Is weight lifting 4 weight loss becoming the new Myth?

fatcity66

I think a few people are being unnecessarily defensive and assuming the OP made an across the board assault on weight lifting. Especially some who said they didn't even read it.

I think the question the OP asked is a legitimate one. Is lifting for loss the new 'myth'? You don't need to be a fitness expert or a long time lifter or have a lot of weight loss to have your ear to the ground on this. In fact, those new to changes to diet and exercise may hear it more often as people are constantly trying to give them advice. And as somebody said the other day, come January all the beliefs will come flooding in.

And if there's one thing nearly everyone on MFP can agree on, its that there is a LOT of bad advice out there.

So as I read the question, and a few of the sentences, I heard your question. Is this the new rage in diet advice: lift and you'll be skinny? Fair question, allowing people to chime in whether or not they keep hearing this. But, OP, you lost me, and clearly many others, through the rest. Your question got lost and muddied in a long statement that lifting is not good for weight loss. Why ask one question if you're only going to answer a different question?

The problem with that analysis is that I don't know anyone saying "lift and you'll be skinny" or even "lift weight because it burns all teh caloriez!" For the OP to have a point that such a statement is a myth, people would have to actually be making such statements in the first place. I know a lot of people that advocate lifting weights as part of weight loss; I don't know anyone who distills it down to such a basic level as "lift and you'll be skinny" or "lift and you will lose weight." Rather, in pretty much every place I've seen people give advice to lift weights, they explain that weight lifting aids in achieving a favorable body composition while dieting (this is well known and not a myth) and some mention that it's nice to be strong and confident (two other nice side-effects of weight lifting). There's no myth present when the advice to lift weights is qualified in this fashion.

Not to mention, some of the strongest men on this planet are also pretty fat.

I think you're proving my point. If the OP stayed on target with his question, we could figure out if such advice is a/the new myth. You've just provided a valuable data point. You don't know anyone advocating that kind of result. If you've never heard anyone advocating that lifting alone will be the key to weight loss, then there are likely also others who have never heard such things. And so your answer could have been, "hardly the myth, I've never heard anyone say such a ridiculous thing; rather, I've heard people give qualified advice as to the specific benefits of lifting for other reasons." Or at least that could have been the question and answer. Until the OP went all kinds of school teacher in the rest of his ramble....

I personally have heard it, and with some frequency. "All you need to do is lift really heavy- get your muscles warmed up and they will burn massive (!!) calories all day long well after you are done, more than anybody could eat."

When you start a lifestyle change and others know about it, there can be so much bad advice given. Many of us have received a lot of it. I have seen the advice given out in forums as well, though I've also seen it quickly dismantled by people with a better understanding of caloric effect. And so I could have contributed, "I think the myth exists, some people believe it and they spread it. But I don't know how prevalent it is. It is certainly not the most common myth I've heard, so I wouldn't call it the new big Myth."

My point is that if the OP had framed it better, it was a straight-forward question and could have been a poll or discussion about how many people have heard others advising such a thing. Instead, his lengthy post didn't really focus on that as a question, but rather went on about other things.

You have seen someone say lifting burns more cals than anyone could eat? Was it on this site? Do you have a link, because that need so be refuted with great conviction!

I have definitely seen people say that all you need to do is lift weights to lose weight. There are people in this thread already that have said it, but they also said you need a deficit, which is the part I think a lot of people gloss over, because it's a given. Of course you need to eat in a deficit to lose weight! Many, many people, though, say you don't need any cardio, but you absolutely need to lift, if you want to lose fat. And this is pretty much regarded as correct, right?

sensitivefool

The myth is one being better than the other. Do both. Enjoy.

This.

parkscs

I think a few people are being unnecessarily defensive and assuming the OP made an across the board assault on weight lifting. Especially some who said they didn't even read it.

I think the question the OP asked is a legitimate one. Is lifting for loss the new 'myth'? You don't need to be a fitness expert or a long time lifter or have a lot of weight loss to have your ear to the ground on this. In fact, those new to changes to diet and exercise may hear it more often as people are constantly trying to give them advice. And as somebody said the other day, come January all the beliefs will come flooding in.

And if there's one thing nearly everyone on MFP can agree on, its that there is a LOT of bad advice out there.

So as I read the question, and a few of the sentences, I heard your question. Is this the new rage in diet advice: lift and you'll be skinny? Fair question, allowing people to chime in whether or not they keep hearing this. But, OP, you lost me, and clearly many others, through the rest. Your question got lost and muddied in a long statement that lifting is not good for weight loss. Why ask one question if you're only going to answer a different question?

The problem with that analysis is that I don't know anyone saying "lift and you'll be skinny" or even "lift weight because it burns all teh caloriez!" For the OP to have a point that such a statement is a myth, people would have to actually be making such statements in the first place. I know a lot of people that advocate lifting weights as part of weight loss; I don't know anyone who distills it down to such a basic level as "lift and you'll be skinny" or "lift and you will lose weight." Rather, in pretty much every place I've seen people give advice to lift weights, they explain that weight lifting aids in achieving a favorable body composition while dieting (this is well known and not a myth) and some mention that it's nice to be strong and confident (two other nice side-effects of weight lifting). There's no myth present when the advice to lift weights is qualified in this fashion.

