Is resistance training enough?

StephieWillcox

I'm happy going along my EM2WL journey, but just want to make sure I'm not causing my body too many issues along the way!

Thanks to heybales glorious spreadsheet my current stats are:

Height: 5'5
Weight: 180
TDEE 2350
Deficit eating 1850

This includes 4 x 3.3 mile walks a week (to & from work), one tap dance class (too much fun), and 3 Jillian Michaels DVD sessions a week.

I know JM DVDs are not strength training, but are they enough to ensure I don't lose too much muscle mass? With 50lbs still left to lose I can see that a 500 cal deficit is still suitable for me, but I don't EVER want to get my body back into the state it was a year ago when I had to go through all the reset, weight gain, depression.

I'm in such a good place mentally, I love eating 1800-1850 cals a day, I eat clean (ish) and bake all my treats myself so I know they are as clean as possible (I'm willing to admit that chocolate chip cookies are not the cleanest thing on the planet, but at least they're made from scratch).

I don't have the money for a gym membership so I just need someone to tell me that JM is better than nothing!!!

Gapwedge01

I'm happy going along my EM2WL journey, but just want to make sure I'm not causing my body too many issues along the way!

Thanks to heybales glorious spreadsheet my current stats are:

Height: 5'5
Weight: 180
TDEE 2350
Deficit eating 1850

This includes 4 x 3.3 mile walks a week (to & from work), one tap dance class (too much fun), and 3 Jillian Michaels DVD sessions a week.

I know JM DVDs are not strength training, but are they enough to ensure I don't lose too much muscle mass? With 50lbs still left to lose I can see that a 500 cal deficit is still suitable for me, but I don't EVER want to get my body back into the state it was a year ago when I had to go through all the reset, weight gain, depression.

I'm in such a good place mentally, I love eating 1800-1850 cals a day, I eat clean (ish) and bake all my treats myself so I know they are as clean as possible (I'm willing to admit that chocolate chip cookies are not the cleanest thing on the planet, but at least they're made from scratch).

I don't have the money for a gym membership so I just need someone to tell me that JM is better than nothing!!!

I am not familiar with any of JM's workouts. Surely you can afford a pair of kettlebells? YouTube has plenty of free workouts for KB's. Then you can always use your body weight for resistance...... Push-ups, dips using the coffee table, etc. weight training should be your main exercise with some cardio added to taste. Just one person's opinion.

kitka82

Okay, so most people will tell you that the best strength exercises for losing body fat or building muscle are workouts that include major compound movements (squats, deadlifts, rows, etc). But strength training is more than just weight lifting.

Your focus should be making sure you are continually challenging your body. I feel that you can get by with JM dvds for now, if that's what you've got. Heck--No More Trouble Zones is a killer workout! You just want to make sure that you are continually increasing resistance or weight. I have a few sets of dumbbells, including an adjustable set with removable plates which ranges from 5 - 20#. If you are using resistance bands, there are a few different lengths you can use (or adjust your grip to make the band tighter).

When I started the 30 Day Shred, I used 3-5# weights. After 3 years, I can now use 8-15#, sometimes more.

GoGoGadgetMum

Scoobys Workshop has a resistance band workout and try Fitness Blender. Ive been adding them in too, I still get a good burn.

jkchampton

I have several JM videos. If they are the ones with the 3,2,1 system (3 minutes strength training, 2 minutes cardio, and 1 minute of abs) then you are getting strength training. But you will have to go up on weights and not use the 3 pounds that Jillian and her ladies use. Buy a few sets of dumbbells and challenge yourself and you should be okay. Her kettle bell workout can be done with a single dumb bell too. I highly recommend fitnessblender.com. A free site with a ton of workouts that can be done at home, body weight workouts, dumbbell workouts, kettlebell, etc

I am just starting with my reset. I am in a healthy weight range...5'4'' 125 pounds, but I would like to drop some fat and maintain without starving myself at 1200 calories anymore. I am scared of gaining weight and your comment about rest, weight gain, and depression freaked me out. Can you explain? Thanks!

heybales

As long as your deficit is reasonable (which the spreadsheet does automatically based on amount to lose and amount of true weight lifting), and you eat enough protein (which the spreadsheet suggests based on LBM), and your cardio isn't too extreme, you don't need to fear muscle loss.

Here is study with interesting excerpts that shows that. Now, oddly they selected women that while they had a small deficit, their daily goal was indeed around the dreaded 1200 number even if they didn't really eat that low, which just shows it is appropriate for some.

http://fampra.oxfordjournals.org/content/16/2/196.full

This study examined the effects of three interventions (diet; diet and aerobic exercise; diet, aerobic exercise and resistance training) on resting metabolic rate and body composition, as well as other physiological and metabolic parameters which are beyond the scope of this review. In this 12-week study, 31 overweight women (body mass index >27) were matched according to body mass index, and randomly assigned to one of the three treatment groups or the control group.

Subjects kept diet records that were evaluated each week. Corrections were made to facilitate a gradual and consistent weight loss of approximately one to two pounds per week.

Subjects in the two groups involved in aerobic exercise exercised three times per week at 70–80% of their functional capacity for 30 to 50 minutes. Duration and intensity were progressively increased. Subjects in the aerobic plus resistance training group also completed 11 exercises following heavy resistance training principles three times per week.

The control group showed no change in body composition over the 12-week period. All three intervention groups had a significant decline in body mass at 6 weeks, and again at 12 weeks for an average total weight loss of 6.2 kg in the diet-only group, 6.8 kg for the diet plus aerobic exercise group, and 7.0 kg for the diet, aerobic and resistance training group (standard deviations only presented graphically). By 12 weeks there were also significant decreases in percentage body fat: 5.8, 8.0 and 4.3%, respectively. However, there were no significant differences between groups. There were no significant changes in fat-free mass in any of the groups at any time period. There were also no significant changes in resting metabolic rate (measured in absolute terms or relative to body mass) within groups over time or between groups over time.

