How Can I Explain How Lifting Helps?
petstorekitty
Posts: 592 Member
Even though I'd added weights and strength training and so on to my routine with results,
I still have NO IDEA what "heavy lifting" means.
I do my best to explain to others that doing more than just hours of cardio is the way to go for good weight loss, but me trying to explain that to someone is like a monkey with an apple in a board meeting.
"You see, you use your muscles which burn your fat and you need muscle for fat burning so while the treadmill is nice and all you can burn even more if you pick heavy things up and put them back down again."
I was trying to explain to my girlfeiend that if she picks up some weights heavier than 5 lbs she isn't going to get RIPPED and look gross.
She doesn't have to stop doing cardio but she needs to add weights! (me too)
She has more weight to lose than I do so she's still convinced that weight training is pointless.
I'm not her trainer or anything so my influence is limited. And truthfully my information is limited!
SO what do you tell someone about lifting to a) make it sound convincing and b) make it make sense! ?
I still have NO IDEA what "heavy lifting" means.
I do my best to explain to others that doing more than just hours of cardio is the way to go for good weight loss, but me trying to explain that to someone is like a monkey with an apple in a board meeting.
"You see, you use your muscles which burn your fat and you need muscle for fat burning so while the treadmill is nice and all you can burn even more if you pick heavy things up and put them back down again."
I was trying to explain to my girlfeiend that if she picks up some weights heavier than 5 lbs she isn't going to get RIPPED and look gross.
She doesn't have to stop doing cardio but she needs to add weights! (me too)
She has more weight to lose than I do so she's still convinced that weight training is pointless.
I'm not her trainer or anything so my influence is limited. And truthfully my information is limited!
SO what do you tell someone about lifting to a) make it sound convincing and b) make it make sense! ?
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Replies
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You could start by showing her this thread -
http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/977538-halp-heavy-lifting-made-me-supah-bulky0 -
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Lifting doesn't help lose weight. At least not directly and not significantly.
Weight loss comes from a calorie deficit, which is primarily a dietary issue. Lifting helps maintain muscle while you lose weight (meaning more of that weight loss will come from fat loss), but lifting doesn't actually cause weight loss.0 -
Lifting doesn't help lose weight. At least not directly and not significantly.
Weight loss comes from a calorie deficit, which is primarily a dietary issue. Lifting helps maintain muscle while you lose weight (meaning more of that weight loss will come from fat loss), but lifting doesn't actually cause weight loss.
Lets fix that to "much" weightloss. Lifting weight is still a calorie burning exercise. Can you burn as much in an hour as really doing hard cardio? No, you probably can't. BUT, it is still going to cause you to burn more calories than just sitting on your butt doing nothing.
Back to the OP, when in a deficit and trying to lose weight, the more important thing to know is that it CONSERVES the muscles you already have, it is much easier to KEEP your muscles than to build new ones later. On deficit you won't be building muscles. So what this all boils down to is that most people are happier with their bodies later if they have lifted weights than if they hadn't, and many people (myself included) who got to goal weight without lifting weights are still unhappy with their bodies until they add weights in.0 -
Lifting doesn't help lose weight. At least not directly and not significantly.
Weight loss comes from a calorie deficit, which is primarily a dietary issue. Lifting helps maintain muscle while you lose weight (meaning more of that weight loss will come from fat loss), but lifting doesn't actually cause weight loss.
Lets fix that to "much" weightloss. Lifting weight is still a calorie burning exercise. Can you burn as much in an hour as really doing hard cardio? No, you probably can't. BUT, it is still going to cause you to burn more calories than just sitting on your butt doing nothing.
So if I lift, I'll lose some amount of weight (even if it's small) regardless of my diet?0 -
I mention that women lose muscle as we get older and are at risk of osteoporosis. Lifting should help to preserve muscle and strengthen bones. The NHS recommends that most adults do some sort of muscle strengthening exercise that works all the major muscle groups at least twice a week.0
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Lifting doesn't help lose weight. At least not directly and not significantly.
Weight loss comes from a calorie deficit, which is primarily a dietary issue. Lifting helps maintain muscle while you lose weight (meaning more of that weight loss will come from fat loss), but lifting doesn't actually cause weight loss.
