Strength Trainers who credit weight loss to the ST...

08312013

First off, I am hearing it is the heavy lifting more than the reps. Is that right?

My question: are you doing free weights or machines?

Lastly, is this the best place for my question to be seen or should I post on a different thread?

I don't have a pic for my profile, mostly because I am too chicken... but I plan to...

As for my user name: that's the deadline I've given myself to lose 20 lbs... So far, so good...

phjorg1

weight loss is about energy. burn more than you eat, and you lose weight. eat more than you burn, and you gain weight. exercise can impact this, but it's NOT strength training thats causing weight loss. it's what you're eating.

That said, the reason why we say do strength training is because if you're eating less than you're burning, the body doesn't just lose fat. it drops everything. And the body is smart. It will get rid of stuff it doesn't need while in calorie deficit. So if you're not using your muscles, your body will go out of it's way to get rid of them.

But if you are using your muscles, then the body will preserve them better, and that calorie deficit will then go towards losing other things like more fat mass.

So while your 'weight' loss will be about the same from the calorie deficit. Your 'fat' loss will be greater. And that really is what your goal is. So thats why you do strength training.

And strength is relative. If you're hitting failure in 5 reps or less, then you're doing strength training. you might be weak comparatively to others, but it's still streangth training.

And do freeweights over machines always. the only reason for machines are bodybuilding or rehab. And I don't think you have either of those as your goals.

08312013

Thank you for taking the time to reply... and what a perfect response. Makes complete sense (of course) and is exactly what I was after! Guess I wasn't expecting that so quickly, so thanks.

NaomiJFoster

weight loss is about energy. burn more than you eat, and you lose weight. eat more than you burn, and you gain weight. exercise can impact this, but it's NOT strength training thats causing weight loss. it's what you're eating.

That said, the reason why we say do strength training is because if you're eating less than you're burning, the body doesn't just lose fat. it drops everything. And the body is smart. It will get rid of stuff it doesn't need while in calorie deficit. So if you're not using your muscles, your body will go out of it's way to get rid of them.

But if you are using your muscles, then the body will preserve them better, and that calorie deficit will then go towards losing other things like more fat mass.

So while your 'weight' loss will be about the same from the calorie deficit. Your 'fat' loss will be greater. And that really is what your goal is. So thats why you do strength training.

And strength is relative. If you're hitting failure in 5 reps or less, then you're doing strength training. you might be weak comparatively to others, but it's still streangth training.

And do freeweights over machines always. the only reason for machines are bodybuilding or rehab. And I don't think you have either of those as your goals.

That second paragraph was the most concise, practical, and noobie-friendly explanation of that, that I've heard so far. Thank you for that.

GetSoda

Strength training doesn't make you skinny. The strongest people in the world who train the hardest are mountains of muscle AND fat. Look at strongman competitors.

However, strength training has so many health benefits it would be foolish to miss out on it. Combine it with a calorie deficit, and there you go.

When the big guys want to look ripped - they diet.