Strength training vs Diet

cheeksv

I was told a few days ago that I could not start strength training because I was on a diet ( not by a health or fitness pro. just someone who is interested in fitness and health). The reasoning was that since I am dieting I am not taking in enough calories to build muscle. I thought this was silly but wanted to get other opinions. I really want to start strength training and soon. Any and all advice will be taken. If you have done both diet and strength training at the same time with success let me know. I am hoping someone who is an expert will tell me if there is merit to what was said or not.

Rlh918

I noticed strength training does not take away calories but I've read other places that you can burn 600 calories in the Les Mills Body Pump classes. I definitely recommend strength training because those muscles are going to burn more calories throughout the day, not to mention the toning benefits as well. If you are starving your body of calories though, you may want to increase your protein levels for muscle recovery and then mix the strength training with a good cardio program.

yeabby

As long as you are getting in enough protein and calories to support muscle growth you can (and should) strength train.

_Sally_

I was told a few days ago that I could not start strength training because I was on a diet ( not by a health or fitness pro. just someone who is interested in fitness and health). The reasoning was that since I am dieting I am not taking in enough calories to build muscle. I thought this was silly but wanted to get other opinions. I really want to start strength training and soon. Any and all advice will be taken. If you have done both diet and strength training at the same time with success let me know. I am hoping someone who is an expert will tell me if there is merit to what was said or not.

I think this advice was out of context. If you are looking to enter professional body building contests, then this person is correct, you can not build muscles on a calorie deficit - you need a calorie surplus.

HOWEVER, strength training while dieting (assuming you are eating enough protein) can benefit you by building strength, toning, raising metabolism and will help preserve muscle mass while you have a calorie deficit and lose fat. there are also additional health benefits in terms of staving off osteoporosis, etc. Once you reach maintenance, you can decide if you want to focus on building larger muscles and reduce body fat percentage and adjust your diet accordingly. You will be in much better shape if you incorporate strength training now.

If you want to start, I say go for it!

mommamuscles

Hello, I thought I would weigh in on this one. I love strength training and I say go for it! As long as you are getting enough calories (listen to the advice this website gives you, eat your exercise calories, and don't go below 1200), you will be just fine and you will build muscle. As you build muscle, your body will burn mOre calories, even while you are sleeping. Make sure you still do some cardio too. When I was just starting I really liked the firn videos because it combined the two and it's a great work out! It is true you have to eat to lose! And also remember to eat a diet that is moderate in protein and lower in carbs. I follow clean eating. You can google it and learn more about it. Good luck on your journey!

cheeksv

ha! No body building for me. I usually go over on protein here and am on a 1200 calorie a day diet and do not eat all of my exercise calories back. I think I am going to try it though the past few days I have eating closer to the full calorie goal I have lost a little more. If I do start strength training I think I will have more of a need to eat back ALL of those extra calories or as close to em as possible. I do run c25k and do each week for 6 days instead of three, I also walk for a half hour just about every night.

I think I am going to follow my gut on this one and start the strength training soon. Thank you for the info and if anyone else has any good advice please feel free to leave it. THANKS AGAIN!

IronSmasher

Do strength train, and start eating your exercise calories. That's the same as under eating.

The person was talking about something else, as was mentioned by a previous poster. It takes an enormous amount of calories to build and maintain muscles, this is what's going to help you lose fat. It is also extremely important to strength train to maintain strength during a diet, as you're supposted to end up fitter and healthier aren't you? Not weaker?

It does say on this that site that strength training doesn't burn calories. This is just stupidity.

cheeksv

Do strength train, and start eating your exercise calories. That's the same as under eating.

The person was talking about something else, as was mentioned by a previous poster.

I think they are misinformed. It was person I see in my day to day life and thy know my weight loss goals and current diet. They said for me to do it once I am done loosing all the weight I want. However so many people have said they do it during and it has helped with toning and so many other hings mentioned above. I guess what was said does have merit just not in this situation.
I will work on eating back those calories, maybe pack more snacks or something, it can get hard at times. You made some good poits as did everyone else. Thanks a lot

LorinaLynn

It does say on this that site that strength training doesn't burn calories. This is just stupidity.

From the FAQ - http://www.myfitnesspal.com/faq

Q. Doesn't strength training burn calories? Why don't you show any calories burned for strength training?

A. Estimating the calories burned from strength training is very difficult because it depends on a variety of factors: how much weight you lifted per repetition, how vigorously you performed that exercise, how much rest you took between sets, etc. Because of this, we do not automatically calculate how many calories you burned from strength training exercises.

However, if you'd like, you can add "Strength training" as a cardio exercise to get a rough estimate of how many calories you burned. Please be aware though that this is definitely a rough estimate and can be fairly inaccurate.

TrainingWithTonya

First, start strength training. Second, tell your friend to actually get an education in health and fitness before offering inaccurate advise.

Now to clear up a few myths. Yes, you can burn fat and build muscle at the same time. The body is a very complex organism and burns calories from various things in a very complex manner. It's not as simple as eat protein and build muscle or eat 500 fewer calories then you burn to burn a pound of fat in a week. In fact, while you are sitting here at the computer, you are burning mostly fat for fuel to maintain your normal organ function. When you are doing strength training, you are burning mostly carbohydrates for that activity. Its on a spectrum, though, where the % of each substrate varies according to intensity level, duration of activity, what is currently stored in the body, and what you've just consumed. Because of the vast variations in humans, it is impossible to say for certain exactly what % of the fuel for your activities comes from which source. But, research has granted us the ability to estimate some things. With those estimates, we can see that the first choice of fuel for most activities is carbohydrate, followed by fat, and protein is usually spared for muscle growth and repair unless there is inadequate carbohydrate to fuel an activity. We have also been able to see that in order to use fat as a fuel source, we have to have by products of carbohydrate breakdown for the chemical process in the body to happen. When there are inadequate carbs in the body (either stored as glycogen in the liver and muscles or as glucose that has been broken down from carbs that are available for use from foods), then the body will convert protein (either from protein eaten or from proteins in the body, ie muscle) to a form that will act as a carb would to produce the pyruvate needed to burn fat. So, the secret to maintaining muscle and even having the protein you are consuming be available to build muscle is to make sure you are consuming adequate carbs to fuel the activities you are doing and promote fat burning without needed to use any protein for fuel. If you do this while lifting heavy weights, you will get a couple of different benefits. First, the excess carbs you consume will be stored as glycogen in the muscles to help fuel the workouts later. This will appear as muscle gains on a body composition analysis because it is not fat tissue you are storing, It's actually glycogen and 3x as much water being stored in the muscles that gives the Pump appearance to the muscles. The protein you are consuming will then be used to repair the muscle damage you are doing while lifting. After a few months of training, then the muscles will adapt to the workout by adding more size to the actual muscle fibers and in some people will even add more muscle fibers. The actual addition of muscle fibers or muscle fiber size takes a while, though, which is why they say it is so hard to build muscle, because it is. But you will have additional lean body mass in the muscle bellies from the glycogen and water storage. Second, if you are eating at the proper calorie deficit (no less then 80% of total daily energy expenditure), then the additional calories you are burning will be coming from what is stored in the body. Yes, some of those will be from the extra glycogen storage, but that glycogen storage increase means the extra carbs aren't being stored as fat. A portion of those extra calories will come from fat stores, so you will lose body fat at the same time you are increasing lean body mass and eventually building muscle tissue. You won't see as big of a drop on the scale, though, and may even see an increase on the scale at first because you will store glycogen and water faster then you will burn fat at first. This is normal and why I don't weigh my clients for at least 4-6 weeks after starting them on a program. You have to change your goals to body composition measurements and circumference measurements instead of the scale to see the results from this type of training. But, you will be happier with your body (shape, size, and definition) in the long run then someone who just lost weight on the scale and it turned out to be muscle loss from lack of strength training.

Lyadeia

You have to change your goals to body composition measurements and circumference measurements instead of the scale to see the results from this type of training. But, you will be happier with your body (shape, size, and definition) in the long run then someone who just lost weight on the scale and it turned out to be muscle loss from lack of strength training.

+1

I agree with all you said but wanted to highlight this part because that's what I've done. My goals are listed in my siggy. :bigsmile: