Weight Lifting

Seattlema

So I'm finding with lifting weights the scale is not moving. Should I limited the amount of weight lifting sessions and focus more on cardio? Or just keep at it and see what happens on the scale. I know the scale is not the only identifier for burning fat and building muscle, but I like to see the scale move too.

Vansy

I've found [for myself] that I need a healthy amount of both. The weights/strength sessions help build more muscle and the 30+ minutes of cardio help burn more calories. You probably still need some cardio to burn more calories, but the strength/weight sessions should help build muscles so that you're burning more calories.

dlwyatt82

"Weight Loss" definitely slowed down for me at first when I started lifting, but that's not the same thing as fat loss. When you're strength training regularly, your body retains quite a bit more water to aid in muscle recovery, and you're also losing less lean mass along with the fat. It's a better result, in my opinion, even if the number on the scale doesn't move as fast.

theodus

If you're willing to stick with it, you'll most likely see your fat loss speed up if you keep lifting. Remember that you may gain a little weight at first, or the scale may stay the same for a while. This will pay off with the increased metabolism. Also, consider buying a measuring tape to check your waist and other areas - this will be a better indicator of body comp change.

SugarPie07

When you first start lifting, you may find the scale actually increases due the rise in the amount of glycogen/water that you are storing in your muscles. It will pay off in the end, as increased lean body mass means increased metabolism. Plus, muscles are just dead sexy

jad54

A rule of thumb, especially for women, in regards to lifting weights and attempting to shed weight at the same time - lighter weight and more reps. I'd probably do about 3:1 or 3:2 ratio (cardio/weights).

dlwyatt82

A rule of thumb, especially for women, in regards to lifting weights and attempting to shed weight at the same time - lighter weight and more reps.

Don't listen to that, it's just plain wrong. If you want to gain strength, stick to sets of 3-5 reps, and work your way up to heavy weights. For muscular endurance training, you do a ton of reps (20+). In the middle is the range where bodybuilders train for size, which is kind of pointless for a woman, unless she were taking steroids.

abbylg1983

Don't listen to that, it's just plain wrong. If you want to gain strength, stick to sets of 3-5 reps, and work your way up to heavy weights. For muscular endurance training, you do a ton of reps (20+). In the middle is the range where bodybuilders train for size, which is kind of pointless for a woman, unless she were taking steroids.

Yeah, most of the weight lifting books I have read encourages heavy weights for lower reps.

jacksonpt

So I'm finding with lifting weights the scale is not moving. Should I limited the amount of weight lifting sessions and focus more on cardio? Or just keep at it and see what happens on the scale. I know the scale is not the only identifier for burning fat and building muscle, but I like to see the scale move too.

What is your ultimate goal, and how long have you been at it?

If all you care about is losing weight, then just focus on diet - no need to exercise. If you want to change the way you look, then you need to eat right and lift.

Lastly, make sure your expectations are in check. A lot of people on this site have ridiculous expectations about what they can achieve in what time frame with what level of commitment.

jacksonpt

"Weight Loss" definitely slowed down for me at first when I started lifting, but that's not the same thing as fat loss. When you're strength training regularly, your body retains quite a bit more water to aid in muscle recovery, and you're also losing less lean mass along with the fat. It's a better result, in my opinion, even if the number on the scale doesn't move as fast.

+1

jacksonpt

A rule of thumb, especially for women, in regards to lifting weights and attempting to shed weight at the same time - lighter weight and more reps. I'd probably do about 3:1 or 3:2 ratio (cardio/weights).

Low weight/high reps is just cardio work. Just because you have weights in your hands doesn't mean you are strength training. If you want to do cardio, that's fine. But if you want to retain lean body mass, you have to lift heavy with fewer reps.

waldo56

In the middle is the range where bodybuilders train for size, which is kind of pointless for a woman, unless she were taking steroids.

In the middle is where some bodybuilders train, and most brobuilders. It is not ideal for muscle gain, but it is the best self progressing single rep range for muscle gain.

Faster progress and greater mass gains can be had by periodizing the high rep range and low rep range. The high rep range has the fastest mass gains, but it is not self progressing (you don't get stronger so gains will stall). The low rep range progresses fast but had a lot less mass gains, peirodize the two for the best of both worlds. Most intermiediate to advanced mass gain systems use this periodizing approach, that is what most actual bodybuilders are doing.

wolfpack77

+1 to everything jack said.. hes right on the money.

