Strength training - will I look different?

curvyrunner

Hi,

I'm 26 years old, 5ft5 126lbs. I seem to stay around this weight, and can only loose more through eating less than 1200 a day. I am a runner (about 3 marathons a year) so am pretty fit, but still unhappy with how I look and feel. My tummy is very soft, as are my thights and hips, and I carry weight on my face. I've never strength trained - but I wonder if this will make me feel more toned and look slimmer? My three questions are 1. How do I start? 2. If I cut down cardio to up strength training will I gain weight and 3. will it actually help me look any slimmer and more toned? (or, 4. am I better to focus on shifting a few more pounds?)

Would love to hear from people who have experience?

Thanks!!

taylormoooon

You will definitely become more toned! The only way you're going to gain weight is if you eat more than your body can handle. Since you're an active person I doubt cutting the cardio is going to cause anything. Lifting weights is also not going to do this alone. However, when you lift your muscles will swell temporarily and you may see the scale go up a little but this is not you gaining weight. When you run a lot your body takes from both fat and your lean muscle which is why you may feel "skinny fat." I'm currently using the new rules of lifting for women so perhaps you can start there! The book is only like $15 on amazon.

shazbox1

Had this link copied for another thread a few minutes ago, but I found it really interesting. Not sure if it answers all of your questions, but I think it talks about how she got started. It does discuss her weight change and if you just look at the photo results you can see the change in tone.

http://www.nerdfitness.com/blog/2011/07/21/meet-staci-your-new-powerlifting-super-hero/

curvyrunner

Thanks! How many hours a week do you do? How often do you do lifting, and how long for?

curvyrunner

p.s. yeah, skinny fat is exactly how I feel. It's so annoying. I feel like all this running should make me look different, but it really doesn't!

jennicole4

Do a search on the success stories board. There's a thread called "halp... heavy lifting has made me super bulky!" That's what convinced me to start lifting heavy. The results are amazing! I'm 3 weeks into strong lifts and have upped my calories and am losing faster than I was. I'm on my last 16 pounds and was finding them most stubborn, but have managed to drop a pound or so each week my first 2 weeks of lifting. I took measurements before I started and again this week and I've already lost a half inch from my waist at the bb, an inch off my hips, etc. All together, I've lost 12.75 inches over my whole body! The difference in the mirror isn't huge yet but I know it will be! There are lots of lovely supportive lifting ladies on here who are more than willing to help!

TriShamelessly

Based on the results I've seen in real life and from fellow MFP-ers, you will look much more lean from combining strength training with your cardio even though you may gain a few pounds (i.e., because muscle is more dense than fat pound per pound). Probably 3 days of each - there are a lot of great suggestions in prior forum posts on the subject. Stronglifts 5x5 and New Rules of Lifting for Women appear to be some of the more popular resources that have been advocated. Good luck!

obsidianwings

Yes lifting is the answer. You will put on weight if you are eating in a surplus, otherwise in a deficit you will lose, except maybe some water weight being held for recovery.
For a start, take a look at new rules of lifting for women, starting strengths, or stronglifts 5 x5

curvyrunner

Thanks everyone! Could anyone suggest how often I will need to lift each week to see results? (And, I've just ordered new rules of lifting from amazon!)

rybo

Running 3 marathons a year does not in any way put u in the "skinny fat" category.

How are you able to run at all eating under 1200 cals?

A full body routine done 2-3x a week would be very reasonable for you to see results. I'd suggest throwing out the scale for a while cause you are likely to see a bump in weight even if you appear leaner.

obsidianwings

New rules is a 3 day a week program if I remember correctly. Right now I do 4 -5 days for the love of it, but you can definitely get results with 3

curvyrunner

Hi rybo - thanks. I don't eat 1200 cal a day - but that's what I would need to do if I wanted to go bellow 126. I've given up, I obviously can't get to that weight, keep running and be healthy. It's frustrating cos I feel like I look heavier than a lot of the other sub-4 marathoners out there! But it's sounding like maybe sitting back on the running in favour of some strength training is the way to go...

SJ46

Yes, lifting will change your body for the better. Do a search for the thread titled "help lifting made me supah bulky" as mentioned up thread. Besides it's awesome to be able to surprise your in-laws with your super hero like strength when they need furniture moved.

curvyrunner

Thanks, that's really useful. It's hard to start again from scratch on a new form of exercise, particularly when I love running, but I hope the results will be worth it...

KylaDenay

Had this link copied for another thread a few minutes ago, but I found it really interesting. Not sure if it answers all of your questions, but I think it talks about how she got started. It does discuss her weight change and if you just look at the photo results you can see the change in tone.

http://www.nerdfitness.com/blog/2011/07/21/meet-staci-your-new-powerlifting-super-hero/

OMG I just went to this link and ready the story!! Sooo what I needed. I am new to weight lifting (haven't even started yet) and I am anxious to see the difference in my body. I have no clue where to start or what to do, but reading that gave me plenty of ideas. Good article!

hbm616

Nerd fitness just posted this the other day on getting started. I'm about to read it myself so I can't say anything about the content of the post yet but generally they have some great info.
http://www.nerdfitness.com/blog/2014/02/06/strength-training-101-how-much-weight-should-i-be-lifting/

joan23_us

Hi,

I'm 26 years old, 5ft5 126lbs. I seem to stay around this weight, and can only loose more through eating less than 1200 a day. I am a runner (about 3 marathons a year) so am pretty fit, but still unhappy with how I look and feel. My tummy is very soft, as are my thights and hips, and I carry weight on my face. I've never strength trained - but I wonder if this will make me feel more toned and look slimmer? My three questions are 1. How do I start? 2. If I cut down cardio to up strength training will I gain weight and 3. will it actually help me look any slimmer and more toned? (or, 4. am I better to focus on shifting a few more pounds?)

Would love to hear from people who have experience?

Thanks!!

1. start with adding 150-300 calories your daily intake now and progress depending on how much toned you want to look 5lbs of muscle will definitely help on your overall toned look.
2. strength train 3 times a week, full body workout, check out bodybuildingdotcom for exercise program
3. not sure how much cardio your doing so i guess, do cardio in bet. strength training say MWF strength training then TThSat cardio AND SEE HOW YOUR BODY CHANGES IN A MONTH

4. REPEAT step 1 until you achieve your desired look, needless to say monitor your body composition changes regularly.

hilts1969

Thanks, that's really useful. It's hard to start again from scratch on a new form of exercise, particularly when I love running, but I hope the results will be worth it...

you will get lots of posts about starting strength, squats and deadlifts etc.. what you need to do is decide which is most important cardio or bulking up, i am very much into running so plan my weights around this, in the gym there are many guys who are bigger and stronger than me but i can out run the lot of them, a bit of definition can be obtained without the bro science