Strength training to lose weight

TR0berts

"combine them!! you'll see great results from full body training three days a week and cardio 2-3 days a week. so say you lift m-w-f, and you do some cardio tu-th-sat. it would be a really great work out plan to give you a lot of balance."

Hey!
I'm going for my first cut right now. Following Strong lifts program. Aren't you suppose to rest on rest days? Cardio and calorie restrictions AND full body workouts? To much to fast?

What days can I incorporate cardio while doing the stronglifts 5x5 program?

You can either do cardio the same day as SL, but do it after; or on your "off" days from the SL program. Again, whatever works for you. Me? I'd probably do it same day, so that I can have full rest days in between lifting sessions. Others like to do it alternating days.

Star_1234

"combine them!! you'll see great results from full body training three days a week and cardio 2-3 days a week. so say you lift m-w-f, and you do some cardio tu-th-sat. it would be a really great work out plan to give you a lot of balance."

Hey!
I'm going for my first cut right now. Following Strong lifts program. Aren't you suppose to rest on rest days? Cardio and calorie restrictions AND full body workouts? To much to fast?

What days can I incorporate cardio while doing the stronglifts 5x5 program?

You can either do cardio the same day as SL, but do it after; or on your "off" days from the SL program. Again, whatever works for you. Me? I'd probably do it same day, so that I can have full rest days in between lifting sessions. Others like to do it alternating days.

ok, i will see what works best for me.

Capt_Apollo

"combine them!! you'll see great results from full body training three days a week and cardio 2-3 days a week. so say you lift m-w-f, and you do some cardio tu-th-sat. it would be a really great work out plan to give you a lot of balance."

Hey!
I'm going for my first cut right now. Following Strong lifts program. Aren't you suppose to rest on rest days? Cardio and calorie restrictions AND full body workouts? To much to fast?

What days can I incorporate cardio while doing the stronglifts 5x5 program?

So this is stronglifts

StrongLifts 5×5 Workout A StrongLifts 5×5 Workout B
Squat 5×5 Squat 5×5
Bench Press 5×5 Overhead Press 5×5
Barbell Rows 5×5 Deadlift 1×5

so basically, you do these two work outs. week 1 you do work out A on monday, work out B on Wed, and then A again on Friday. week 2 its mon B, wed A, fri B.

i'd rest sunday.

so when do you cardio? it can depend on a lof of things. how much cardio do you like? what kind of cardio?

personally, i'd probably do a low intensity steady state cardio on saturdays, no exception. that means just a nice long run or bike ride. oh, and just like "lift heavy" is relative, so is "run for a long time." run for time or distance. you don't have to follow a half marathon training plan or anything. i like cycling. easier on the legs, and you can go further and longer.

now the other days, tuesday and thursday. you can do a number of different things. you can do a short HIIT run, or the stair master, or the rowing machine. try and not do steady state stuff. keep it interesting. like, try and row 200 meters, then take a break, and then repeat it 2-3 times.

sweetpea03b

I lift 3x/week using New Rules of Lifting for Women... I have 1 week left of Phase 1. My weightloss was stalled for months before that when I was doing nothing but cardio. Now, I only do cardio 1 day/week usually other than the occasional walking the dog and I'm losing again.... not to mention I can see my body getting tighter/stronger all over. Defiately recommend pulling back on cardio and introducing lifting.

Star_1234

[/quote]

So this is stronglifts

StrongLifts 5×5 Workout A StrongLifts 5×5 Workout B
Squat 5×5 Squat 5×5
Bench Press 5×5 Overhead Press 5×5
Barbell Rows 5×5 Deadlift 1×5

so basically, you do these two work outs. week 1 you do work out A on monday, work out B on Wed, and then A again on Friday. week 2 its mon B, wed A, fri B.

i'd rest sunday.

so when do you cardio? it can depend on a lof of things. how much cardio do you like? what kind of cardio?

personally, i'd probably do a low intensity steady state cardio on saturdays, no exception. that means just a nice long run or bike ride. oh, and just like "lift heavy" is relative, so is "run for a long time." run for time or distance. you don't have to follow a half marathon training plan or anything. i like cycling. easier on the legs, and you can go further and longer.

now the other days, tuesday and thursday. you can do a number of different things. you can do a short HIIT run, or the stair master, or the rowing machine. try and not do steady state stuff. keep it interesting. like, try and row 200 meters, then take a break, and then repeat it 2-3 times.
[/quote]



Thank you for this!

sijomial

I'll contradict prevailing wisdom and assert that, yes, you can gain lean muscle mass at the same time you lose fat while maintaining a significant calorie deficit.