Understanding your goals is what defines your routines. If you just want to lean out, you can do this through diet alone, however exercise helps. Cardio and diet control are often the most common combinations for fat loss. You dont need to lift if your goal is simply weight loss.

That being said, lifting can and does help with burning fat but only if you're lifting really heavy in a calorie deficit. Light weight high reps with weight is not likely to have the same result. Just stick to cardio if fat loss is your goal.

jad54

A rule of thumb, especially for women, in regards to lifting weights and attempting to shed weight at the same time - lighter weight and more reps. I'd probably do about 3:1 or 3:2 ratio (cardio/weights).

Low weight/high reps is just cardio work. Just because you have weights in your hands doesn't mean you are strength training. If you want to do cardio, that's fine. But if you want to retain lean body mass, you have to lift heavy with fewer reps.

It's all relative. If you're talking 5lb dumbbells, I would agree. If you're talking 10-15lb dumbbells, I would disagree. This of course goes for most women, not all.

twonkieone

When you first start lifting, you may find the scale actually increases due the rise in the amount of glycogen/water that you are storing in your muscles. It will pay off in the end, as increased lean body mass means increased metabolism. Plus, muscles are just dead sexy

Indeed they are!!!!

jacksonpt

A rule of thumb, especially for women, in regards to lifting weights and attempting to shed weight at the same time - lighter weight and more reps. I'd probably do about 3:1 or 3:2 ratio (cardio/weights).

Low weight/high reps is just cardio work. Just because you have weights in your hands doesn't mean you are strength training. If you want to do cardio, that's fine. But if you want to retain lean body mass, you have to lift heavy with fewer reps.

It's all relative. If you're talking 5lb dumbbells, I would agree. If you're talking 10-15lb dumbbells, I would disagree. This of course goes for most women, not all.

You're right, except you're not even agreeing with yourself.

Heavy is relative to what the person can lift. For someone who can lift 100lbs, "heavy" might be 85lbs. For someone who can only lift 20lbs, heavy might be 15lbs. Heavy is not relative to gender, it's relative to ability.

jimzisa

I've found the balance of weight lifting versus cardio condition to be tricky at best. Most of my trainer friends tell me that adding lean muscle tissue increases one's metabolism. I think it does. Hence, their default workout techniques involving shoving weights around. Recently, at the urging of my one truly brilliant trainer friend - the guy who trains my wife - I ditched the traditional weight lifting model in favor of adding overall, full-body condition workouts wherein every exercise has a cardio component. For example, instead of squats, I do squat jumps or drag / crawl a weighted sled around. And I do them all for time, rather than for reps. And other than the heavy weights I drag around - or the occasional rehab therapy (to strengthen knees, elbows, etc) - I don't use traditional barbells, dumbells or machines for anything. I've found that I can get enough of a workout doing bodyweight moves, like push-ups, pull-ups, planks and such. Everything else I do is cardio based. Long rides, some running and walking and a little swimming. The only exercise deviation I make is yoga twice a week - I'm old and I need to regain flexibility. Since I made the workout changes 8 weeks ago - I tweaked my diet to match the change in workload - I'm down 30 lbs.

The point is, as my true trainer friend tells me: "finding the right fitness combination is like buying a suit of clothes off the rack. It never fits perfectly, but with a nip here, a tuck there, eventually you'll find something that works FOR YOU." I keep up with my stuff daily and it works for me.

Good luck.

p0kers0ph

I started using weights & kettlebells about 2 weeks ago, and the scale was going up or staying the same. As of this morning it has gone down again. It is a bit discouraging, but definitely try measuring yourself too as I've lost inches in those 2 weeks even tho the scale hasn't shown a loss.

Seattlema

Thanks all for your thoughts and opinions. I think will go back to what my trainer wrote down for me a while ago. 3 days weights with 6 days cardio. I've been at this now since the end of May. And I think I've done a awesome job so far. My expectations are not out of the norm. I want to lose 1-2 pounds a week and I know with the amount of weight I want to lose it's not going to happen over night. And my schedule doesn't really allow me to work out for 2-3 hours like many ppl. I do have a normal life.

Again Thanks and I will keep on truckin alot. :-)