How much weight should I lift to lose weight?

gettinghealthy777

I have been walking and have lost a little weight. My clothes are a little looser but not much. A couple people have told me that if I lift weights, it will help me burn more fat by building muscle.

But, how much weight should I start off with? I have heard lifting too much weight, causes you to bulk up and that you should lift 2-3 pound weights, with lots of repetition. I wish I knew the numbers so I can get started. I don't want to do this wrong and end up with results I don't want:noway:

Anyone have any suggestions...?:drinker:

GreenSkinnyJeans

I'm actually wondering too now...

notvoldy

Having muscle does help burn fat, but keep in mind, muscle also weighs more than fat.

If you enjoy walking, why not take some small weights with you when you walk?

baisleac

Lifting heavy will not cause you to bulk up unless you are working specifically to bulk, and if you are female you will have to work tripley hard.

Lift Like a Man, Look Like a Goddess (also the subtitle of The New Rules of Lifting for Women book)

jbucci1186

howdy-

you need to pick a weight that allows you to feel it in the last 3 reps.
6-8 reps for size and 12-15 for lean

(I'm taking this straight from my p90x workouts)

gettinghealthy777

Having muscle does help burn fat, but keep in mind, muscle also weighs more than fat.

If you enjoy walking, why not take some small weights with you when you walk?

Wow, What a great idea!!! Thanks!!!:flowerforyou:

DrBorkBork

muscle also weighs more than fat.

Nope. 1 lb = 1 lb. Muscle is more DENSE than fat, but 1 lb of feathers weighs just as much as a pound of bricks.

On that note- lift as heavy as you can without straining yourself. Do it slowly and purposefully. Focus on form. Start with low weights and work up until you find a heavy set that you're comfortable with, and work on growing from there. You should not be cranking out more than 5-10 reps at a time before needing to rest a minute.

gettinghealthy777

muscle also weighs more than fat.

Nope. 1 lb = 1 lb. Muscle is more DENSE than fat, but 1 lb of feathers weighs just as much as a pound of bricks.

Interesting:huh:

superflyrbi

Lifting heavy will not cause you to bulk up unless you are working specifically to bulk, and if you are female you will have to work tripley hard.

Lift Like a Man, Look Like a Goddess (also the subtitle of The New Rules of Lifting for Women book)

X2

hush7hush

It's really hard to bulk up unless you're really TRYING.

Schwiggity

Having muscle does help burn fat, but keep in mind, muscle also weighs more than fat.

If you enjoy walking, why not take some small weights with you when you walk?

TROLLOLOLOLOLOLOL

gettinghealthy777

Lifting heavy will not cause you to bulk up unless you are working specifically to bulk, and if you are female you will have to work tripley hard.

Lift Like a Man, Look Like a Goddess (also the subtitle of The New Rules of Lifting for Women book)

X2

That's not fair!!!:sad:

hush7hush

Lifting heavy will not cause you to bulk up unless you are working specifically to bulk, and if you are female you will have to work tripley hard.

Lift Like a Man, Look Like a Goddess (also the subtitle of The New Rules of Lifting for Women book)

OMG.
I LOVE the photo in your signature. [:

lizbanks

howdy-

you need to pick a weight that allows you to feel it in the last 3 reps.
6-8 reps for size and 12-15 for lean

(I'm taking this straight from my p90x workouts)

I live by this too. I started with 5's for everything and have had to move to 7 1/2 and 10 for some exercises. You need to make sure you are lifting enough to challenge yourself. And like its stated above, the last three need to be tough but you need to make sure you still have good form.

Also - in order to "bulk" you would have to literally spend HOURS lifting weights every day and on top of that need a ton more testosterone in your body! You will NOT get all big and bulky. I've been lifting every other day for almost three weeks... I don't have any bulk. I am starting to get some gorgeous arms though

gettinghealthy777

howdy-

you need to pick a weight that allows you to feel it in the last 3 reps.
6-8 reps for size and 12-15 for lean

(I'm taking this straight from my p90x workouts)

I live by this too. I started with 5's for everything and have had to move to 7 1/2 and 10 for some exercises. You need to make sure you are lifting enough to challenge yourself. And like its stated above, the last three need to be tough but you need to make sure you still have good form.

Also - in order to "bulk" you would have to literally spend HOURS lifting weights every day and on top of that need a ton more testosterone in your body! You will NOT get all big and bulky. I've been lifting every other day for almost three weeks... I don't have any bulk. I am starting to get some gorgeous arms though

Thank you, You nailed it, now I get it:bigsmile:

gettinghealthy777

howdy-

you need to pick a weight that allows you to feel it in the last 3 reps.
6-8 reps for size and 12-15 for lean

(I'm taking this straight from my p90x workouts)

I live by this too. I started with 5's for everything and have had to move to 7 1/2 and 10 for some exercises. You need to make sure you are lifting enough to challenge yourself. And like its stated above, the last three need to be tough but you need to make sure you still have good form.

Also - in order to "bulk" you would have to literally spend HOURS lifting weights every day and on top of that need a ton more testosterone in your body! You will NOT get all big and bulky. I've been lifting every other day for almost three weeks... I don't have any bulk. I am starting to get some gorgeous arms though

Awesome reply, I will start off with 5 pound weights

H_Factor

lifting heavy will not cause you to bulk up....especially if you are a woman who is not taking testosterone supplements. there are TWO primary reasons to lift heavy...and by heavy, I mean 5-10 reps where you reach muscle fatigue by the end of your set. If you have not reached muscle failure by your 10th rep, increase the weight next time.

1. adding lean muscle fiber will help you burn more calories throughout the day, even while sleeping, because muscle requires more calories to maintain than fat does. notice that I said "lean muscle fiber" and not bulky muscles.

