Weight lifting doesn't burn fat

Mr_Healthy_Habits

I never said what I recommended was the only way, but again I will say that it does work...

Eating late, no matter how little I ate during the day, has always been the kiss of death for me...

I had lost about 180lbs before I started trying to seriously add muscle

murphymunstah

Lifting should be done between 3-5 days a week for no longer than two hours a week. I suggest some High Intensity Interval Training (HIIT) once a week in replace of one of your lifting sessions and in addition to your current zumba classes. I have been doing HIIT once a week for a little while now and it has gotten me in much better shape. I can't do anything high impact so I do all of this on an elliptical or a bike if I'm in too much pain from tendonitis. I jog between 4.5-5mph for two minutes and then give it my all for 1:30 or 2minutes if I can, and continue alternating between 6-8 times or about a half hour.

LKArgh

AnnPT77 wrote: »

skodadog wrote: »

As mentioned by many above, the solution is probably a combination of further restricting the caloric intake and moving to something other than or in addition to Zumba. I wouldn't give up Zumba all together (presumably it's what you like and that is important in motivation). I would also not give up weight lifting, but try reducing the number of weight training days or time you spend weight training in half and with that time, add some other high intensity training (HIT) exercise using a timer. Even 15-20 minutes of HIT training on a cardio/spin bike or elliptical trainer can really make a difference in caloric output (daily and weekly totals). There are great YouTube videos that describe HIT.

It's unclear to me how new OP's workout routine is, but just to be safe, I want to say this: People who are new to working out should not be encouraged to do HIIT routines. It's important to have a reasonable base level of fitness before trying to go "all out" in this kind of routine.

Much of what's currently advertised as HIIT . . . isn't. So-called HIIT is, in most of these common cases, just the latest over-hyped fitness trend. Many workouts presented as HIIT are just interval workouts (you don't - can't - do HIIT for an hour at a time). There's nothing wrong with regular interval workouts, they just don't have that trendy cachet of "HIIT". The alleged afterburn (or revved up metabolism, EPOC, or whatever) from "HIIT" is seriously overstated.

People new to exercise, and pursuing calorie burn and general fitness, are well served by boring old steady-state cardio, or regular ol' intervals (such as walk/run), plus a well-constructed strength program. High intensity serves specific athletic training goals, and requires solid base fitness.

OP has a BMI of 43. I am trying to mentally picture anyone with that BMI doing HIIT for 20 seconds, and I just can't. I had attempted true HIIT a few years ago, when I was in awesome shape in a small group where most people were spending hours daily training, and most of them were participating regularly in triathlon races. Maybe 2-3 of us managed to pull off the entire 20 minutes without wanting to die afterwards. It was more a "I will show you what HIIT is really about, so you can see for yourselves why it has no place in normal people training" kind of educational experience )