I started out on MFP to get rid of some useless body fat after being diagnosed with (very!) high blood pressure. I started at 171 lbs and opted for a 2lb/week loss, which put me in the 1200 calorie range. In addition to dieting, I started walking for exercise. The first few weeks, I was losing 2-3 pounds a week. Unfortunately, I injured my ankle and couldn't walk for almost a month. Since I couldn't walk, I decided I'd do some resistance training just so I'd have some sort of exercise. Over the next few weeks, I barely lost any weight, and even gained on a few occasions, but I did notice my pants were fitting much looser, and my t-shirts were fitting much tighter. I was loosing fat and gaining weight. I've since started measuring my progress by taking skinfold measurements, and tracking my estimated body fat %, because I might not reach my original target weight of 152lbs, as that would require me getting to around 5-6% body fat if the current fat loss / muscle gain trends continue.

Over the past week, I've only lost .6lb by the scale, but I've lost 2.2lb of fat based on skinfold measurements, so that's 1.6lbs of lean mass that I've gained.

The thing you must do is ensure your protein intake is sufficient. Not necessarily 1g per pound, because that much can only be used when seriously bulking, but somewhere from .4-.8g per pound. Really, though, it depends on how much you've damaged (exerted!) your muscles, so if you don't exercise heavily, .4g/lb is probably enough, but if you work your muscles to failure, or near it, you might want to get closer to the 1g/lb level. Oh, and you need to make sure all of your protein is complete...no, the protein in vegetables/grains/pulses won't usually help, because they're not very protein-dense. You need meat, milk, eggs or soy. Salmon is the ideal source of protein, IMO, but chicken is pretty f*cking awesome, too, and a whole lot cheaper than salmon! Of course, you can take the easy way out and use a protein supplement. I really like Optimum Nutrition Pro Complex, because it's about as protein-dense as possible. You can use this site to check protein quality of foods: http://skipthepie.org/

I choose to split the remainder of my macros between carbs and fats, so I'm at 30p/35c/35f @ 1400 net cals. I'm also taking a daily multivitamin, because the relatively low level of carbs that I take in don't provide me with the various vitamins/minerals needed.

Will this work for everyone? Maybe not. But it's definitely working for me.

I'll echo what everyone else is saying: Start strength training now. There's almost no downside to it, and if you're lucky, you might be able to lose some scale weight while you're getting your body in better shape.

Agree there is no downside to strength training.
Agree that is it possible for some people to gain muscle and lose fat at the same time (I have).
Disagree with your your protein recommendations - seems very low.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/m/pubmed/24092765/?i=2&from=sport,+training

A Systematic Review of Dietary Protein During Caloric Restriction in Resistance Trained Lean Athletes: A Case for Higher Intakes.
AuthorsHelms ER, et al. Show all
Helms ER, Zinn C, Rowlands DS, Brown SR.
JournalInt J Sport Nutr Exerc Metab. 2013 Oct 2. [Epub ahead of print]

AffiliationAbstract
Caloric restriction occurs when athletes attempt to reduce body fat or make weight. There is evidence that protein needs increase when athletes restrict calories or have low body fat.

PURPOSE: The aims of this review were to evaluate the effects of dietary protein on body composition in energy-restricted resistance-trained athletes and to provide protein recommendations for these athletes.

METHODS: Database searches were performed from earliest record to July 2013 using the terms protein, and intake, or diet, and weight, or train, or restrict, or energy, or strength, and athlete. Studies (N = 6) needed to use adult (≥ 18 yrs), energy-restricted, resistance-trained (> 6 months) humans of lower body fat (males ≤ 23% and females ≤ 35%) performing resistance training. Protein intake, fat free mass (FFM) and body fat had to be reported.

RESULTS: Body fat percentage decreased (0.5% to 6.6%) in all study groups(N = 13) and FFM decreased (0.3 to 2.7kg) in nine of 13. Four groups gained or did not lose FFM. They had the highest body fat, smallest magnitudes of energy restriction or underwent novel resistance training stimuli. Two groups lost non-significant amounts of FFM. The same conditions that existed in the groups that did not lose FFM existed in the first group. These conditions were not present in the second group, but this group consumed the highest protein intake in this review (2.5-2.6g/kg).