2. if you lift heavier, then you are doing high intensity work. high intensity work causes your metabolism to jump while in the recovery phase (the 24-48 hours after the workout). you don't get that if you're lifting lighter weights for 12-15 reps. Shin Ohtake of maxworkouts.com explains it like this:

"EPOC stands for Excess Post-exercise Oxygen Consumption. It's when you workout at a high enough intensity that your body goes into a metabolic deficit. The process of making up for this metabolic deficit equals calorie burning.
...And depending on your level of intensity, it can take your body up to 48 hours after your workout to make up for this deficit.
That means that your body burns calories around the clock for up to 2 days! How's that for an effective workout?"

NOTE: I have no affiliation with maxworkouts and I do not care if you go to the site. Notably, I have read a few other things that support this notion of a more intense work-out. I added more intensity to my work-outs about a month ago and it has made a difference.

DrBorkBork

Also - in order to "bulk" you would have to literally spend HOURS lifting weights every day and on top of that need a ton more testosterone in your body! You will NOT get all big and bulky. I've been lifting every other day for almost three weeks... I don't have any bulk. I am starting to get some gorgeous arms though

Unless you have PCOS. Women have some testosterone in their body, just like men have trace amounts of estrogen. PCOS has a tendency to throw a woman's testosterone out of whack. Just ask my last blood panel.
That said, I have PCOS & very bulky thighs. Huge thighs. Olympic sprinter worthy thighs... but they are gradually getting cut and toned. Can't complain. All we really want is definition, right? Big can be beautiful

H_Factor

let me add this for those who are concerned about bulking up. unless you are using some good (and illegal) steroids, you're not going to add muscle, or bulk up, over night. it takes time. soooo, if you ever feel like you are getting bulky, then you can stop the weight work.

also, bodyweight workouts are a very effective resistance workout. you can find a lot of bodyweight exercises by searching for them on youtube or by ordering Craig Ballantyne's Turbulence Training bodyweight work-out manual (I do not recall the exact title, but if you look for Ballantyne and Turbulence Training, you will find it).

joejccva71

Also - in order to "bulk" you would have to literally spend HOURS lifting weights every day and on top of that need a ton more testosterone in your body! You will NOT get all big and bulky. I've been lifting every other day for almost three weeks... I don't have any bulk. I am starting to get some gorgeous arms though

No you don't have to spend hours lifting weights everyday. Where did you get this from?

In order to bulk you need to eat a calorie surplus over your TDEE while do some sort of weight resistance training.

Period.

gettinghealthy777

lifting heavy will not cause you to bulk up....especially if you are a woman who is not taking testosterone supplements. there are TWO primary reasons to lift heavy...and by heavy, I mean 5-10 reps where you reach muscle fatigue by the end of your set.

1. adding lean muscle fiber will help you burn more calories throughout the day, even while sleeping, because muscle requires more calories to maintain than fat does. notice that I said "lean muscle fiber" and not bulky muscles.

2. if you lift heavier, then you are doing high intensity work. high intensity work causes your metabolism to jump while in the recovery phase (the 24-48 hours after the workout). you don't get that if you're lifting lighter weights for 12-15 reps. Shin Ohtake of maxworkouts.com explains it like this:

"EPOC stands for Excess Post-exercise Oxygen Consumption. It's when you workout at a high enough intensity that your body goes into a metabolic deficit. The process of making up for this metabolic deficit equals calorie burning.
...And depending on your level of intensity, it can take your body up to 48 hours after your workout to make up for this deficit.
That means that your body burns calories around the clock for up to 2 days! How's that for an effective workout?"

NOTE: I have no affiliation with maxworkouts and I do not care if you go to the site. Notably, I have read a few other things that support this notion of a more intense work-out. I added more intensity to my work-outs about a month ago and it has made a difference.

Thank you for taking the time to write all that information, that was very nice of you!!! I am going to study what you said... You seem very knowledgeable... Thanks again!!!

koosdel

He's alive!! I knew it!

H_Factor

lifting heavy will not cause you to bulk up....especially if you are a woman who is not taking testosterone supplements. there are TWO primary reasons to lift heavy...and by heavy, I mean 5-10 reps where you reach muscle fatigue by the end of your set.

1. adding lean muscle fiber will help you burn more calories throughout the day, even while sleeping, because muscle requires more calories to maintain than fat does. notice that I said "lean muscle fiber" and not bulky muscles.

2. if you lift heavier, then you are doing high intensity work. high intensity work causes your metabolism to jump while in the recovery phase (the 24-48 hours after the workout). you don't get that if you're lifting lighter weights for 12-15 reps. Shin Ohtake of maxworkouts.com explains it like this:

"EPOC stands for Excess Post-exercise Oxygen Consumption. It's when you workout at a high enough intensity that your body goes into a metabolic deficit. The process of making up for this metabolic deficit equals calorie burning.
...And depending on your level of intensity, it can take your body up to 48 hours after your workout to make up for this deficit.
That means that your body burns calories around the clock for up to 2 days! How's that for an effective workout?"

NOTE: I have no affiliation with maxworkouts and I do not care if you go to the site. Notably, I have read a few other things that support this notion of a more intense work-out. I added more intensity to my work-outs about a month ago and it has made a difference.

Thank you for taking the time to write all that information, that was very nice of you!!! I am going to study what you said... You seem very knowledgeable... Thanks again!!!

I have read a LOT of stuff in the last 6 months, and am using some of the principles I have read about. I am happy to pass along some of the useful information.

Pam3

if possible a personal trainer at least for some sessions to teach you proper form....if not dvds, check out youtube or other sites on line for informations......i started weight trainging a little over a year ago and it has made me stronger...good luck

gettinghealthy777

He's alive!! I knew it!