If you weight lift when your body fat % is high....

nicola8989

Will you just get bigger??

I've just been reading this article and that seems to be what he says? http://www.muscleforlife.com/the-ultimate-fitness-plan-for-women/ I may have misunderstood?

refuseresist

If you lift and eat at a deficit you should retain more muscle and still lose fat.
If you eat at maintenance/ surplus whilst you should not lose anything/ gain muscle and maybe fat.
If you gain strength and muscle whilst lifting and eating maintenance/ surplus you then have to go into deficit to get the fat off.

There are lots of people on here that know this stuff better than me

kmbrooks15

Some of this thought comes from the misconception that fat can turn into muscle. What happens is that your muscles strengthen while fat shrinks. You won't bulk up unless you're on a special high-protein diet. Add strength training actually helps you burn more fat. Muscles need energy to repair themselves, so if you are in a calorie deficit, they will pull from fat stores to get that energy. So lifting and strength training is the best way to actually lose fat.

AliceDark

It depends on your diet. If you're still eating at a surplus, then yes, you'll get bigger. If you're eating at a deficit, then no, you won't.

nicola8989

Some of this thought comes from the misconception that fat can turn into muscle. What happens is that your muscles strengthen while fat shrinks. You won't bulk up unless you're on a special high-protein diet. Add strength training actually helps you burn more fat. Muscles need energy to repair themselves, so if you are in a calorie deficit, they will pull from fat stores to get that energy. So lifting and strength training is the best way to actually lose fat.

That was my thought - I've never been one of those girls who thinks "oh no if I lift heavy I'll bulk up" - but this just made me panic a bit when it said that if you lift heavy with a high body fat percentage you will get bigger...

dbmata

For a couple reasons.

When people lift, they may eat more. Eating more may result in fat gain. Fat gain may result in your looking larger.

Know what I mean?