Trying to get muscle while losing weight

FutureFit2020

Any hints and tips for people who gained muscle a lot of while still obese and losing?

I've got so much weight to lose and I have read some of the stories from the "success" section which recommend not waiting till you've lost weight as you will have lost muscle by then.

Thanks in advance

springlering62

I started weight training with a personal trainer when I’d lost about 40 pounds and have gone on to lose over 50 more since then.

I wish I had started weights earlier, but am very glad I did at all.

The weight training has helped with upper body strength, which I lacked to progress in yoga. I feel like it’s helped keep my skin comparatively tight, and it’s helped with (that dreaded word here) toning and shape. I know it sounds awfully vain, but I’m mesmerized at my appearance in the gym mirrors. I have enough body dysmorphia remaining that I can’t reconcile that shape to my still very “fat brain” perception.

I also do yoga, Pilates and power walking, but I don’t think I’d be in the shape I am without the weight training.

I work hard, but I’m also very very motivated, and have discovered a competitive streak I never knew I had. My trainer has had me doing fairly light weights and machines with higher reps, but is gradually moving me to more challenging weights.

You don’t have to kill your self (although I enjoy a hard workout) to get results. But you do have to stick with it and be patient. Results will not come overnight, overweeks, or overmonths for that matter. But when they do finally happen, with the appropriate weight loss in my case, the curve will arc pleasingly and pretty consistently.

I briefly tried one of the weight lifting apps, and immediately got chewed out for poor form and potential injury. It really, really helped me to have a pair of experienced eyes. I had absolutely no clue what I was doing.

I’m also older, and I hate to throw this phrase out, but if I, as a lumpen, couch potato reluctant senior could ultimately do this, anyone with time, patience and perseverance can, too. And a scale, of course.

FutureFit2020

springlering62 wrote: »

I started weight training with a personal trainer when I’d lost about 40 pounds and have gone on to lose over 50 more since then.

I wish I had started weights earlier, but am very glad I did at all.

The weight training has helped with upper body strength, which I lacked to progress in yoga. I feel like it’s helped keep my skin comparatively tight, and it’s helped with (that dreaded word here) toning and shape. I know it sounds awfully vain, but I’m mesmerized at my appearance in the gym mirrors. I have enough body dysmorphia remaining that I can’t reconcile that shape to my still very “fat brain” perception.

I also do yoga, Pilates and power walking, but I don’t think I’d be in the shape I am without the weight training.

I work hard, but I’m also very very motivated and have discovered a competitive streak I never knew I had. My trainer has had me doing fairly light weights and machines with higher reps, but is gradually moving me to more challenging weights.

You don’t have to kill your self (although I enjoy a hard workout) to get results. But you do have to stick with it and be patient. Results will not come overnight, overweeks, or overmonths for that matter. But when they do finally happen, with the appropriate weight loss in my case, the curve will arc pleasingly and pretty consistently.

I briefly tried one of the weight lifting apps, and immediately got chewed out for poor form and potential injury. It really, really helped me to have a pair of experienced eyes. I had absolutely no clue what I was doing.

I’m also older, and I hate to throw this phrase out, but if I, as a lumpen, couch potato reluctant senior could ultimately do this, anyone with time, patience and perseverance can, too. And a scale, of course.

Thank you for your reply!
90 pounds is an amazing loss and I bet you do struggle to recognise yourself in the gym mirror! I haven't got the resources for a personal trainer (and gyms are closed where I live even if I did! ) so I have just picked up my husband's dumbells and hoped for the best. I'm not really sure about my form or anything like that but curious how much other people are starting with. I could ask my husband but I had to wipe the dust off the weights before I could use them So I don't think he's the best person to get good info from!

I just used what he had already on the weights which was 10 kilos each. I have been working up the number of reps and I was able to do 2 sets of ten yesterday of 6 different exercises. I suppose when I can do three sets of the different moves I will need to add more weight but I'm not sure how much to add.