Not to mention, some of the strongest men on this planet are also pretty fat.

I think you're proving my point. If the OP stayed on target with his question, we could figure out if such advice is a/the new myth. You've just provided a valuable data point. You don't know anyone advocating that kind of result. If you've never heard anyone advocating that lifting alone will be the key to weight loss, then there are likely also others who have never heard such things. And so your answer could have been, "hardly the myth, I've never heard anyone say such a ridiculous thing; rather, I've heard people give qualified advice as to the specific benefits of lifting for other reasons." Or at least that could have been the question and answer. Until the OP went all kinds of school teacher in the rest of his ramble....

I personally have heard it, and with some frequency. "All you need to do is lift really heavy- get your muscles warmed up and they will burn massive (!!) calories all day long well after you are done, more than anybody could eat."

When you start a lifestyle change and others know about it, there can be so much bad advice given. Many of us have received a lot of it. I have seen the advice given out in forums as well, though I've also seen it quickly dismantled by people with a better understanding of caloric effect. And so I could have contributed, "I think the myth exists, some people believe it and they spread it. But I don't know how prevalent it is. It is certainly not the most common myth I've heard, so I wouldn't call it the new big Myth."

My point is that if the OP had framed it better, it was a straight-forward question and could have been a poll or discussion about how many people have heard others advising such a thing. Instead, his lengthy post didn't really focus on that as a question, but rather went on about other things.

You have seen someone say lifting burns more cals than anyone could eat? Was it on this site? Do you have a link, because that need so be refuted with great conviction!

I have definitely seen people say that all you need to do is lift weights to lose weight. There are people in this thread already that have said it, but they also said you need a deficit, which is the part I think a lot of people gloss over, because it's a given. Of course you need to eat in a deficit to lose weight! Many, many people, though, say you don't need any cardio, but you absolutely need to lift, if you want to lose fat. And this is pretty much regarded as correct, right?

How about citing an example where someone who's a frequent poster/mod said that weight lifting is required for fat loss? Not just that it helps with reducing body fat percentage during a cut, but rather if you want to lose any fat you must lift weights. Or how about the statement that "all you need to do is lift weights to lose weight" - I'd settle for seeing a citation of that statement coming from one of the well-respected posters around here - but my guess is you misread some posts, took statements out of context, came away with the impression that people are saying "all you need to do is lift weights to lose weight" and thus we'll never see any examples of what you're talking about.

jyogit

i'm no expert on any of the stuff on mfp, but i joined a few months ago as i wanted to lose some weight ..i read and read and read for the first few weeks and to be honest .. weight lifting DID seem to be being pushed a LOT .. as a newbie that kind of stands out in the forums.
At the time i joined i was saving for a big holiday so didn't have much expendable cash, so..i work in an empty warehouse big enough to run in .. i started jogging while at work..because its free and it passes the time on .. in the first few weeks i was useless, i could barely jog for 5minutes at a time but i persevered.. i bought a set of hand running weights..only 1.5lb each weight, but i found that jogging with them helped me jog better ..oddly.. so much so that i can't jog without them now .. the upshot of that was that i started getting forearm muscles.. something I've never had in a long time ..and this was only 1.5lbs ..

I continued reading the forums and gaining more relevant tips and understanding of the whole processes of losing weight/keeping muscle/burning fat etc.. I'm no expert as i said but now i can see a lot of it is common sense .. the same thing can't possible work the same way for everyone ..we are not all made the same.

I bit the bullet and i bought a set of cheap dumbbells before my holidays as a result of reading the forums and all the advice and yes ..all the mentions of weight lifting.The diet information as regards defecits and counting etc..well i found out pretty soon that this was all truth so why shouldn't the weight lifting be true too?
my dumbbell set is really bad.. lol 3 weights 1.5kg 3.5kg and 4.5kg .. sounds like a baby could lift them i know..lol but..i have some health issues so i started with the smallest, i used those for a couple of months ..i researched dumbbell exercises and i tried them out.. disregarding the ones i couldn't do due to the chest complaint ..i did try them but were too painful. A month in i swapped for the 3.5kg dumbbells and used them for a few months till i was used to those.. keeping my calorie defect etc etc .. the weight is coming off slowly but surely, the fat is melting away.. albeit collecting around my waist in a big puddle at the moment but .. i can see muscles i never had before starting to appear, i can do exercises i could never do before, i am now on the 4.5kg dumbbells and all is well .. i know its a long slog and its going to be even longer a slog but ill keep on trucking and i will move to heavier weights as i can afford them ..i still do my jogging as well as the weights and i feel fantastic ..at 47 i never thought i would feel this fit at all.
Sorry this is turning into another long reply but really i guess i just wanted to say that .. yes.. on first appearance mfp does look to a newbie as if weights weights weights is being PUSHED and well.. the majority of people who have succeeded with this as their way of doing it, can't be wrong. I came in i read it and made my own mind up and hey..its working for me too , so Thanks mfp for actually being the one to put weights into mine and others heads,to the original poster .. I'm pretty sure that the majority of ADULTS in here can actually make up their own minds.