Alternative resistance training

stumblinthrulife

I'm going to don my flame proof suit for this post, since I'm sure many will vehemently disagree. But a variety of viewpoints is necessary for a vibrant community, so I'll say my piece anyway.

I hear so much assertion that you *must* lift heavy while dieting to protect your lean muscle mass.I don't agree. I think this is a currently fashionable idea, pulled from the body building world which is probably not appropriate to the population in general. Lifting may be beneficial to everyone, but I honestly don't believe it's essential, or the only way to protect lean body mass.

Body builders create huge quantities of muscle through tremendous amounts of hard work. The body does not by any means need this muscle for anything other than the artificial effort introduced to build it in the first place. So when a BB cuts, they absolutely must continue to make this effort so as to not lose their gains. That much is pretty apparent, and I'd never dream of arguing.

But let's face facts - the average person that is over weight and looking to lose fat is not Arnold Schwarzeneggor underneath all that fat. They don't have the body of an Adonis underneath it all that just needs to be 'protected' while they shed the pounds to unleash it. They probably have what muscle they were genetically gifted with, and little more. So they probably don't need to be deadlifting 300lb to signal their body to not burn away muscle.

Personally I believe the average person could protect the little LBM they carry through -

Swimming
Body weight exercises
Elliptical workouts with the resistance set to a point that makes you 'work for it', instead of just spinning away for hours on end.
Any other form of resistance training that signals the body to retain muscle for a purpose.

Some people just plain don't like lifting weights, and I think it does them a disservice if they are made to feel it's the only way to do this 'right'.

stumblinthrulife

Oh, and before the "Do you even lift, bro?" comments - yes I do, thanks. But I do so because one of my long term goals is to build additional muscle.

jonnythan

Well, FWIW... I lost 40 lbs running a calorie deficit while skating, running, and doing calisthenics (pushups, lunges, situps) 4-5 times a week.

Lost a ton of lean mass.

bonjalandoni

I would be very interested in this thread... been thinking of modifying my goals but need direction.

stumblinthrulife

Well, FWIW... I lost 40 lbs running a calorie deficit while skating, running, and doing calisthenics (pushups, lunges, situps) 4-5 times a week.

Lost a ton of lean mass.

That's an interesting data point. I would contend though that you've been pretty active the entire time I've known you (eight years now?) and perhaps were carrying more lean mass than the average overweight individual sitting at a computer/on the couch for 14 hours a day. I would also ask if you were doing the calisthenics to the limit of your ability, in the same manner as you now lift?

My view perhaps needs a little nuance. I think that were a study done, one would find that the intensity of the resistance training required to protect existing LBM is directly proportional to the average activity levels prior to the caloric deficit. It may be that the effort needs to be a little higher, but I still believe that balls to the wall high-intensity free-weights is overkill for the average couch potato who now wants to lose some fat.

rybo

No arguement from me

jonnythan

Well, FWIW... I lost 40 lbs running a calorie deficit while skating, running, and doing calisthenics (pushups, lunges, situps) 4-5 times a week.

Lost a ton of lean mass.

That's an interesting data point. I would contend though that you've been pretty active the entire time I've known you (eight years now?) and perhaps were carrying more lean mass than the average overweight individual sitting at a computer/on the couch for 14 hours a day. I would also ask if you were doing the calisthenics to the limit of your ability, in the same manner as you now lift?

My view perhaps needs a little nuance. I think that were a study done, one would find that the intensity of the resistance training required to protect existing LBM is directly proportional to the average activity levels prior to the caloric deficit. It may be that the effort needs to be a little higher, but I still believe that balls to the wall high-intensity free-weights is overkill for the average couch potato who now wants to lose some fat.

I wasn't active while I got fat. I did something active maybe 3 times a month. And yeah I was doing as many setups andbpushuos as I could, and skating as hard as I could. I got sore and exhausted. I didn't get stronger.

Maybe it wouldn't have been different if I had lifted. But I firmly believe that being active and doing minimal resistance training is not effective.

minizebu

I agree with you Doug. For the vast majority of obese and overweight individuals, in the beginning throes of getting more fit, any load-bearing exercise, such as walking or jogging amounts to resistance exercise, in effect, because they are having to move so much weight around. This helps them to retain fat free mass while they adhere to a hypocaloric diet.

Also, studies have shown that simply consuming additional protein while on a hypocaloric diet also helps one to retain fat free mass.