burnt. I used the strength training in the cardio section to log calories. It isn't much. But I circuit train 3 things, then rest for 2 min, then repeat. 3 different sets of exercises during my workout. It's a good way to fit way more exercises during XX period you have at the gym. Obvisouly not optimal if you want to achieve ultimate strength but over the years, I've consistently gotten stronger on all my lifts. Last night, it was two lifts + 1 min jump rope. At the end of the hour, I was dripping sweat

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