TONING under all this fat... waste of time??

m60kaf

No it's not a waste of time but it does take a long time.

Muscle burns fat just by being there and I think I have actually got to the point where I have sufficient muscle to keep my fat under control.

Hear overweight people say they have a slow metabolism - Whilst I think this is total rubbish I also am starting to believe that a lack of muscle from sedentary lifestyle makes there fat pile on faster

waldo56

I keep hearing and seeing amazing results from P90X, Insanity, Ripped in 30, then Jillian Micheals kick your *kitten* thing... Honestly I've never heard a bad thing about it. Sounds fun (especially the variation since I get bored easily). But I'm still about 50 lbs away from my goal weight, kinda flabby, and I was wondering if there is any point in doing these programs. I know the P90X will tone you really well but will it be visually noticeable? Should I wait until I've lost more weight?

PS Can anyone recommend an inexpensive HRM that will count my calories burned?

Strength training burns a ton of calories, every bit as many as running does.

And HRM's are terrible at estimating it, they miss low big time. HRM's only measure aerobic calorie burn, the majority of calorie burn from strength training is anaerobic exercise and recovery, neither of which a HRM measures.

Careful on the advice... Everyone has a different body, for example, when I run at 6.0mph on the treadmill, I burn approx 700+ calories an hour. (I'm 5'2" 175lbs) Lifting weights in not even close to that number. I still lift 2-4x per week, and I would say on average, I burn 6-8cal a minute, which would put me between 180-240 cal for 30 mins, compared to 350+ for running.

How do you meausre how many calories you burn weightlifting?

Recovery from weightlifting has a very significant calorie cost as well, greater than the actual workout.

fmbomzo

It is not a waste. It's multi-tasking. I don't like long workouts so I try to do complex routines that engage multiple muscle groups to get the most bang for my exercise buck. I've only lost about 3 lbs in the time that I've been doing S90, but I've dropped 2 pant sizes and I'm not sure how many inches I've lost overall because I didn't take beginning measurements, but I know I've lost at least 15 overall.

The biggest thing for me is that it has given me new confidence about my body. My belly is a work in progress but it has the 6 pack markings showing already. My back boobs are almost gone. And this is all with me still being about 40 lbs from my goal weight.

It is well worth it.

CCJ13

I have a long way to go before I reach my goal & I definitely am working on toning now. I love 30 day shred. I can see muscles in my arms already. And my legs look a lot better too! The only thing I hate is that I am losing way more inches than lbs. But I know they will come off. My clothes are way bigger & my brand new bras are too big. I am on the smallest hook now & I think I can go down a band size. So I say start toning now. I bet you will be able to notice a difference.

So tell me which is more noticeable and more ego boosting... losing weight or losing inches and fitting into that little bikini and looking good in it? People constantly mistake the number on the scale for being a sign of fitness and accomplishment... I would rather be smaller and toned than 10 pounds lighter... just food for thought. Btw I am smaller now (with muscle) at 175 than I was in my younger days at 165.

I definitely love that my clothes are getting big. I think taking measurements are important for that reason. I know I get frustrated when the scale doesn't move like I think it should but then you look at your measurements & realize you have lost however many inches. That is a great feeling!

lakota1307

I am working with a personal Trainer, I have lost 41 lbs so far, he is 70 years old, studied martial arts under Chuck Norris , he has tons of pictures with him. Anyway, he has me doing Isometrics, nothing fast, everything slow, it has done more for me in the past 90 days than anything I have ever tried including bow flex!!! He has me lift light weight at what I thought was a ridiculous slow pace but at the end of a session I KNOW I WORKED OUT !!! No pain no soreness but a great feeling of change, I also do simple squats, and sit-up, very slow stretching with no weights I really noticed my stomach is shrinking even though I have about 80 more lbs to go just my result !!!

Absidey

So tell me which is more noticeable and more ego boosting... losing weight or losing inches and fitting into that little bikini and looking good in it? People constantly mistake the number on the scale for being a sign of fitness and accomplishment... I would rather be smaller and toned than 10 pounds lighter... just food for thought. Btw I am smaller now (with muscle) at 175 than I was in my younger days at 165.

^^THIS^^

I've got a total of 60 lbs to lose, and I'm strength training. So far I've lost only 18 lbs, but lost 8 inches at my waist and two dress sizes. I weighed what I weigh now 2 years ago and couldn't fit into half the clothes I've reclaimed from my "when I'm thin again" stash. It seems like waste to me to work so hard to lose weight if I'm still going to look flabby because I have underdeveloped muscles, especially when more muscle now makes it easier to lose the fat.

ETA:
I am 5 lbs heavier in the picture on the right. I don't know how obvious it is to someone else, but I can see a difference in my arms and legs and stomach. The pants I'm wearing on the left fall off of me now if I don't cinch them in with a belt. Pants are size 18, shorts are size 14. Left was taken October 2010, right was taken a week and a half ago.

Lozze

you will lose weight so much quicker if you incorporate toning or strength training right away, and you will be losing the flab at the same time!

False. Scale weight slows down when strength training. Your body fat drops though and you will tend to lose more inches.

I have had people I haven't seen in a couple of months tell me how fantastic I'm looking, that I'm disappearing. I currently weigh more than when I last saw them. And I'm eating in a deficit. And still obese. I wish the scale number was moving quicker but my body is getting smaller.

jcdellop

I keep hearing and seeing amazing results from P90X, Insanity, Ripped in 30, then Jillian Micheals kick your *kitten* thing... Honestly I've never heard a bad thing about it. Sounds fun (especially the variation since I get bored easily). But I'm still about 50 lbs away from my goal weight, kinda flabby, and I was wondering if there is any point in doing these programs. I know the P90X will tone you really well but will it be visually noticeable? Should I wait until I've lost more weight?

PS Can anyone recommend an inexpensive HRM that will count my calories burned?

Strength training burns a ton of calories, every bit as many as running does.

And HRM's are terrible at estimating it, they miss low big time. HRM's only measure aerobic calorie burn, the majority of calorie burn from strength training is anaerobic exercise and recovery, neither of which a HRM measures.

Careful on the advice... Everyone has a different body, for example, when I run at 6.0mph on the treadmill, I burn approx 700+ calories an hour. (I'm 5'2" 175lbs) Lifting weights in not even close to that number. I still lift 2-4x per week, and I would say on average, I burn 6-8cal a minute, which would put me between 180-240 cal for 30 mins, compared to 350+ for running.

I agree that you most definitely need to be careful on the advice . . . everyone IS most certainly different especially between men and women. Strength training most certainly does NOT burn as much as running for most of us ladies. I used a BodyBugg for a long time to monitor my calories spent - which I strongly recommend over an HRM. It tells you exactly how many calories you're burning at any given moment. I found that when I was weight training, I only burned about 2 calories a minute but when I was on the elliptical, it was about 6-8 calories a minute. Plus, I was amazed at how many calories I burned just by doing everyday chores around the house!! Before I got the the BodyBugg, I was very committed to weight training and high intenstity cardio for a long time and couldn't understand why I wasn't losing any weight - after a year I'd only lost 8 pounds. I finally went to a personal trainer who explained that the intense workouts were causing me to eat more than I was expending. That's what losing weight all comes down to - calories in/calories out. He also informed me that everyone will tell you that you're gaining muscle which is why you aren't losing, which is only partly true. Men can gain as much as a pound a week in muscle while on average it can take a woman up to a year to gain only 10 pounds of muscle. My trainer showed me the most sensible cardio and weight program, along with the BodyBugg and that was the best money I ever spent on losing weight.

Behavior_Modification

I recommend strength training to everyone. It is wonderful for your body, but also for vanity's sake. My physique would look much different had I not been doing strength training while losing weight. You can weigh the same amount as someone else and be the same height but they might wear a different size clothing because they or you are more toned - fat on top or no fat on top. And people can TELL that I've been strength training even though I'm no where close to goal yet. My posture is much different, especially in my shoulders which has also improved the lifting of my breasts. My bum is no longer flat and wide, now it is smaller and perky. Seeing the muscle come through while I'm losing the weight is awesome too. Seeing the definition in my arms and legs is cool. Being strong feels good.

jhardenbergh

I have lost a bunch of weight an waited to start weight training which I did it from the get go cause I can feel my 6 pack, but unfortunately the loose skin covers it some and instead of a 6 pack of beer it looks more like a 6 pack of Capri Suns. I say start early and often learn from my mistake

Curvy_princess

BUMP FOR LATER

julieh391

I'll give you zero science with my response. But I will say that my handful of belly roll is turning into a thinner flabby roll as I lose weight, and I don't want to go from chunky to flabby. So toning and strength training it is! I've been on MFP and doing cardio for about 5 weeks, and I just started 30 Day Shred to actually use my muscles this week. I'm loving it so far. It looks like we're in a very similar boat. I'm 5'7" 210 (started here at 219) with a goal of about 160.

cutethang1

I have a long way to go before I reach my goal & I definitely am working on toning now. I love 30 day shred. I can see muscles in my arms already. And my legs look a lot better too! The only thing I hate is that I am losing way more inches than lbs. But I know they will come off. My clothes are way bigger & my brand new bras are too big. I am on the smallest hook now & I think I can go down a band size. So I say start toning now. I bet you will be able to notice a difference.

