Weight lifting confusion.. Please help!

yisell25

Hey guys ok so I'm trying to loose weight (20lbs) and get toned. Not muscular ripped just tightened. Now am I suppose to do high weights, low reps or low weights high reps? If I do low weights I don't feel "the burn, or the soreness" and without that feeling I feel like im not " working out". Also, Am I suppose to do a lot of cardio and not weight lift that much? I get different responses every time and I'm confused.
Thanks

ninerbuff

Weight loss comes from calorie deficit. No calorie deficit, no fat loss. Muscularly getting ripped means having a quite low body fat percentage. If you don't want that, don't lower your body fat percentage too low.
Exercise is for fitness and health. Lifting low weights, high reps builds muscular endurance. It does little to "harden" the muscle up underneath the fat. Lifting high weights, low rep increases strength and does a better job of "hardening" the muscles.
Cardio is for cardiovascular improvement. It helps to burn off more calories, however it's CALORIES and doesn't necessarily mean fat calories. It's a myth when people say cardio burns fat. You burn fat by eating less calories than your body needs. That doesn't mean eating 1000 calories or less a day either.

A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
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Been in fitness for 30 years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition

Cherimoose

yisell25 wrote: »

I get different responses every time and I'm confused.

You think it's going to be any different this time?

The purpose of strength training during weight loss is to minimize muscle loss. That's best achieved with heavy weight, reaching exhaustion before around 12-14 reps.

Cardio is optional (fat loss only requires a calorie deficit). It's good to add some cardio for its fitness benefits.

For best results, follow a good strength program (NROL, Stronglifts, etc), don't do your own thing.

se015

ninerbuff wrote: »

Weight loss comes from calorie deficit. No calorie deficit, no fat loss. Muscularly getting ripped means having a quite low body fat percentage. If you don't want that, don't lower your body fat percentage too low.
Exercise is for fitness and health. Lifting low weights, high reps builds muscular endurance. It does little to "harden" the muscle up underneath the fat. Lifting high weights, low rep increases strength and does a better job of "hardening" the muscles.
Cardio is for cardiovascular improvement. It helps to burn off more calories, however it's CALORIES and doesn't necessarily mean fat calories. It's a myth when people say cardio burns fat. You burn fat by eating less calories than your body needs. That doesn't mean eating 1000 calories or less a day either.

A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
IDEA Fitness member
Kickboxing Certified Instructor
Been in fitness for 30 years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition

Cardio burns calories which indirectly cuts the excess fat that exists in your body. Cardio, lifting, and calorie deficit should yield results, correct?

se015

yisell25 wrote: »

Hey guys ok so I'm trying to loose weight (20lbs) and get toned. Not muscular ripped just tightened. Now am I suppose to do high weights, low reps or low weights high reps? If I do low weights I don't feel "the burn, or the soreness" and without that feeling I feel like im not " working out". Also, Am I suppose to do a lot of cardio and not weight lift that much? I get different responses every time and I'm confused.
Thanks

To be fit and toned, losing fat and building muscle will help with that process. You need to aim at a calorie deficit (try the calories that MFP sets for you first) try this calorie deficit for about a month, no results? Cut it down another 150 or 200 calories, but like he said above, you don't want to calorie restrict your body too much otherwise it holds onto as much calories, remember your body wants you to survive so never go below your BMR calories that is Basal Metabolic Rate. You will need a calculator to figure that out or you can spend time doing math equations to figuring it, but it's all based on your age, weight, height, bf %, and activity level. You should get yourself a hand held bf % detector. Use the same one every once in awhile to monitor changes, sometimes you may not see changes on the scale, but you might see bf % changes which is what you really want.

To sort of piggy back what was said by ninerbuff; High weight and low reps gives you more strength, although it helps to build muscle, it emphasizes more strength training than bodybuilding according to various articles I have read. Low weight, high reps helps with your "muscle endurance" that is your ability to lift tons of reps which can come in handy especially when your near the end of your exercise. So that is why you see most people stick with the 8-12 reps per set. Most people go with the 4 sets, amount of sets doesn't really matter, just do sets until you feel that particular muscle is worked enough. Find a weight that you can achieve 8-12 reps on. If you can't do more than 7, the weight is too heavy, if you can do more than 12, the weight is too light. You also must concentrate on form when lifting, especially when we think of the free weight exercises, meaning the barbells, dumbells, etc.... Another thing I want to point out is, lots of Women are afraid to lift due to the fear of becoming "big and bulky." Women do not have nearly as much of the naturally occurring hormone Testosterone as men so when you lift weights and build muscle it won't be the same size as if a man were to lift. So that won't happen unless you decide to take steroids which some female body builders do but that's a whole different discussion. Start with very light weight just to see how your form is and test your strength, the beginning is a little bit of trial and error to see what your actual condition is like. That's really the most information I have from what I've researched on my own. If anyone disagrees or wants to add to what I stated, feel free!

ninerbuff

Seth1825 wrote: »

ninerbuff wrote: »

Weight loss comes from calorie deficit. No calorie deficit, no fat loss. Muscularly getting ripped means having a quite low body fat percentage. If you don't want that, don't lower your body fat percentage too low.
Exercise is for fitness and health. Lifting low weights, high reps builds muscular endurance. It does little to "harden" the muscle up underneath the fat. Lifting high weights, low rep increases strength and does a better job of "hardening" the muscles.
Cardio is for cardiovascular improvement. It helps to burn off more calories, however it's CALORIES and doesn't necessarily mean fat calories. It's a myth when people say cardio burns fat. You burn fat by eating less calories than your body needs. That doesn't mean eating 1000 calories or less a day either.

A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
IDEA Fitness member
Kickboxing Certified Instructor
Been in fitness for 30 years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition

Cardio burns calories which indirectly cuts the excess fat that exists in your body. Cardio, lifting, and calorie deficit should yield results, correct?

Cardio burns calories that come from glycogen and fat. When you eat, you RESTORE. One could do 2 hours of cardio, eat maintenance and lose no fat at all. You see it all the time in the gym. Same people on cardio machines for an hour or more, no change in body fat percentage. Without a calorie deficit, it's not going to happen.
Fat is burned AT REST. It's the primary fuel when in resting state. That's why one weighs less in the morning than the night before (well and a little urine loss too).

http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10346155/cardio-isnt-for-fat-burning/p1

A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
IDEA Fitness member
Kickboxing Certified Instructor
Been in fitness for 30 years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition