Does this mean my weight loss is predominantly fat?
tuckerrj
Posts: 1,453 Member
Bear with me while I explain, please. If 7 months ago at 248 lbs of body weight, my maximum bench press was 5 repetitions at 225 lbs. Then yesterday, at 197 lbs of body weight, I achieved the same feat of bench pressing 225 lbs. for 5 repetitions, wouldn't that be a pretty good indicator that my weight loss was predominantly fat? I mean, if I'd lost significant muscle mass I wouldn't be able to lift the same as before. Anyway, just throwing that out there to hear your thoughts.
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Replies
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That's not how it works. You can make strength gains in a deficit and still lose a little muscle. Are you lifting progressively?8
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That would depend on your definition of "lifting progressively"??? I cycle the weight and rep scheme over time, with higher repetitions and lower weight to lower reps and higher weight. . .
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Strength and muscle mass are not the same thing, exactly. You can have strength gains without adding muscle fibers - quite extensive gains, in some scenarios.
If you've been lifting throughout weight loss, not losing weight at a crazy-fast rate, and eating an adequate amount of protein, the great majority of the weight you've lost is fat. Some will be non-fat tissue/fluids your smaller body no longer needs. A small amount might have been useful lean tissue, but it's a small fraction, in any normal case in the above conditions, or even close to them.
It's true that doing sensible things can minimize muscle loss, and that minimizing muscle loss is a Good Thing. But sometimes I think we in the MFP forums get people worried about muscle loss out of proportion to what's actually likely to happen to someone who's being generally sensible in what they do.
Just my opinion, though.7 -
You may have lost a bit of muscle, but not much. GREAT JOB.3
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For all the reasons stated in posts above, yes, I think you probably lost predominantly fat. You took a really good approach. Good work!0
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DancingMoosie wrote: »That's not how it works. You can make strength gains in a deficit and still lose a little muscle. Are you lifting progressively?
He probably did lose a little muscle. But that doesn't mean that his weight loss isn't predominantly fat.2 -
Bear with me while I explain, please. If 7 months ago at 248 lbs of body weight, my maximum bench press was 5 repetitions at 225 lbs. Then yesterday, at 197 lbs of body weight, I achieved the same feat of bench pressing 225 lbs. for 5 repetitions, wouldn't that be a pretty good indicator that my weight loss was predominantly fat? I mean, if I'd lost significant muscle mass I wouldn't be able to lift the same as before. Anyway, just throwing that out there to hear your thoughts.
How long had you been lifting already when you hit the first 225?
If you were already well trained over a year and had like just gotten to that point very slowly, so no more fast newbie improvements - then that is an excellent sign.
If on other hand you had been lifting for a month or two and hit that high mark - you would likely have had a lot more improvement still coming your way totally unrelated to more muscle, still CNS improvements, technique, strength from the same muscle, ect.
In which case having the same amount of muscle it should have gone up.
Been doing squats too, or dead lifts?
That's the ones I usually hear claims of "I kept my muscle mass" even though just starting lifting, and numbers should have increased, and using your numbers for example the claim would be "I added 50 lbs to the bar during the weight loss".
Thinking about that for a moment it should become glaring they merely added to the bar what they are no longer lifting on their body - same muscle mass/strength should have had a 50 lb trade merely to stay even.
Being new they also should have increased weight on the bar anyway - the fact they didn't means they almost assuredly lost muscle.
You also listed a progressive tract - work reps up until higher number hit, then lower reps and hopefully increase weight, and go back up with reps.
But your bench has stayed the same over 7 months?
ETA - your average numbers for loss are nice and reasonable.
But that could have meant some really severe diet weeks followed by some very bad adherence to the diet - like bouncing in and out of a diet.
Was the loss steady and slow and about as expected and planned?2 -
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DancingMoosie wrote: »That's not how it works. You can make strength gains in a deficit and still lose a little muscle. Are you lifting progressively?
He probably did lose a little muscle. But that doesn't mean that his weight loss isn't predominantly fat.
I worded that badly. I meant that gaining or maintaining strength doesn't always equal gaining or maintaining muscle mass. But I was confused because he only mentioned one lift and didn't say if he was lifting regularly during his weight loss. So, if he just tried his bench press exercise again AFTER losing the weight, we wouldnt know if he did the same exercise the whole time or just those 2 instances. But I do agree that lifting will help the majority of your weight loss to be fat.2 -
If you’re eating a decent amount of protein and strength training, I think most people will experience predominantly fat loss. That’s why those strategies are recommended.1
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DancingMoosie wrote: »DancingMoosie wrote: »That's not how it works. You can make strength gains in a deficit and still lose a little muscle. Are you lifting progressively?
He probably did lose a little muscle. But that doesn't mean that his weight loss isn't predominantly fat.
I worded that badly. I meant that gaining or maintaining strength doesn't always equal gaining or maintaining muscle mass. But I was confused because he only mentioned one lift and didn't say if he was lifting regularly during his weight loss. So, if he just tried his bench press exercise again AFTER losing the weight, we wouldnt know if he did the same exercise the whole time or just those 2 instances. But I do agree that lifting will help the majority of your weight loss to be fat.
Ah, got it. Thanks for the clarification.0 -
Don’t know the answer to your original question, but congratulations on your weight loss and strength! You’re definitely doing something right!1
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Bear with me while I explain, please. If 7 months ago at 248 lbs of body weight, my maximum bench press was 5 repetitions at 225 lbs. Then yesterday, at 197 lbs of body weight, I achieved the same feat of bench pressing 225 lbs. for 5 repetitions, wouldn't that be a pretty good indicator that my weight loss was predominantly fat? I mean, if I'd lost significant muscle mass I wouldn't be able to lift the same as before. Anyway, just throwing that out there to hear your thoughts.
How long had you been lifting already when you hit the first 225?
If you were already well trained over a year and had like just gotten to that point very slowly, so no more fast newbie improvements - then that is an excellent sign.
If on other hand you had been lifting for a month or two and hit that high mark - you would likely have had a lot more improvement still coming your way totally unrelated to more muscle, still CNS improvements, technique, strength from the same muscle, ect.
In which case having the same amount of muscle it should have gone up.
Been doing squats too, or dead lifts?
That's the ones I usually hear claims of "I kept my muscle mass" even though just starting lifting, and numbers should have increased, and using your numbers for example the claim would be "I added 50 lbs to the bar during the weight loss".
Thinking about that for a moment it should become glaring they merely added to the bar what they are no longer lifting on their body - same muscle mass/strength should have had a 50 lb trade merely to stay even.
Being new they also should have increased weight on the bar anyway - the fact they didn't means they almost assuredly lost muscle.
You also listed a progressive tract - work reps up until higher number hit, then lower reps and hopefully increase weight, and go back up with reps.
But your bench has stayed the same over 7 months?
ETA - your average numbers for loss are nice and reasonable.
But that could have meant some really severe diet weeks followed by some very bad adherence to the diet - like bouncing in and out of a diet.
Was the loss steady and slow and about as expected and planned?
Yep my bench stayed the same over 7 months, , , WHILE I LOST 50LBS OF BODYWEIGHT. I didn't really have any expectations of adding to my lifting totals while dropping such a significant amount of bodyweight. As for squat & deadlift, no. I have a history of herniated discs (disks?). So my heavy leg days involve a 45 degree angle leg sled. My sets of five reps have dropped only slightly in weight there. From 750 lbs down to 700.1 -
And BTW, I've been lifting "since dirt was invented". Roughly for the last 45 years. So maybe the normal muscle/strength gains attributable to a youngster don't apply to a 61 year old
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Well... I lost muscle mass... and i am far stronger than I was. So....🤷♂️1
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psychod787 wrote: »Well... I lost muscle mass... and i am far stronger than I was. So....🤷♂️
See, that's what I'm curious about. How did you determine that you "lost muscle mass"? Did you use something high tech like a BOD POD or a DEXA device. Or was it a skin fold caliper test or a hand held analyzer? And did you get stronger in all your lifts or just some?
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psychod787 wrote: »Well... I lost muscle mass... and i am far stronger than I was. So....🤷♂️
See, that's what I'm curious about. How did you determine that you "lost muscle mass"? Did you use something high tech like a BOD POD or a DEXA device. Or was it a skin fold caliper test or a hand held analyzer? And did you get stronger in all your lifts or just some?
Well... I was 400lbs... could not bench 135... now mid 190's and bench 235.... so... lost muscle mass and got stronger. Well trained does not always mean more muscle mass. Changes in fiber and neuro muscle connections...4 -
I lost some muscle mass (not a huge amount), and gained a lot of strength while on a deficit. That's based on 3 Dexas. I'm generally okay with losing a bit of muscle mass, although I think at some point I was likely on too much of a deficit. (I started MFP at about 200, and was losing 2+ lb per week, and slowed down to about 1.5 lb/week when I was at about 140, which is just into the healthy BMI for my height. I didn't slow to 1 lb/week until I was around 130.) I ate plenty of protein and progressively weight trained while I was losing, but I was also a woman in my 40s.1
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AnnPT77 mentioned it earlier, but if you had a large body that transformed into a smaller body, chances are you are going to lose muscle mass (and other forms of lean mass). And that’s not a bad thing—your body just needs less infrastructure.Even if you “lift heavy” chances are the muscle needed to lift the weights is less than the muscle that was needed to haul yourself around all day.3
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