FutureFit2020

Also wondering if anyone was able to do press ups/pushups while they were still fat? I've never been able to do them but working on it and hope I will get better as I build upper-body strength and lose the weight.

tinkerbellang83

FutureFit2020 wrote: »

Also wondering if anyone was able to do press ups/pushups while they were still fat? I've never been able to do them but working on it and hope I will get better as I build upper-body strength and lose the weight.

Try starting with Wall or Incline Pushups then graduating to normal push ups, even if it's just one rep to start with.

Lietchi

Aside from doing resistance training, I'd also be mindful of how much protein you're consuming. And don't try to lose weight too quickly.

For pushups: you can build up to it by first doing them on raised surfaces: for example a staircase, starting with your hands at x steps high and gradually going lower as you build strength.

FutureFit2020

good ideas for the modified pushups guys, thanks. |I think those ideas will help me.

FutureFit2020

Re: protein I do struggle a bit as I'm a vegetarian and eat very little dairy/egg. For nutritional purposes, nearly vegan. I might have to start supplementing with shakes if I can't find some more somewhere.

Lietchi

You might find this spreadsheet handy for protein:
https://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10247171/carbs-and-fats-are-cheap-heres-a-guide-to-getting-your-proteins-worth-fiber-also/p1

Anabirgite

I started my weight lifting (hesitate to call it that, maybe using weights ) with doing Les Mills body Pump videos on you tube. You can easily modify the exercises to using dumbbells, but for a beginner, its an all over guided workout. I now do at the gym (thank goodness we are still open). I do 3-4 days a week.

https://youtu.be/_OZm8EsA1pA

SnifterPug

FutureFit2020 wrote: »

so I have just picked up my husband's dumbells and hoped for the best. I'm not really sure about my form or anything like that but curious how much other people are starting with. I could ask my husband but I had to wipe the dust off the weights before I could use them So I don't think he's the best person to get good info from!

I just used what he had already on the weights which was 10 kilos each. I have been working up the number of reps and I was able to do 2 sets of ten yesterday of 6 different exercises. I suppose when I can do three sets of the different moves I will need to add more weight but I'm not sure how much to add.

What exercises have you been doing? 10kg per dumbbell is a pretty challenging weight for a beginner for many movements. Doing 2 sets of 10 is fine so long as your form was OK but is pointless if you are just doing anything to get the weight where it is meant to go.

I lost a load of weight (77lb) and got into fitness in 2016. Much of the weight was lost during the fitness journey. You absolutely can develop muscle while losing weight but the main aim should probably be to keep what you have got and improve your strength and form. I'm pretty strong now but even so I'm only looking at 6kg per dumbbell for several of the exercises I do (typically going for 3 sets of 10 or 12).

On the subject of pushups, I'm still working on mine. Have been doing so very seriously since February and am so so so nearly there now. But it has taken ages. Definitely go for modified and do some dumbbell rows and planks too.

J72FIT

FutureFit2020 wrote: »

Also wondering if anyone was able to do press ups/pushups while they were still fat? I've never been able to do them but working on it and hope I will get better as I build upper-body strength and lose the weight.

You can and you will. Stay the course and trust the process.

briscogun

FutureFit2020 wrote: »

Also wondering if anyone was able to do press ups/pushups while they were still fat? I've never been able to do them but working on it and hope I will get better as I build upper-body strength and lose the weight.

So keep in mind that for body weight exercises, the more you weigh the harder they are to perform! So as you lose weight they will get easier. For example, earlier this year I started to lose weight, went back to the pull-up bar and could barely knock out 1! I can do upwards of a dozen now that I'm down 40+ pounds.

Also, in regards to your OP, yes you can build muscle while in a deficit, but not a lot, and it depends on how drastic of a deficit you are in. If it is just a small deficit, say 250 calories/day, then you will have a much easier job then if you are in a 1,000 calorie/day deficit. Most will recognize though that by doing weight training/strength training you will maintain and tone the existing muscles at a minimum so as you do shed the pounds you have something pleasing to see underneath.