Lets fix that to "much" weightloss. Lifting weight is still a calorie burning exercise. Can you burn as much in an hour as really doing hard cardio? No, you probably can't. BUT, it is still going to cause you to burn more calories than just sitting on your butt doing nothing.
So if I lift, I'll lose some amount of weight (even if it's small) regardless of my diet?
Ok, for the sake of clarity I shall expand.
Yes, of course one would still need to track diet. Lifting weights without diet will no more show profound results than cardio without diet. It is exercise not magic. But resistance exercise still counts on the totals for creating a deficit along with the added bonus of helping a person preserve muscle.
But, and maybe I was assuming, the OP was not talking about trying to lose weight through exercise alone. She was asking how to explain how weight lifting helps, and I think I did that.0 -
Lifting doesn't help lose weight. At least not directly and not significantly.
Weight loss comes from a calorie deficit, which is primarily a dietary issue. Lifting helps maintain muscle while you lose weight (meaning more of that weight loss will come from fat loss), but lifting doesn't actually cause weight loss.
Seems lately I've seen a lot of your posts, they always say the same thing "Exercising doesn't make you lose weight, diet does". Kudos :-) My line is usually "You can't exercise away a bad diet" but no one listens to me, they just go about eating what they want and say it's ok I'll exercise it off.0 -
Lifting doesn't help lose weight. At least not directly and not significantly.
Weight loss comes from a calorie deficit, which is primarily a dietary issue. Lifting helps maintain muscle while you lose weight (meaning more of that weight loss will come from fat loss), but lifting doesn't actually cause weight loss.
Seems lately I've seen a lot of your posts, they always say the same thing "Exercising doesn't make you lose weight, diet does". Kudos :-) My line is usually "You can't exercise away a bad diet" but no one listens to me, they just go about eating what they want and say it's ok I'll exercise it off.
Agreed.
Personally, the whole "I'll eat this now then burn it off later" attitude sounds like the the start of an ED to me... or at least a very unhealthy relationship with both food and exercise.
.0 -
Lifting doesn't help lose weight. At least not directly and not significantly.
Weight loss comes from a calorie deficit, which is primarily a dietary issue. Lifting helps maintain muscle while you lose weight (meaning more of that weight loss will come from fat loss), but lifting doesn't actually cause weight loss.
To be fair I think when most people on this site say they want to lose weight what they actually mean is that they want to lose fat. It is sort of a language barrier. In a strict sense you are correct. If I for example maintained a healthy calorie deficit over time the number on the scale will go down and that is "weight loss".
If I lift a bunch of weights and get in some really good shape I could end up with a higher or lower number on the scale depending upon my diet but my muscle mass will be better than the version of me that did no exercise. I think in the grand scheme of things lowering body fat percentage really is the way to go. Who cares what the scale says if I am all muscular and sexy looking?0 -
I mention that women lose muscle as we get older and are at risk of osteoporosis. Lifting should help to preserve muscle and strengthen bones. The NHS recommends that most adults do some sort of muscle strengthening exercise that works all the major muscle groups at least twice a week.
This is true ^^^ Also, the only way to increase your metabolism is to build more muscle. The more muscle you have the more calories your body will burn at rest. It's not a substitution for a well balanced diet but it helps. My diet determines my weightloss, my exercise determines my fitness level as well as my body composition and definition.0 -
You could start by showing her this thread -
http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/977538-halp-heavy-lifting-made-me-supah-bulky
that made me post the question. It doesn't really explain much. BUT I have seen loads O threads that show bomb results, which makes me a proponent for lifting even if I don't use weights a lot or even know what heavy lifting is for sure.0 -
Lifting doesn't help lose weight. At least not directly and not significantly.
Weight loss comes from a calorie deficit, which is primarily a dietary issue. Lifting helps maintain muscle while you lose weight (meaning more of that weight loss will come from fat loss), but lifting doesn't actually cause weight loss.
Lets fix that to "much" weightloss. Lifting weight is still a calorie burning exercise. Can you burn as much in an hour as really doing hard cardio? No, you probably can't. BUT, it is still going to cause you to burn more calories than just sitting on your butt doing nothing.