CONCLUSIONS: Protein needs for energy-restricted resistance-trained athletes are likely 2.3-3.1g/kg of FFM scaled upwards with severity of caloric restriction and leanness.

wait, what? did you just tell him that his protein is too low? can you check your math?

his recommendation for a non-athlete - 1g/lb TOTAL mass

your study's results for energy restricted ATHLETES - 2.5-3.1g/kg OF FFM


if I use his reccomendation, I eat 165 grams per day. Following yours, I would eat 149.5-201.5 grams, and since I read the rest of the abstract, I know that the range is DEPENDENT ON THE SEVERITY OF THE ENERGY DEFICIT.



a little simple arithmetic, please. So tired of people not doing the math and citing this study in particular, and almost always skipping the part about how the subjects of the study were in a much steeper deficit than someone following the very good recommendations given around here not to cut too fast.

Calm down a little! Why so hangry?
The poster's recommendation was actually 0.4 to 0.8g/lb ("0.4 probably enough") going up to a maximum of 1g/lb.

I was also using the study to refute the assertions of the "impossible to gain FFM in a deficit" crowd not encouraging anyone to cut quickly. Don't quite know how you twisted it that way.

Capt_Apollo

So this is stronglifts

StrongLifts 5×5 Workout A StrongLifts 5×5 Workout B
Squat 5×5 Squat 5×5
Bench Press 5×5 Overhead Press 5×5
Barbell Rows 5×5 Deadlift 1×5

so basically, you do these two work outs. week 1 you do work out A on monday, work out B on Wed, and then A again on Friday. week 2 its mon B, wed A, fri B.

i'd rest sunday.

so when do you cardio? it can depend on a lof of things. how much cardio do you like? what kind of cardio?

personally, i'd probably do a low intensity steady state cardio on saturdays, no exception. that means just a nice long run or bike ride. oh, and just like "lift heavy" is relative, so is "run for a long time." run for time or distance. you don't have to follow a half marathon training plan or anything. i like cycling. easier on the legs, and you can go further and longer.

now the other days, tuesday and thursday. you can do a number of different things. you can do a short HIIT run, or the stair master, or the rowing machine. try and not do steady state stuff. keep it interesting. like, try and row 200 meters, then take a break, and then repeat it 2-3 times.

Thank you for this!

did... did you not know what stronglifts is??

Star_1234

So this is stronglifts

StrongLifts 5×5 Workout A StrongLifts 5×5 Workout B
Squat 5×5 Squat 5×5
Bench Press 5×5 Overhead Press 5×5
Barbell Rows 5×5 Deadlift 1×5

so basically, you do these two work outs. week 1 you do work out A on monday, work out B on Wed, and then A again on Friday. week 2 its mon B, wed A, fri B.

i'd rest sunday.

so when do you cardio? it can depend on a lof of things. how much cardio do you like? what kind of cardio?

personally, i'd probably do a low intensity steady state cardio on saturdays, no exception. that means just a nice long run or bike ride. oh, and just like "lift heavy" is relative, so is "run for a long time." run for time or distance. you don't have to follow a half marathon training plan or anything. i like cycling. easier on the legs, and you can go further and longer.

now the other days, tuesday and thursday. you can do a number of different things. you can do a short HIIT run, or the stair master, or the rowing machine. try and not do steady state stuff. keep it interesting. like, try and row 200 meters, then take a break, and then repeat it 2-3 times.

Thank you for this!

did... did you not know what stronglifts is??

Yes, i have been reading up on SL 5X5 and have downloaded the timetable with the intention of starting it this Monday, I was just confused as to how I can incorporate cardio in my week because someone said I should rest on my non weight training days..

