Is weight lifting 4 weight loss becoming the new Myth?

George_Baileys_Ghost

• Strength training is for either maintaining muscle, growing muscle, and/or recruiting muscle.
• Cardiovascular training is for cardiovascular health.
• Weight loss means the loss of weight, whether it comes from fat, muscle, fluid, waste, etc. and it requires one thing: a deficit of some kind, no matter if it is created by diet, strength training, or cardiovascular training.
• Fat loss means losing fat. It requires one thing: a deficit of some kind, no matter if it is created by diet, strength training, or cardiovascular training.

These things should be common sense. Unfortunately there are too many out there who conflate and distort them because they want to sound smart and/or sell something.

JeffInJax

Ive lost 146 pounds Lifting 3-5 days a week and maybe doing 20-30 mins cardio once a week just to get my blood flowing.

Weight lifting is for fat loss, Heavy Cardio is for weight loss... that is how i look at it. Id probably lose faster with just cardio but it would be a high percentage of both muscle and fat.

WhoWasGivenToFly

Can only speak to my personal experience.

I've done a lot of weight training without maintaining a calorie deficit and didn't lose any weight, I just ended up with nicely defined muscle under all my fat.

I have done a lot of cardio without a calorie deficit and managed to lose a little.

Maintained a calorie deficit for the past 2 1/2 months with minimal exercise of any type: 17 lbs weight loss.


Kinda speaks for itself ( although I know everyone's body is different):smooched:

cdoesthehula

One thing I wanted to mention.

There is such a thing as too much cardio. It's the same as with too much of any type of excercise.

violasmith85

cardio burns more calories because it gets your heart rate up. Weight training keeps you from losing lean muscle which burns more calories than fat. Both important.

Liftng4Lis

IN

Galatea_Stone

There's so much hyperbole in your post that a logician's head would ache after reading it.

What others are saying:

Eating at a deficit is for weight loss.
Lifting weights while at a deficit is for muscle retention (and minor muscle growth for the obese, the newbies and the completely untrained).
Cardio is for overall fitness regardless of weight. (certain types of cardio will aid in muscle retention as well - i.e., sprinters, cyclists with the legs, etc.)

Why overcomplicate this? Why not just eat less, lift weights, and do some cardio?

SunofaBeach14

There's so much hyperbole in your post that a logician's head would ache after reading it.

What others are saying:

Eating at a deficit is for weight loss.
Lifting weights while at a deficit is for muscle retention (and minor muscle growth for the obese, the newbies and the completely untrained).
Cardio is for overall fitness regardless of weight. (certain types of cardio will aid in muscle retention as well - i.e., sprinters, cyclists with the legs, etc.)

Why overcomplicate this? Why not just eat less, lift weights, and do some cardio?

Shhhhhh! We're being schooled . . .

George_Baileys_Ghost

There's so much hyperbole in your post that a logician's head would ache after reading it.

What others are saying:

Eating at a deficit is for weight loss.
Lifting weights while at a deficit is for muscle retention (and minor muscle growth for the obese, the newbies and the completely untrained).
Cardio is for overall fitness regardless of weight. (certain types of cardio will aid in muscle retention as well - i.e., sprinters, cyclists with the legs, etc.)

Why overcomplicate this? Why not just eat less, lift weights, and do some cardio?

Shhhhhh! We're being schooled . . .

Let's hope the teacher asks us to stay after class! AMIRITE! *high five*

MinnieInMaine

IMHO, it's like most other information about health and fitness and weight loss - someone grabs hold of a notion like a rabid dog and won't let go. They tout it to the masses like a new religion regardless of actual facts and figures and long term research.

Women should never have stayed away from weights. Someone somewhere decided that being athletic and muscular wasn't pretty so they told women not to do weights. Now we know that get gain bulk you need to put in serious work, not just in the gym but with your diet - it doesn't just happen from picking up 5 pound weights now and then. But unfortunately these ideas are still around. I've tried to convince my mother and aunt to pick up weights but they won't do it - or if they do, it's like 1 or 2 pounds.

We also thought eggs were the devil and now know that's wrong. I remember even hearing at one point there were questions about oatmeal for goodness sake. The point is, you can't take everything you hear too seriously. And pretty much any time you hear an opinion that is based on negating the benefits of something in particular, it's usually wrong - whether it's something dietary like carbs or something fitness related like walking.

And ultimately, as other wise folks on here have already pointed out, you only need a calorie deficit to lose weight. Exercise is a bonus for both a better physique and better health (not just muscles/metabolism but bone health, heart health, etc)

neanderthin

Sounds legit.

oremus1

Can only speak to my personal experience.

I've done a lot of weight training without maintaining a calorie deficit and didn't lose any weight, I just ended up with nicely defined muscle under all my fat.

I have done a lot of cardio without a calorie deficit and managed to lose a little.

Maintained a calorie deficit for the past 2 1/2 months with minimal exercise of any type: 17 lbs weight loss.


Kinda speaks for itself ( although I know everyone's body is different):smooched:

they say its 80% diet 20% sport

personally I avoid weights when losing as a) I have no energy for it and b) it makes me ravenous for carbs and sugar afterward

LifeWithPie

Dude...WAY too long for the forums. Start a blog.

hortensehildegarde

if you ever google weight training and fat loss or cardio and weight loss... You will see an over abundance of articles telling you that if you just lift weights & build muscle, you're going to magically watch fat fall off your body!

I've not read a thing on this thread (including beyond the OP sentence that I have quoted) but I am 100% sure that if there are articles that say such a thing, they are not to be believed.

NOTHING is going to make fat magically fall of anyone. If that were true everyone would know about it and everyone would do it and no one would be fat.

That being said, lifting cannot possibly be a bad thing to train in. Der.

rml_16

But coming from a different side of things...why does it matter to you what exercise people are doing? Exercise of any kind will burn calories. Weight training will keep your muscles strong and prevent muscle loss while eating a deficit... Pondering if any exercise (performed safely) shouldn't be done by people seeking weight loss seems illogical.

This.

I think people should do what they enjoy, as long as they're doing something.

Optimally, for the best health overall, weights AND cardio (and probably some yoga or something similar for balance and flexibility) is ideal. Cardio for your heart and stamina, weights for muscle-building, stronger bones, etc.

It's all good and it's all important. But what others do is their business, not mine.

ThePhoenixIsRising

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

Yes!

Weight lifting is not for weight loss. It's for maintaining lean muscle while you lose weight.

And yes again!

The main myth flying around is the wild claims being for adding minimal amounts of muscle burning a load of calories. Really it's going to make a marginal difference.
Remember that trainers need to make a living so fashion comes into it, it's hard to be the hot new trainer on the block just talking commonsense.....

i find the ones that talk commonsense, are the ones that have long term repeat clients.

Leo7777

Its all very interesting....I like trying different things to see what works best.

In May I was hiking loads for about 1 month, I am talking 6-8 hour hill walking hikes 3-4 times a week that were exhausting.

The amount of cals I was burning was crazy. I was eating pretty similar to what I am eating now .. maybe abut 1600 cals a day, with some more on hiking days...and I lost 2lbs.

For the past 17 days I have been weightlifting every other day and doing short 30 min walks on uphill terrain, eating similar and Ive lost around 8lbs ( mostly water weight I realize as I cut down on salt ) I definitely feel more toned than when I was hiking ?

I will hike again here when it gets cooler but probably only once a week. So far the weight lifting seems to sit better with me

jrline

Yes some is ok but too much will not help with weightloss. Cardio is best for weightloss.