Dumbbell's question

daterxies

Curious to know for weight loss and muscle gain what do people recommend..

I've been told to do as many of each exercise as i can for 60 seconds and ive been told by another person to do sets and reps.

A search to google just brings you to sites that want you to pay for their workouts etc. Just curious whats better? I have 79 lbs to lose, i HATE cardio and have read Resistance training is just as good as cardio, if not better. Maybe once im more fit i can start some cardio also for those benefits... but thats later down the road

Thanks.

Wombat468

The 60 seconds thing is more like interval training/circuit training/cardio. If you're looking to increase strength/muscle, you want to be doing sets of reps slowly, concentrating on form.

LazSommer

I prefer smartbells. Also you're going to be recommended Stronglifts or Starting Strength, so start researching them. Failure is usually endurance, sets and reps tend toward strength/hypertrophy. Beginner programs are progressive in that you increase the weight each successful workout, and are usually based around some variation of 5 reps in the 3-5 set range.

Stick to the damn program when you pick one. Cardio is not necessary but not a bad idea.

ninerbuff

Weight loss comes down to CICO. To lose weight, you eat less than you burn in a day. This is a catabolic process.

Muscle gain comes from progressive resistance training accompanied by a surplus because it's one isn't likely to build muscle without it. This is an anabolic process.

To run both simultaneously can be done, but the results would be quite slow. So what you should do is choose what's more important to you first.

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

Sumiblue

I'd recommend following an established program that fits your goals. Stronglifts, Starting Strength & New Rules of Lifting are all great beginning programs. The weight (fat) loss comes from having a deficit and lifting helps preserve your muscle. Make sure you get enough protein, too. Walking is fine for cardio.

cwolfman13

"Better" is relative to your goals...your fitness goals. Where weight loss is concerned, none of this matters; your diet is what is going to result in your weight loss...lifting preserves muscle mass and improves your overall body composition so you look better...when you shed the fat you reveal the muscle underneath...in the absence of resistance training, you will lose more muscle mass along with your fat when dieting.

Low reps with heavier weight (relative to your 1 RM) is optimal for training actual strength/power. This is generally in the 1-6 rep range.

Medium reps with medium weight is optimal for hypertrophy and is just a good all around rep range. Generally in the 8-12 rep range.

High reps with low weight is optimal for training muscular endurance and stamina. You typically would work this with less rest...think circuits/bootcamp kind of stuff which will result in getting a little more cardiovascular work in with your resistance training.

I don't subscribe to living in any one rep range..."specialization" is for athletes specifically training for something...i.e. power lifter/bodybuilder or some people just like to do that, but I don't find it to be optimal for general fitness. As a matter of general fitness I work cycles of various rep ranges and work in various rep ranges within those cycles...for example, right now I'm running a heavy cycle where my primary compound movements are 5/5/5/3/1 with my 1 being about 95% of my maximum...and then I do assistance work in the 8-10 rep range.

daterxies

ninerbuff wrote: »

Weight loss comes down to CICO. To lose weight, you eat less than you burn in a day. This is a catabolic process.

Muscle gain comes from progressive resistance training accompanied by a surplus because it's one isn't likely to build muscle without it. This is an anabolic process.

To run both simultaneously can be done, but the results would be quite slow. So what you should do is choose what's more important to you first.

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

So if i want to be realistic and lose these 79 lbs, i should just focus on CICO? I really want to succeed at this for many reasons and thats why im asking for advice. If CICO to my goal weight, and then RT is the best approach ill do that. Just want the "healthiest" approach to losing it and toning up etc.

capaul42

Keeping the strength training going during your weight loss will help preserve your muscle mass more than if you concentrate on just CICO.

Fitnessblender.com is free and has tons of different kinds of workouts for all levels. You can also search them on youtube. I do a lot of their strength, bodyweight and cardio workouts.

ninerbuff

daterxies wrote: »

ninerbuff wrote: »

Weight loss comes down to CICO. To lose weight, you eat less than you burn in a day. This is a catabolic process.

Muscle gain comes from progressive resistance training accompanied by a surplus because it's one isn't likely to build muscle without it. This is an anabolic process.

To run both simultaneously can be done, but the results would be quite slow. So what you should do is choose what's more important to you first.

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

So if i want to be realistic and lose these 79 lbs, i should just focus on CICO? I really want to succeed at this for many reasons and thats why im asking for advice. If CICO to my goal weight, and then RT is the best approach ill do that. Just want the "healthiest" approach to losing it and toning up etc.

You get strong and retain muscle while losing weight. In fact many people who do this may realize that they don't want any more muscle when they actually see what's under all the fat.

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

djspacecaptain

From personal experience (ive lost 170lbs in two different time periods, working on making it a total of 200lbs lost) i focused primarily on eating a healthy diet that ends the day with at least a 600 calorie deficit. I also workout to both increase the calorie deficit and tone my body. I hate to say it but your going to have to do cardio. Start easy by using the stationary bike or walking outside or on the treadmill with slight incline. Adding the working out can easily add another 600-1000 calories to my deficit depending on what i chose to do. Its going to take time but i would not start with dumbbells or lifting weights until you lose like 75% of what your goal is. Just my two cents and is how i lost my weight.

lemurcat12

You don't have to do cardio. Cardio is beneficial since it increases cardio fitness and burns calories (which affects how much you can eat). (You can get the cardio calorie burn from things like walking too. Just takes longer. Adding activity into the day as much as possible makes things easier, IME.)

Weights are also beneficial -- I'd find a program that appeals to you (any good program -- Starting Strength, Stronglifts, Strong Curves, one of the New Rules of Lifting programs or Schuler's new book Strong, any of the Tom Venuto ones, there are lots available on-line, in an app, or just for the price of a book). Then stick with it. These will be reps and sets. The thing I most regret is not starting reasonably soon when losing weight, but not starting even soon and, especially, program hopping rather than picking one and working it hard.

Benefit here is how you look after losing the weight and overall health and fitness (plus, if you don't like cardio and find this fun, it's exercise you enjoy).

If you want to do some cardio but find running/biking/swimming not your thing, maybe try a cardio class (or video) involving weights. This is more cardio than strength building, but you will build some strength and it may be a fun way to do cardio for you.