Question about weights and losing weight
samanthasola
Posts: 12 Member
I'm a little confused. So lighter weights were becoming too easy so I upped the weight I'm lifting. Now I'm noticing I'm not doing anything not losing or gaining just staying the same. To slim and tone am I supposed to keep using lighter weights or do you go up in weights to challenge your muscles?
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Replies
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how long have you not lost weight for?2
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The amount of weight you use should be set by the number of repetitions that you complete in each set. Too light and you risk doing cardio on the spot.
1-5 reps is more strength
6-12 reps is more hypertrophy
12-20 reps is more endurance
20+ is moving towards cardio
Commonly people choose 8-12. Starting at 8 reps per set, moving up to 9 through 12 before upping the weight and moving back to 8.
Women can train heavy... and should train heavy. You won't bulk up, you'll "tone" or whatever you want to call it. You especially won't bulk in a calorie deficit, even if you're a man. Do what you feel comfortable with, either increasing weight or volume, but always make sure that you're progressively overloading your muscles.
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The lack of weight loss is water retention. Your muscles hold water while they heal6
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could be water weight - what kind of time frame are we talking about?1
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To slim down and tone...
1 - manage diet/intake
2 - do progressive training (usually lifting, but can be other activities)
3 - have reasonable expectations
You post/question addresses #2 (yes, you should keep increasing weight), but you don't mention either of the other points, which are every bit as important.0 -
To slim down and tone...
1 - manage diet/intake
2 - do progressive training (usually lifting, but can be other activities)
3 - have reasonable expectations
You post/question addresses #2 (yes, you should keep increasing weight), but you don't mention either of the other points, which are every bit as important.
I do manage my diet. I used to live at the drive up window lol but I've changed that and have learned to meal prep and portion control. I eat clean and have upped my protein intake. I would like to think my expectations are reasonable as I've been working with a 5lb and 8lb weight for a while. I recently went from that to 10 and 15 which the 15 may be too much but I'm still figuring it out. I've just switched about a week ago so I don't expect much but someone told me I was doing it wrong so I wanted others opinion as I am far from knowing what I'm doing.1 -
I never even thought of the water retention that makes perfect sense. I've only upped the weight about a week ago. I may have to readjust my body is so sore1
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samanthasola wrote: »I never even thought of the water retention that makes perfect sense. I've only upped the weight about a week ago. I may have to readjust my body is so sore
if you're feeling sore then you'll be retaining water which is why the scales haven't moved.8 -
TavistockToad wrote: »samanthasola wrote: »I never even thought of the water retention that makes perfect sense. I've only upped the weight about a week ago. I may have to readjust my body is so sore
if you're feeling sore then you'll be retaining water which is why the scales haven't moved.
This.
Case in point. Saturday was a lifting day, when I added more weight on. Sunday was barre, which usually results in a two pound gain the next day. And then I accidentally doubled my amount of sodium yesterday.
I was grateful that the scale was only up two pounds this morning, because I was expecting far more.2 -
I’m a little confused bc you only listed 2 weights. Are you following a weight lifting program? Every lift I do I have a different weight I use, some times they’ll be over lap but rarely.0
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I’m a little confused bc you only listed 2 weights. Are you following a weight lifting program? Every lift I do I have a different weight I use, some times they’ll be over lap but rarely.
I have heavy, medium and light. Lol idc what I'm doing but it's worked for me so far. For different exercises I use a different weight0 -
To slim your body: calorie deficit
To tone: build muscle, lose fat
So, you should find a progressive lifting routine and keep up with your calorie deficit until you reach your goal weight. When you reach your goal weight, if you still want more muscle/less fat, you can try a recomp. Eat at maintenance and keep lifting progressively. When you just do whatever you want with some dumbbells, chances are you will not get a balanced routine and will not be as happy with your results. Find a program. I started with Stronglifts 5x5, but there are many other good beginner programs.2 -
I would increase the weight you lift - you control your body weight up or down with your calorie intake. The idea is to build some muscle & loose some fat
-Dancing Moosie suggested a program like Strong Lifts - good idea - Eastcoast Jim1 -
DancingMoosie wrote: »To slim your body: calorie deficit
To tone: build muscle, lose fat
So, you should find a progressive lifting routine and keep up with your calorie deficit until you reach your goal weight. When you reach your goal weight, if you still want more muscle/less fat, you can try a recomp. Eat at maintenance and keep lifting progressively. When you just do whatever you want with some dumbbells, chances are you will not get a balanced routine and will not be as happy with your results. Find a program. I started with Stronglifts 5x5, but there are many other good beginner programs.
I don't mean to hijack this thread but I just looked up this program and it sounds good. I am right at my goal weight and trying to decide if I want to loose 2-3 more pounds or start lifting more and toning. Does this workout incorporate ab work? Thanks for the help.0 -
ladybug4233 wrote: »DancingMoosie wrote: »To slim your body: calorie deficit
To tone: build muscle, lose fat
So, you should find a progressive lifting routine and keep up with your calorie deficit until you reach your goal weight. When you reach your goal weight, if you still want more muscle/less fat, you can try a recomp. Eat at maintenance and keep lifting progressively. When you just do whatever you want with some dumbbells, chances are you will not get a balanced routine and will not be as happy with your results. Find a program. I started with Stronglifts 5x5, but there are many other good beginner programs.
I don't mean to hijack this thread but I just looked up this program and it sounds good. I am right at my goal weight and trying to decide if I want to loose 2-3 more pounds or start lifting more and toning. Does this workout incorporate ab work? Thanks for the help.
Best ab workouts are squats and deadlifts. Do them, 2 or 3 more lbs isn't much at all... like you won't even see a psychical difference in your physique unless you're like 4% BF going for some more vascualrity or something.
OP - something I didn't see you say is how long have you been lifting for? sometimes you plateau for 3-4 weeks then lose like 4lbs on a Monday for no reason.
If your menstrual cycle is approaching you retain water and can gain upwards of 10lbs ... allot more has to be taken into consideration for females. This isn't an actual gain of fat it's just your body preparing to "do it's thing"
Keep upping the weights IMO and ensure you're squatting and dead-lifting once or twice a week if you can.
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Tedebearduff wrote: »ladybug4233 wrote: »DancingMoosie wrote: »To slim your body: calorie deficit
To tone: build muscle, lose fat
So, you should find a progressive lifting routine and keep up with your calorie deficit until you reach your goal weight. When you reach your goal weight, if you still want more muscle/less fat, you can try a recomp. Eat at maintenance and keep lifting progressively. When you just do whatever you want with some dumbbells, chances are you will not get a balanced routine and will not be as happy with your results. Find a program. I started with Stronglifts 5x5, but there are many other good beginner programs.
I don't mean to hijack this thread but I just looked up this program and it sounds good. I am right at my goal weight and trying to decide if I want to loose 2-3 more pounds or start lifting more and toning. Does this workout incorporate ab work? Thanks for the help.
Best ab workouts are squats and deadlifts. Do them, 2 or 3 more lbs isn't much at all... like you won't even see a psychical difference in your physique unless you're like 4% BF going for some more vascualrity or something.
OP - something I didn't see you say is how long have you been lifting for? sometimes you plateau for 3-4 weeks then lose like 4lbs on a Monday for no reason.
If your menstrual cycle is approaching you retain water and can gain upwards of 10lbs ... allot more has to be taken into consideration for females. This isn't an actual gain of fat it's just your body preparing to "do it's thing"
Keep upping the weights IMO and ensure you're squatting and dead-lifting once or twice a week if you can.
Thank you for taking the time to respond.
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samanthasola wrote: »To slim down and tone...
1 - manage diet/intake
2 - do progressive training (usually lifting, but can be other activities)
3 - have reasonable expectations
You post/question addresses #2 (yes, you should keep increasing weight), but you don't mention either of the other points, which are every bit as important.
I do manage my diet. I used to live at the drive up window lol but I've changed that and have learned to meal prep and portion control. I eat clean and have upped my protein intake. I would like to think my expectations are reasonable as I've been working with a 5lb and 8lb weight for a while. I recently went from that to 10 and 15 which the 15 may be too much but I'm still figuring it out. I've just switched about a week ago so I don't expect much but someone told me I was doing it wrong so I wanted others opinion as I am far from knowing what I'm doing.
Speaking gently: while your response starts by acknowledging @jjpptt2 's points... starting from your second sentence and looking at your complete post it doesn't sound as if you've internalized what she's saying.
Your weight loss is going to be determined by your caloric deficit.
Your caloric deficit. Not your protein intake. Not the cleanliness of your food or your utensils. NOT your choice of 5lb, 8lb or 15lb weights for exercise.
Reasonable expectations are your expectations for the size of deficit you should create and the amount of weight you should be dropping each week.
Given normal daily weight fluctuations many dieters who engage in a reasonable weight loss program will see very little weight movement on a day to day basis even when they are correctly following their program.
Often it takes diligent tracking of weight variation over a 4 to 6 week period before you realize that yes, indeed, your weight trend is showing you as losing the 0.5lbs a week you had planned for!
If you look carefully you will notice that I haven't once mentioned what size weights you've chosen to use to exercise with
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