To hell with lifting and stick to cardio?

Warchortle

"I've seen changes in my body fat but my weight hasn't moved. "

Muscle is denser than fat. You can lose inches and maintain the same weight: in certain instances you can burn fat and build muscle at the same time.

kassiebby1124

"I've seen changes in my body fat but my weight hasn't moved. "

Muscle is denser than fat. You can lose inches and maintain the same weight: in certain instances you can burn fat and build muscle at the same time.

I was just confused because I still weigh in the 190s

mamacoates

I would add in some HIIT sessions (high intensity interval training). If you don't have time for both, perhaps go down to 3-4 weight sessions a week and add in some HIIT. You could do tabata, which only takes a few minutes to get that punch of HIIT.

I know the frustration all too well of putting all the effort in and not seeing the scale budge! But, if you are REALLY maintaining a deficit (are you sure you are tracking everything??) and doing the work, you need to rest assured that your body is doing something positive, as hard as that is when the scale doesn't budge!

^^^ THIS is exactly what I was going to suggest. Design your weight lifting sessions so you are covering all body parts in 3-4 days per week. On the off days, add in some intense cardio sessions. Without getting too long-winded, cardio is better at helping you burn fat and weights are better at helping you build muscle which supports higher metabolic function throughout the day. So both are important. High Intensity Interval Training (HIIT) will give you more bang for your buck as far as cardio goes, and is more effective than steady state cardio on it's own. You can accomplish this through all types of formats. With your bad ankle, you might trying cycling. High intensity for 30 seconds then back off for 1 minute. Continue this for the duration of your 30 minute cardio session. Adjust and increase times as your endurance improves. Also, if doing both on the same day, better to do cardio after weights due to the different processes that your body uses for energy.

As far as suggesting some good weight routines, someone above mentioned hiring a personal trainer. If you can afford it, go for it. I see from your profile pick you are working out in a gym. Most gyms offer 1-2 introductory sessions to members upon sign up so if you haven't taken advantage of that yet, that is something you can ask about. You can also start educating yourself by reading on line. A) Bodybuilding.com has some great resources and is my go-to place when looking to change up my routines. In January I will start Jaime Eason's Live Fit 12 week program which you can sign up for (free) at this same website. ScoobysWorkshop.com is another site that a lot of folks here on MFP recommend. C) There is a group on this website that many people recommend - run by two long time members who are very much into weight training and are very helpful: http://www.myfitnesspal.com/forums/show/10067-eat-train-progress- If nothing else, a great place to start reading .... D) Many people have recommended the book New Rules of Weight Lifting for Women. I haven't personally looked at it yet, but might be worth checking out ...

Finally, make friends with a tape measure. If you are not seeing changes on the scale, it is for a variety of reasons that other posters have already mentioned, but a tape measure will help you document your body transformation, and that is a great encouragement when the scale is not giving you the data you are looking for. In the end, it is all just data to help you measure your progress, nothing more.

Hope that helps and good luck to you!! Keep up the good work and good things will continue to come your way!!

suelegal

Calorie Deficit for weight loss.

Exercise is for health and fitness. And apart from that, you are talking aerobic vs. anaerobic...so endurnace vs. strength. A well rounded exercise regime takes both into account.

Exercise can promote weight loss, but only indirectly. At the end of the day it all comes back to total calories consumed. Make sure you weigh everything and maintain a calorie deficit.

exactly this - and when you lift doesn't matter, nor does when you eat, it's the amount of food you put in your mouth.

rileysowner

From what you have written, you are losing body fat. Personally I would suggest putting the scale away for a month or two. Measure yourself with a measuring tape, and retake those measurements in 2 weeks or so. If you, as you seem to be, are losing body fat, the weight will eventually follow, but the only way to be sure is to know if your measurements are changing.

There was a thread not too long back of women posting pictures of before and after training with weights where their weight was basically the same or sometimes even higher, and every one of them looked far better in their after pictures. Getting caught up in looking only at weight forgets that if losing weight rather than body fat is the issue, just chopping off your leg will get rid to the weight. The goal is getting rid of fat.

Slrajr

Lifting is not preventing you from losing weight and I think you are very fortunate that you love lifting. Lifting makes one stronger, helps with daily physical challenges, increases circulation, promotes relaxation, digestion, and self regulation, can reduce injuries from running, increases or helps maintain bone density, and thats all I can think of right now! The benefits are endless! Plus, muscles are beautiful.

Markguns

body composition is much more important and relevant than weight - your BF% is dropping, whilst your weight remains consistent, that's a great scenario!! I'd keep lifting and learn to appreciate your body for what it looks like, not an irrelevant number on a scale.

^^ That

harlanJEN

Me again : )

I took a look at your profile and peeked at your diary.