So tell me which is more noticeable and more ego boosting... losing weight or losing inches and fitting into that little bikini and looking good in it? People constantly mistake the number on the scale for being a sign of fitness and accomplishment... I would rather be smaller and toned than 10 pounds lighter... just food for thought. Btw I am smaller now (with muscle) at 175 than I was in my younger days at 165.

This to the "T"

JayByrd107

I keep hearing and seeing amazing results from P90X, Insanity, Ripped in 30, then Jillian Micheals kick your *kitten* thing... Honestly I've never heard a bad thing about it. Sounds fun (especially the variation since I get bored easily). But I'm still about 50 lbs away from my goal weight, kinda flabby, and I was wondering if there is any point in doing these programs. I know the P90X will tone you really well but will it be visually noticeable? Should I wait until I've lost more weight?

PS Can anyone recommend an inexpensive HRM that will count my calories burned?

Strength training burns a ton of calories, every bit as many as running does.

And HRM's are terrible at estimating it, they miss low big time. HRM's only measure aerobic calorie burn, the majority of calorie burn from strength training is anaerobic exercise and recovery, neither of which a HRM measures.

Careful on the advice... Everyone has a different body, for example, when I run at 6.0mph on the treadmill, I burn approx 700+ calories an hour. (I'm 5'2" 175lbs) Lifting weights in not even close to that number. I still lift 2-4x per week, and I would say on average, I burn 6-8cal a minute, which would put me between 180-240 cal for 30 mins, compared to 350+ for running.

I agree that you most definitely need to be careful on the advice . . . everyone IS most certainly different especially between men and women. Strength training most certainly does NOT burn as much as running for most of us ladies. I used a BodyBugg for a long time to monitor my calories spent - which I strongly recommend over an HRM. It tells you exactly how many calories you're burning at any given moment. I found that when I was weight training, I only burned about 2 calories a minute but when I was on the elliptical, it was about 6-8 calories a minute. Plus, I was amazed at how many calories I burned just by doing everyday chores around the house!! Before I got the the BodyBugg, I was very committed to weight training and high intenstity cardio for a long time and couldn't understand why I wasn't losing any weight - after a year I'd only lost 8 pounds. I finally went to a personal trainer who explained that the intense workouts were causing me to eat more than I was expending. That's what losing weight all comes down to - calories in/calories out. He also informed me that everyone will tell you that you're gaining muscle which is why you aren't losing, which is only partly true. Men can gain as much as a pound a week in muscle while on average it can take a woman up to a year to gain only 10 pounds of muscle. My trainer showed me the most sensible cardio and weight program, along with the BodyBugg and that was the best money I ever spent on losing weight.

A lot of people don't understand that the benefits from lifting aren't seen while lifting. The aftermath is where the caloric expenditure comes into play- while the body is recovering from the workout. That is when muscle is built and calories are burned. The following is a link that explains it pretty well:

http://www.builtlean.com/2011/06/29/afterburn-effect-of-exercise-qa-with-dr-christopher-scott-phd/

melinda200208

The programs may help you lose that fat that you are trying to get rid of. I would give it a try

africaa

Weight lifting is definetly not a waste of time! First off it's FUN!!!!!! lol and second, you're building muscle which means you burn more calories while sitting around doing nothing. You may not see the results now, but you'll love that you did it once you get rid of the fat

kionig

Check out bodytronics.com for HRMs. Use the code, "popo," to get a discount. I got my Polar FT4 on there, cheaper than I found anywhere else. I LOVE mine!

quoted this so i can remember the website- thanks

Casey45

Re: Calories burned while weight lifting. While it is true that in general, you burn more calories doing cardio than weight lifting, it all comes down to the style/approach you use for strength training. If you style your strength training as a circuit/interval training your heart rate will be higher throughout your session and you will burn more calories. Wearing a heart monitor while strength training will help you monitor your calorie burn. As an example, after I warm up, I do my weight routine straight through with essentially no rest in between sets except to move from one set to the the next. For 45-60 minutes my body is in constant motion, my heart rate at about 70%. When my heart rate slips (as it does when I do abs or hamstrings) I insert a minute or two of step ups, then move on without rest.

ALISHAWILLIAMSON

weight loss is toning.

You mean toning is weight loss....right? You can lose all the weight you want...but if there's no muscle under there then you have no definition but bone....I say start weight training now!! Don't "weight"...:laugh: get it? Overall gaining muscle will help you burn fat and you burn calories along the way!! GO FOR IT!!