The calorie level may be of greater importance in explaining retention of fat-free mass. Much of the work regarding changes in fat-free mass and resting metabolic rate in response to hypocaloric diets have implemented diets containing 800–1200 kilocalories per day. Such low calorie diets result in a severe calorie deficit and the need to oxidize protein. Information regarding the participants' dietary intake in this study is scant. Only mean intakes per group for the entire 12-week period are presented. These intakes are approximately 250– 380 kilocalories less than mean baseline resting metabolic rates. In addition, dietary information is based on self-report, and there is a strong likelihood of underreporting of food intake in obese people. Systematic errors in this direction would lessen the actual calorie deficit. These relatively small calorie deficits may have enabled subjects to spare protein from oxidation. This rather limited attention and control of dietary intake in general in this area of research is a likely factor contributing to the inconsistency in reported results. Not only is the degree of calorie deficit important, but the distribution of macronutrients and amount of protein per kilogram body weight or fat-free mass is also of great importance in determining fuel substrate utilization.

Since all subjects were able to retain fat-free mass, it follows that their resting metabolic rates would also be stable.

StephieWillcox

Very interesting, thanks heybales.

I have a range of dumbells and I use a range of them for each DVD because I can (for example) bicep curl a hell of a lot more than I can do anything involving triceps

@jkchampton everyone deals with the reset differently. I went from eating 1200 to 2350 immediately. Obviously this was a big shock to my body and I gained weight. I felt fat(ter) and full all the time, and generally not good. It felt counterintuitive to eat so much in order to lose weight. The mental side of a reset is tough work when you've been on a low cal diet fr so long, you have to retrain the way you think completely, and for me (I guess I wasnt the mentally strongest person you would have met) this was BY FAR the hardest part.

I ended up resetting for a long time, I think 16 weeks by the end of it as I never got to the mental stage of "yes, I feel good"

And then suddenly one day, everything seemed to change. My skin cleared up, I felt awake, hungry, and alert. And then I started cutting and I feel pretty awesome everyday now.

Perhaps others would suggest increasing cals slowly but I just had to jump right in, I lost all the weight I put on in reset, and now I'm losing a healthy 1lb a week (on average, I only weigh monthly, another delightful perk of my new found mental stability).

I can't put into words the change in my mentality about food, exercise and my lifestyle, but EVERYTHING just feels good now. I would urge you to calculate your numbers and try a reset. Your future self in 6 months time will be thrilled if you give it a go x

Gapwedge01

Very interesting, thanks heybales.

I have a range of dumbells and I use a range of them for each DVD because I can (for example) bicep curl a hell of a lot more than I can do anything involving triceps

@jkchampton everyone deals with the reset differently. I went from eating 1200 to 2350 immediately. Obviously this was a big shock to my body and I gained weight. I felt fat(ter) and full all the time, and generally not good. It felt counterintuitive to eat so much in order to lose weight. The mental side of a reset is tough work when you've been on a low cal diet fr so long, you have to retrain the way you think completely, and for me (I guess I wasnt the mentally strongest person you would have met) this was BY FAR the hardest part.

I ended up resetting for a long time, I think 16 weeks by the end of it as I never got to the mental stage of "yes, I feel good"

And then suddenly one day, everything seemed to change. My skin cleared up, I felt awake, hungry, and alert. And then I started cutting and I feel pretty awesome everyday now.

Perhaps others would suggest increasing cals slowly but I just had to jump right in, I lost all the weight I put on in reset, and now I'm losing a healthy 1lb a week (on average, I only weigh monthly, another delightful perk of my new found mental stability).

I can't put into words the change in my mentality about food, exercise and my lifestyle, but EVERYTHING just feels good now. I would urge you to calculate your numbers and try a reset. Your future self in 6 months time will be thrilled if you give it a go x

Nice read. Thanks for sharing.

empressichel

Very interesting, thanks heybales.

I have a range of dumbells and I use a range of them for each DVD because I can (for example) bicep curl a hell of a lot more than I can do anything involving triceps

@jkchampton everyone deals with the reset differently. I went from eating 1200 to 2350 immediately. Obviously this was a big shock to my body and I gained weight. I felt fat(ter) and full all the time, and generally not good. It felt counterintuitive to eat so much in order to lose weight. The mental side of a reset is tough work when you've been on a low cal diet fr so long, you have to retrain the way you think completely, and for me (I guess I wasnt the mentally strongest person you would have met) this was BY FAR the hardest part.

I loved reading this, sounds like you are doing great :drinker:
I ended up resetting for a long time, I think 16 weeks by the end of it as I never got to the mental stage of "yes, I feel good"

And then suddenly one day, everything seemed to change. My skin cleared up, I felt awake, hungry, and alert. And then I started cutting and I feel pretty awesome everyday now.

Perhaps others would suggest increasing cals slowly but I just had to jump right in, I lost all the weight I put on in reset, and now I'm losing a healthy 1lb a week (on average, I only weigh monthly, another delightful perk of my new found mental stability).

I can't put into words the change in my mentality about food, exercise and my lifestyle, but EVERYTHING just feels good now. I would urge you to calculate your numbers and try a reset. Your future self in 6 months time will be thrilled if you give it a go x

tiffanyrose519

I think it is definitely enough! When I first started on my fitness journey I was doing JM's DVDs and got muscle definition! I would also suggest looking up Benderfitness.com and zuzkalight.com they have an amazing physique and do mostly body weight exercises!