Body Fat burn question: Lifting heavy weights?

raven56706

just wondering, i want to get lean and get cut... now i know its more the diet than anything(eating tons of protein) but i have also read you have to lift heavy weights.

now thats the question i have, to get cut and burn body fat, what do you mean by lifting heavy? doesnt that just add more weight to the body?

been wondering this but wanted some experts and people that have accomplished this to answer.

so far, the regimen i have had at the gym is being on the treadmill for an hour... i burn close to 980 cals and then do lifting... this weekend, i did the same weight for 3 sets of 10.

am i doing something wrong?

lizard053

Oh no, lifting heavy will help slim you down unless you're going well over your calories.

I lift the heaviest weights I can get a set out with. I only do sets of 8.

Sidesteal

just wondering, i want to get lean and get cut... now i know its more the diet than anything(eating tons of protein) but i have also read you have to lift heavy weights.

now thats the question i have, to get cut and burn body fat, what do you mean by lifting heavy? doesnt that just add more weight to the body?

been wondering this but wanted some experts and people that have accomplished this to answer.

so far, the regimen i have had at the gym is being on the treadmill for an hour... i burn close to 980 cals and then do lifting... this weekend, i did the same weight for 3 sets of 10.

am i doing something wrong?

1) You need to lift weights to retain lean mass as you lose bodyweight. During weight loss your body will have a tendency towards losing fat and lean mass. Weight lifting and proper diet will minimize the portion of loss that comes from lean mass.

2) I would recommend some sort of pre-written program for weight lifting. Ideally compound movements with freeweights will be your end-goal but honestly, anything is better than nothing when you're first starting out and there's nothing wrong with initially doing a circuit type of training. Point being though, you should be lifting with your entire body (ideally 2 to 3 times) over the course of a week.

3 sets of ten reps per exercise is a good place to start. When you can complete 3x10, the following week or the following day that you do that same lift again, increase the weight by the smallest increment you can, and repeat.

Chris_acc_can

Weight lifting will not only burn more calories than on a treadmill, but, post workout your body will continue to burn calories at an accelerated pace as your body begins the recovery process. The reason why they say to lift heavy is because as you add lean muscle mass your body requires more energy (calories) to fuel the muscles, further accelerating the weight loss process.

If you do majority cardio, you will burn calories, but once the activity is done, the body will cool down and the body will regulate. This is why weight lifting is favourable.

By lifting heavy all they mean is lifting a weight that will challenge you. The reps don't matter, it's the output. You said you do 10 reps for a given set/exercise. Are these 10 reps acheived easily? Lifting heavy would mean lifting a weight so that at the 9th and 10th rep your muscle is at maximum effort and approaching or is at failure.

Also in addition, you mention gaining muscle means gaining weight. This is correct. Weight is relative, you can be 5'10, 210lbs and be over weight or 210LBS and a greek god. The focus should not be weight but body fat%. Too many people focus on scales because it's an easy output to gauge. Look into buying body fat calipers and measuring that rather than the scale.

raven56706

thats what i mean, i wanted to make sure im kind of on the right track...

it sucks because during this weight loss i did lose strength.. im almost down 25 lbs that i can lift... i look like such a wimp on the bench but i dont care... im getting myself back on track...

any other tips you guys have? my whole goal is to get cut and bring the body fat down!

jg627

Try stronglifts or startingstrength. I've been doing sl and currently squating 265 for 5 sets of 5. My friends are obsessed with feeling my back muscles.

psuLemon

You are losing strength probably due to under eating. It's not just the amount of protein, but also the amount of calories to fuel the machine. i am 5'11, 200 lbs and 29 yrs old and eat 2800 calories a day. I have been cutting body fat for awhile now. But either way to keep strength (or increase) and even just to maintain LBM, then you want to figure out your TDEE and cut it by 20%. This will allow you to cut fat and practically maintain LBM.

Other than that, I think sidesteal and chris had a good summary.

psuLemon

Also, it's probably recommend to stop mixing cardio and ST. When you do intense cardio and intense ST, your body will fight for resources to repair the body and doing so, it won't get the most out of each exercise. I would look to split them into two days if possible or just minimize cardio.

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/504130-why-i-m-not-for-cardio-and-resistance-concurrently

raven56706

You are losing strength probably due to under eating. It's not just the amount of protein, but also the amount of calories to fuel the machine. i am 5'11, 200 lbs and 29 yrs old and eat 2800 calories a day. I have been cutting body fat for awhile now. But either way to keep strength (or increase) and even just to maintain LBM, then you want to figure out your TDEE and cut it by 20%. This will allow you to cut fat and practically maintain LBM.

Other than that, I think sidesteal and chris had a good summary.

whats TDEE?

jg627

Also, it's probably recommend to stop mixing cardio and ST. When you do intense cardio and intense ST, your body will fight for resources to repair the body and doing so, it won't get the most out of each exercise. I would look to split them into two days if possible or just minimize cardio.

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/504130-why-i-m-not-for-cardio-and-resistance-concurrently

I concur. After my workouts I just want to be a couch potato. It's really hard to get that cardio in while lifting heavy.

jg627

You are losing strength probably due to under eating. It's not just the amount of protein, but also the amount of calories to fuel the machine. i am 5'11, 200 lbs and 29 yrs old and eat 2800 calories a day. I have been cutting body fat for awhile now. But either way to keep strength (or increase) and even just to maintain LBM, then you want to figure out your TDEE and cut it by 20%. This will allow you to cut fat and practically maintain LBM.

Other than that, I think sidesteal and chris had a good summary.

whats TDEE?

total daily energy expenditure

jg627

Just to be clear, I'm not going to lie to you and tell you that you are going to gain pounds and pounds of muscle while trying to cut. Before I got fat, I weighed about 155 to 175 range with yearly fluctuations and such. I started packing on weight and got up to 338the at my first weigh in when I joined MFP. Unless you are bed ridden when you get that big for so long, your body is going to adapt in order to be able to carry itself. Imagine walking around with a 180 lb barbell on your back all day. I don't recommend using that method to build muscle though. It took me years and years to achieve the body I didn't want. If done correctly, you can gain strength while cutting fat. I've broken two plateaus and working on a third.

psuLemon

You are losing strength probably due to under eating. It's not just the amount of protein, but also the amount of calories to fuel the machine. i am 5'11, 200 lbs and 29 yrs old and eat 2800 calories a day. I have been cutting body fat for awhile now. But either way to keep strength (or increase) and even just to maintain LBM, then you want to figure out your TDEE and cut it by 20%. This will allow you to cut fat and practically maintain LBM.

Other than that, I think sidesteal and chris had a good summary.

whats TDEE?

Essentially, it's the total amount of calories you burn throughout the day. BMR + lifestyle factor + exercise = TDEE. Once you get that number, you generally want to cut 20% to figure out how many calories you need.


http://www.shapefit.com/basal-metabolic-rate.html