GREAT JOB on your successes!! Tremendous loss. It is now time to regroup, tighten up and stay consistent and persistent.

I think you need to focus on your FOOD a bit more in terms of quantity and quality. I only looked at a few days, but logging seemed not very consistent and I saw some opportunity for crowding IN some foods. Nutrient dense, filling foods are beneficial. Food with staying power. Food that will fuel you and your workouts.

Go back and read what I wrote you . You are on the right path. : )

Jen

SezxyStef

I get the issue....we all want to see the weight go down...and when we don't it's like "WTH".

It takes a while to get past this mind set.

But lifting has too many benefits to stop doing it, esp if you love it.

As others have said use a tape measure, take pics and only weigh once in a while.

Keep in mind if you do want that number to go down it's all in the diet.

I have lost more inches then pounds doing circut training and now weights.

I prefer this to being soft and lighter...I am 162lbs and wear a size 8...,,most woman my weight wear a bigger size...just to put it into perspective for you.

kassiebby1124

Thanks everyone. I'm back on track in regards to well, tracking. Hopefully I'll see something new. I decided to look into starting strength. It's similar to strong lifts. I have a question about it: can you add exercises to it or is that going to be "ineffective?"

SpeSHul_SnoflEHk

re-start my metabolism

There is no such thing.

What about suspended animation? I saw this guy get suspended in carbonite once, and his metabolism stopped. Also there was a guy in Geneva who managed to restart the metabolism of a man who was likely composed of several corpses. I read about it in a book.

Slrajr

re-start my metabolism

There is no such thing.

What about suspended animation? I saw this guy get suspended in carbonite once, and his metabolism stopped. Also there was a guy in Geneva who managed to restart the metabolism of a man who was likely composed of several corpses. I read about it in a book.

You're kidding right? I always thought Carbonite was a fictional space ship thingie, but now I'm definitely going to stay at least an arm's length from all the carbonite in my house! I don't want to mess with my metabolism.

That Geneva guy story is a shocker too! Was he using raspberry keytones on the corpses? I should really read more books.

randomtai

re-start my metabolism

There is no such thing.

What about suspended animation? I saw this guy get suspended in carbonite once, and his metabolism stopped. Also there was a guy in Geneva who managed to restart the metabolism of a man who was likely composed of several corpses. I read about it in a book.

You're kidding right? I always thought Carbonite was a fictional space ship thingie, but now I'm definitely going to stay at least an arm's length from all the carbonite in my house! I don't want to mess with my metabolism.

That Geneva guy story is a shocker too! Was he using raspberry keytones on the corpses? I should really read more books.

:laugh: :laugh: :laugh:

meshashesha2012

if you do HIIT, please dont do it on your lifting off days because proper HIIT taxes the body and the CNS the same way strength training does. that means it's counterproductive to your recovery to do it on days you're supposed to be recovering. try to do it either the same day as you lift in place of a lift day.

when i do HIIT cycles, i do them several hours before a lift session on the same day i lift. since the workout is only around 15 minutes, it's not too much of a pain time wise to get it in.

Huffdogg

Thanks everyone. I'm back on track in regards to well, tracking. Hopefully I'll see something new. I decided to look into starting strength. It's similar to strong lifts. I have a question about it: can you add exercises to it or is that going to be "ineffective?"

IMO just leave it as-is, or at the most add some chin-ups. It's pretty comprehensive, especially once you get rolling. You oughtn't need to add much of anything if you're doing it right.

kassiebby1124

Thanks everyone. I'm back on track in regards to well, tracking. Hopefully I'll see something new. I decided to look into starting strength. It's similar to strong lifts. I have a question about it: can you add exercises to it or is that going to be "ineffective?"

IMO just leave it as-is, or at the most add some chin-ups. It's pretty comprehensive, especially once you get rolling. You oughtn't need to add much of anything if you're doing it right.

Okay. It just had 3 work outs so I was curious

Huffdogg

They are three compound barbell movements. Trust me, it's a full-body workout.

Warchortle

They are three compound barbell movements. Trust me, it's a full-body workout.

There are more than 3 compound barbell movements.

Huffdogg

I'm pretty sure she's referring to the amount of work per workout on SS, as she was asking if she ought to add anything to the program.

mimieon

I've seen changes in my body fat but my weight hasn't moved. I know that seems irrelevant but it matters to me. So should I just stick to cardio and continue weights?

So you are losing fat, but you would rather see the numbers on the scale change? If you stop exercising and rest your muscles for a while you will probably drop some waterweight. You can also stop weightlifting and up your cardio to burn some muscle and fat, which will also make you weigh less. However I would just focus on being happy with the fat loss instead of focussing on numbers.