Capt_Apollo

So this is stronglifts

StrongLifts 5×5 Workout A StrongLifts 5×5 Workout B
Squat 5×5 Squat 5×5
Bench Press 5×5 Overhead Press 5×5
Barbell Rows 5×5 Deadlift 1×5

so basically, you do these two work outs. week 1 you do work out A on monday, work out B on Wed, and then A again on Friday. week 2 its mon B, wed A, fri B.

i'd rest sunday.

so when do you cardio? it can depend on a lof of things. how much cardio do you like? what kind of cardio?

personally, i'd probably do a low intensity steady state cardio on saturdays, no exception. that means just a nice long run or bike ride. oh, and just like "lift heavy" is relative, so is "run for a long time." run for time or distance. you don't have to follow a half marathon training plan or anything. i like cycling. easier on the legs, and you can go further and longer.

now the other days, tuesday and thursday. you can do a number of different things. you can do a short HIIT run, or the stair master, or the rowing machine. try and not do steady state stuff. keep it interesting. like, try and row 200 meters, then take a break, and then repeat it 2-3 times.

Thank you for this!

did... did you not know what stronglifts is??

Yes, i have been reading up on SL 5X5 and have downloaded the timetable with the intention of starting it this Monday, I was just confused as to how I can incorporate cardio in my week because someone said I should rest on my non weight training days..

got it. you should be smart about your cardio. if you're going to do work out A wednesday, don't go all out on the rowing machine on tuesday and burn out your arms the day before.



also, this is the way it's laid out. sorry, tried to make it two columns originally, and that didn't work out.
StrongLifts 5×5 Workout A
Squat 5×5
Bench Press 5×5
Barbell Rows 5×5

StrongLifts 5×5 Workout B
Squat 5×5
Overhead Press 5×5
Deadlift 1×5

pcastagner

I'll contradict prevailing wisdom and assert that, yes, you can gain lean muscle mass at the same time you lose fat while maintaining a significant calorie deficit.

I started out on MFP to get rid of some useless body fat after being diagnosed with (very!) high blood pressure. I started at 171 lbs and opted for a 2lb/week loss, which put me in the 1200 calorie range. In addition to dieting, I started walking for exercise. The first few weeks, I was losing 2-3 pounds a week. Unfortunately, I injured my ankle and couldn't walk for almost a month. Since I couldn't walk, I decided I'd do some resistance training just so I'd have some sort of exercise. Over the next few weeks, I barely lost any weight, and even gained on a few occasions, but I did notice my pants were fitting much looser, and my t-shirts were fitting much tighter. I was loosing fat and gaining weight. I've since started measuring my progress by taking skinfold measurements, and tracking my estimated body fat %, because I might not reach my original target weight of 152lbs, as that would require me getting to around 5-6% body fat if the current fat loss / muscle gain trends continue.

Over the past week, I've only lost .6lb by the scale, but I've lost 2.2lb of fat based on skinfold measurements, so that's 1.6lbs of lean mass that I've gained.

The thing you must do is ensure your protein intake is sufficient. Not necessarily 1g per pound, because that much can only be used when seriously bulking, but somewhere from .4-.8g per pound. Really, though, it depends on how much you've damaged (exerted!) your muscles, so if you don't exercise heavily, .4g/lb is probably enough, but if you work your muscles to failure, or near it, you might want to get closer to the 1g/lb level. Oh, and you need to make sure all of your protein is complete...no, the protein in vegetables/grains/pulses won't usually help, because they're not very protein-dense. You need meat, milk, eggs or soy. Salmon is the ideal source of protein, IMO, but chicken is pretty f*cking awesome, too, and a whole lot cheaper than salmon! Of course, you can take the easy way out and use a protein supplement. I really like Optimum Nutrition Pro Complex, because it's about as protein-dense as possible. You can use this site to check protein quality of foods: http://skipthepie.org/

I choose to split the remainder of my macros between carbs and fats, so I'm at 30p/35c/35f @ 1400 net cals. I'm also taking a daily multivitamin, because the relatively low level of carbs that I take in don't provide me with the various vitamins/minerals needed.

Will this work for everyone? Maybe not. But it's definitely working for me.

I'll echo what everyone else is saying: Start strength training now. There's almost no downside to it, and if you're lucky, you might be able to lose some scale weight while you're getting your body in better shape.

Agree there is no downside to strength training.
Agree that is it possible for some people to gain muscle and lose fat at the same time (I have).
Disagree with your your protein recommendations - seems very low.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/m/pubmed/24092765/?i=2&from=sport,+training

A Systematic Review of Dietary Protein During Caloric Restriction in Resistance Trained Lean Athletes: A Case for Higher Intakes.
AuthorsHelms ER, et al. Show all
Helms ER, Zinn C, Rowlands DS, Brown SR.
JournalInt J Sport Nutr Exerc Metab. 2013 Oct 2. [Epub ahead of print]

AffiliationAbstract
Caloric restriction occurs when athletes attempt to reduce body fat or make weight. There is evidence that protein needs increase when athletes restrict calories or have low body fat.

PURPOSE: The aims of this review were to evaluate the effects of dietary protein on body composition in energy-restricted resistance-trained athletes and to provide protein recommendations for these athletes.

METHODS: Database searches were performed from earliest record to July 2013 using the terms protein, and intake, or diet, and weight, or train, or restrict, or energy, or strength, and athlete. Studies (N = 6) needed to use adult (≥ 18 yrs), energy-restricted, resistance-trained (> 6 months) humans of lower body fat (males ≤ 23% and females ≤ 35%) performing resistance training. Protein intake, fat free mass (FFM) and body fat had to be reported.

RESULTS: Body fat percentage decreased (0.5% to 6.6%) in all study groups(N = 13) and FFM decreased (0.3 to 2.7kg) in nine of 13. Four groups gained or did not lose FFM. They had the highest body fat, smallest magnitudes of energy restriction or underwent novel resistance training stimuli. Two groups lost non-significant amounts of FFM. The same conditions that existed in the groups that did not lose FFM existed in the first group. These conditions were not present in the second group, but this group consumed the highest protein intake in this review (2.5-2.6g/kg).

CONCLUSIONS: Protein needs for energy-restricted resistance-trained athletes are likely 2.3-3.1g/kg of FFM scaled upwards with severity of caloric restriction and leanness.

wait, what? did you just tell him that his protein is too low? can you check your math?

his recommendation for a non-athlete - 1g/lb TOTAL mass

your study's results for energy restricted ATHLETES - 2.5-3.1g/kg OF FFM


if I use his reccomendation, I eat 165 grams per day. Following yours, I would eat 149.5-201.5 grams, and since I read the rest of the abstract, I know that the range is DEPENDENT ON THE SEVERITY OF THE ENERGY DEFICIT.



a little simple arithmetic, please. So tired of people not doing the math and citing this study in particular, and almost always skipping the part about how the subjects of the study were in a much steeper deficit than someone following the very good recommendations given around here not to cut too fast.

Calm down a little! Why so hangry?
The poster's recommendation was actually 0.4 to 0.8g/lb ("0.4 probably enough") going up to a maximum of 1g/lb.

I was also using the study to refute the assertions of the "impossible to gain FFM in a deficit" crowd not encouraging anyone to cut quickly. Don't quite know how you twisted it that way.

see, the thing is

a)there is nothing in my response to indicate anger, though I am "tired" of this really bad advice to eat up all the world's protein whether you like it or not

b) the thing is, FOR THE VAST MAJORITY of people trying to lose weight, 0.4 g/lb of total body mass is PLENTY. Studies on very lean ELITE ATHLETES ON STEEP CALORIE DEFICITS simply don't help in this scenario.



My use of caps is for emphasis, btw, because italics is a ***** to do here


The basic error I'm against here is the ridiculous assumption that because too little protein is bad, then more must always be better. It just doesnt work that way. Further, these damned supplement companies have done a really good job convincing a lot of people that you need 1.5g of protein per pound of total body mass or you will lose all your muscles by next week.

ndj1979

I was loosing fat and gaining weight.

how is this even possible?

MickeS

You can either do cardio the same day as SL, but do it after; or on your "off" days from the SL program. Again, whatever works for you. Me? I'd probably do it same day, so that I can have full rest days in between lifting sessions. Others like to do it alternating days.

This^^ I did some high rep bodyweight workout after the lifting session's at first but I ended up being too tired not feeling recovered to the next session. But I'm not that experienced (or strong) so why not try out what you think would work for you. Good luck!

RawMomma10

you can't eat in a deficit and gain muscle…you need energy - calorie excess - to gain muscle and that is impossible while eating in a deficit…

when you have lost the ten pounds that you have referenced, you can do a bulk cycle where you eat like 200 cal a day over matinenance….or you could try to eat about 200 cals over maintenance on work out days and then eat in a deficit on non work out days..this is similar to the lean gains method, just no fasting...