So if I lift, I'll lose some amount of weight (even if it's small) regardless of my diet?
Ok, for the sake of clarity I shall expand.
Yes, of course one would still need to track diet. Lifting weights without diet will no more show profound results than cardio without diet. It is exercise not magic. But resistance exercise still counts on the totals for creating a deficit along with the added bonus of helping a person preserve muscle.
But, and maybe I was assuming, the OP was not talking about trying to lose weight through exercise alone. She was asking how to explain how weight lifting helps, and I think I did that.
For sure, and I'm not disagreeing with you, only with what always seems to be incomplete advice. Exercise and you'll lose weight. No, it's not that simply. You can't talk about exercise in a vacuum.
OP asked:I do my best to explain to others that doing more than just hours of cardio is the way to go for good weight loss, but me trying to explain that to someone is like a monkey with an apple in a board meeting.
My point was that the weight loss part comes from diet. Retaining muscle and thus increasing fat loss is where lifting comes in... but it does nothing if you're diet isn't in check.0 -
Lifting doesn't help lose weight. At least not directly and not significantly.
Weight loss comes from a calorie deficit, which is primarily a dietary issue. Lifting helps maintain muscle while you lose weight (meaning more of that weight loss will come from fat loss), but lifting doesn't actually cause weight loss.
Lets fix that to "much" weightloss. Lifting weight is still a calorie burning exercise. Can you burn as much in an hour as really doing hard cardio? No, you probably can't. BUT, it is still going to cause you to burn more calories than just sitting on your butt doing nothing.
So if I lift, I'll lose some amount of weight (even if it's small) regardless of my diet?
Ok, for the sake of clarity I shall expand.
Yes, of course one would still need to track diet. Lifting weights without diet will no more show profound results than cardio without diet. It is exercise not magic. But resistance exercise still counts on the totals for creating a deficit along with the added bonus of helping a person preserve muscle.
But, and maybe I was assuming, the OP was not talking about trying to lose weight through exercise alone. She was asking how to explain how weight lifting helps, and I think I did that.
yes you did.
Lifting alone and eating 13 burgers a day is not going to help weight loss of course BUT I think the idea many of us girls have in our head is that lifting doesn't burn calories like cardio. And what we girls want it to lose fat.
From my own experience and HRM I found out that lifting totally birns calories and puts me in my target heart rate a lot. Because it's freaking hard!!
Trying to explain how muscle retention is SO IMPORATNT not just for fat loss but for health is hard. (I'm really CRAP at explainging anything ever).
When I discuss fittness and weight loss with peeps I always stress proper diet and making sure to eat enough for their size and activity lever.
This seems to be a huge issue with most ppl I know. They don't freaking eat!!!
When you're super overweight and a girl it seems we've been brainwashed to think that we have to do hours of cardio and only eat salads to drop the fat.
I'm constantly forcing snacks on my gf after we workout. "Eat these 6 almonds. SRSLY EAT THEM!!! Your body is hungry! They won't make you any more fat I SWEAR!"
sigh0 -
I mention that women lose muscle as we get older and are at risk of osteoporosis. Lifting should help to preserve muscle and strengthen bones. The NHS recommends that most adults do some sort of muscle strengthening exercise that works all the major muscle groups at least twice a week.
This is true ^^^ Also, the only way to increase your metabolism is to build more muscle. The more muscle you have the more calories your body will burn at rest. It's not a substitution for a well balanced diet but it helps. My diet determines my weightloss, my exercise determines my fitness level as well as my body composition and definition.
This makes a lot of sense when put in this way.
I sound like a nutter when I try to say this. Thanks!!0 -
Lifting doesn't help lose weight. At least not directly and not significantly.
Weight loss comes from a calorie deficit, which is primarily a dietary issue. Lifting helps maintain muscle while you lose weight (meaning more of that weight loss will come from fat loss), but lifting doesn't actually cause weight loss.
To be fair I think when most people on this site say they want to lose weight what they actually mean is that they want to lose fat. It is sort of a language barrier. In a strict sense you are correct. If I for example maintained a healthy calorie deficit over time the number on the scale will go down and that is "weight loss".
