Weight Lifting while Losing Weight - Yes or no?

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courtneyraquelx3
courtneyraquelx3 Posts: 37
in Fitness and Exercise
Should you lose the weight first and then tone up or should you lift weights while losing weight? If so, how much weight should you lose?
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  • else57
    else57 Posts: 2 Member
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    I would recommend doing both simultaneously. I started P90X 10 weeks ago and have seen big changes in my body. Realize though that lifting weights may slow your weight loss at first. Stay true to your lifting and exercise program and you will see the results. It may help to take other measurements like waist, etc. best of Luck!!!!!
  • mslack01
    mslack01 Posts: 823 Member
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    I think since I started adding weights I have seen more progress than I did with cardio alone. I think adding weights will only help you.
  • vettle
    vettle Posts: 621 Member
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    Absolutely no doubt about it you must strength train while losing weight. You wll not bulk up you will actually shrink down even more as a woman. Weight lifting increasing metabolism, muscles burn more calories than fat and all clothes fit better!
  • margaretanna
    margaretanna Posts: 4
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    I was cardio only and didn't lose a whole lot, or see my body change much, but now that i mixed it up with weights and strength training....My number is slowly going down on the scale but my body is looking slim and tone . I think it would be a good idea for you to add it and see how it works out for you!!
  • OnWisconsin84
    OnWisconsin84 Posts: 409 Member
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    Both. Muscle burns fat. When I lost 110+ pounds I wasn't lifting (I was afraid I wouldn't lose as quickly...idiot!) & I was doing very little cardio. I'm one of those 'skinny fat' people. No one wants to be 'skinny fat' :sad:
  • Azdak
    Azdak Posts: 8,281 Member
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    Weights from day one. No need to go super heavy at first -- you can stay in a 12-15 rep range while your body adapts and you learn proper form. Just stay focused and set the weight so that you are reaching failure during the rep range--and increase the weight as soon as you can do 15.

    But it's well-established that resistance exercise and cardio lead to better results than either one alone.
  • mmapags
    mmapags Posts: 8,934 Member
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    As others have said, this will really help your progress. I'd think more body composition than weight though. Measure starting inches at hips, waist, thighs, bicep, neck and chest and record. As you begin to lift and strength train, your muscles will store glycogen and water. This will either make the scale go up or stay level and you'll think you aren't progressing but you are! That's where the measurements come in. Check them every 2 weeks or so and you see them getting better even if the scale isn't. Eventually, the scale will catch back up but always remember that, in the short term, as someone else said on a different thread as day or so ago, the scale can be a lyin' b*tch! Measure inches! If they are going down but the weight is not for a little while, your body is recomposing to less fat and more muscle. That's a very good thing!!
  • wewon
    wewon Posts: 838 Member
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    Absolutely no doubt about it you must strength train while losing weight. You wll not bulk up you will actually shrink down even more as a woman. Weight lifting increasing metabolism, muscles burn more calories than fat and all clothes fit better!

    This.

    Weight lifting will actually increase your metabolism and it is overall better for your health when you strength train.

    Don't expect to bulk up.
  • jennifermcornett
    jennifermcornett Posts: 159 Member
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    Weight training helps that loose skin (if you have any!) have something else to form around! :) I can lose pounds all day long, but I know I'm not going to feel sexy with jiggly, untoned goo jumping around all over my body... Definitely lift weights during! I loooooove the days of P90X where I'm lifting. Not only does increased muscle mass increase metabolism, but it also makes me feel super powerful to be lifting away, doing what some people would think of as a workout only a man could/should be doing! ;P

    People talk about "skinny fat" or something like that on these boards, and I think that if someone refuses to lift weights during the weight loss process, he or she is most likely going to end up in that "skinny fat" category. Of course, cardio is awesome and increases endurance, but strength is important, too.

    Also, we women need to lift weights in order to have stronger bones!

    Have an awesome weekend!! :)
  • bbbgamer
    bbbgamer Posts: 582 Member
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    Weight Lifting while Losing Weight - Yes or no?
    Yes
  • minkakross
    minkakross Posts: 687 Member
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    I see a fitness trainer through a medically supervised program and they have had me doing strength and cardio together on the grounds that building muscle helps burn fat faster and has metabolic benefits when your not working out.
  • stroutman81
    stroutman81 Posts: 2,474 Member
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    Should you lose the weight first and then tone up or should you lift weights while losing weight? If so, how much weight should you lose?

    Toning up is not something you do. A muscle either grows or it doesn't. I like to think of toned as an adjective rather than a verb. Achieving a toned look is a function of minimizing fat mass while maximizing muscle mass. This is an important distinction, since it should be obvious with the aforementioned definition that you should be resistance training while losing fat in order to optimize your physique.

    Make sense?
  • malibukaty11
    malibukaty11 Posts: 35 Member
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    Yes, lift. As heavy as you can.Throw your scale away. Lift some more. Go buy smaller pants. The end :)
  • hottottie11
    hottottie11 Posts: 907 Member
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    YES! Lift heavy. The end results are better.
  • tuffytuffy1
    tuffytuffy1 Posts: 920 Member
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    Absolutely YES. When I started on MFP last June, I also started weight training 3 days a week. I have only lost 12 pounds total since I began my new lifestyle, 10 pounds per MFP, but my body shape has dramatically changed. I look like I have lost at least 20 pounds.
  • JohnnyResets
    JohnnyResets Posts: 177 Member
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    I'd say yes. As you're building muscle it amps your metabolism. They say the burn from a strength training session continues even after you're done. Just what I've heard and read.
  • dimoul
    dimoul Posts: 137 Member
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    Yes.

    I lost about 50 lbs over about 5 months last year doing MFP, spin class 2x/wk, and lifting weights 2x/wk. Just real basic weights like 8 stations of core muscle groups, 2 sets of 8, I also ran a little (jog a mile or so -- difficult cuz I was so fat). When I stopped weights, my weight loss really slowed down. The next 25 lbs I lost took about 7 months. I'm back on the weights now for a week and I lost weight again after being on a plateau for a while.

    Maybe weights was the reason, maybe not, but I'm thinking it was.
  • aj_gettingfit
    aj_gettingfit Posts: 257
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    I did more cardio than weights when I started but now I've switched and I'm doing more weights than cardio.
  • mudar146
    mudar146 Posts: 152 Member
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    YES! I good mix of cardio and lifting will totally pay off! :)
  • knapowell
    knapowell Posts: 230 Member
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    I agree with the others, do both, from the beginning. I have lost 130 pounds so far, and the ONE thing that I wish I had done differently would be strength training. I didn't start from the beginning, and it is very hard to change that habit, at least for me. I know that my body would be in so much better shape, had I done strength training regularly.

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