If I lift a bunch of weights and get in some really good shape I could end up with a higher or lower number on the scale depending upon my diet but my muscle mass will be better than the version of me that did no exercise. I think in the grand scheme of things lowering body fat percentage really is the way to go. Who cares what the scale says if I am all muscular and sexy looking?
This is me. I just want my fat to go away. I like my muscles! I don't even care if I'm defined or ripped or twiggy; 100lbs or 182. I'm just tired of the fat. Go away fat!0 -
Lifting doesn't help lose weight. At least not directly and not significantly.
Weight loss comes from a calorie deficit, which is primarily a dietary issue. Lifting helps maintain muscle while you lose weight (meaning more of that weight loss will come from fat loss), but lifting doesn't actually cause weight loss.
Lets fix that to "much" weightloss. Lifting weight is still a calorie burning exercise. Can you burn as much in an hour as really doing hard cardio? No, you probably can't. BUT, it is still going to cause you to burn more calories than just sitting on your butt doing nothing.
So if I lift, I'll lose some amount of weight (even if it's small) regardless of my diet?
Ok, for the sake of clarity I shall expand.
Yes, of course one would still need to track diet. Lifting weights without diet will no more show profound results than cardio without diet. It is exercise not magic. But resistance exercise still counts on the totals for creating a deficit along with the added bonus of helping a person preserve muscle.
But, and maybe I was assuming, the OP was not talking about trying to lose weight through exercise alone. She was asking how to explain how weight lifting helps, and I think I did that.
yes you did.
Lifting alone and eating 13 burgers a day is not going to help weight loss of course BUT I think the idea many of us girls have in our head is that lifting doesn't burn calories like cardio. And what we girls want it to lose fat.
From my own experience and HRM I found out that lifting totally birns calories and puts me in my target heart rate a lot. Because it's freaking hard!!
Trying to explain how muscle retention is SO IMPORATNT not just for fat loss but for health is hard. (I'm really CRAP at explainging anything ever).
When I discuss fittness and weight loss with peeps I always stress proper diet and making sure to eat enough for their size and activity lever.
This seems to be a huge issue with most ppl I know. They don't freaking eat!!!
When you're super overweight and a girl it seems we've been brainwashed to think that we have to do hours of cardio and only eat salads to drop the fat.
I'm constantly forcing snacks on my gf after we workout. "Eat these 6 almonds. SRSLY EAT THEM!!! Your body is hungry! They won't make you any more fat I SWEAR!"
sigh
Sorry to keep splitting hairs, but HRMs are terrible for estimating calories burned during strength training. The calculations they use assume steady state cardio, and strength training is nether steady state nor cardio. In most cases, and HRM will DRASTICALLY over estimate calorie burns for lifting.0 -
Someone else said this and I second it, loudly: show her the article about Staci on the Nerd Fitness website.0
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So I'm in kinda the same boat. My wife doesn't want to get ripped and look like some strange crush fetish actress or a tranny. Which, hey, fair enough, I don't want that either. She doesn't want to lift weight because it's hard, and running is easy.SO what do you tell someone about lifting to a) make it sound convincing and b) make it make sense! ?
Well, where I am lucky is that she is a scientist. Meaning she knows the value of data, and research can and routinely does force fundamental changes to our beliefs.
I showed her research related to the importance of load bearing activities on stemming off osteoporosis risk. Then I also sent some links to some research showing that women lack the testosterone levels required to buff up. Then I sent her pictures of a certain australian hurdler that was excellent to watch during the london games.
The got me to the point where she'll let me teach her to lift, if I go to pilates with her. If it's anything like yoga, it's going to be like watching an *kitten* buffet.0 -
Someone else said this and I second it, loudly: show her the article about Staci on the Nerd Fitness website.
*fist bump*
Thank you
0 -
Someone else said this and I second it, loudly: show her the article about Staci on the Nerd Fitness website.
*fist bump*
Thank you
No problem! I've become a huge fan of lifting heavy objects and putting them down again, and I find Staci very inspirational. Although I'm only a beginner, I'm excited at the possibilities.0 -
It's addictive isn't it? I freakin' love it! And it's contagious too, I've gotten a friend of mine hooked. lol. I'm nothing but a nerdy iron pusher
haha! 0 -
I read this article that I happen to like concerning muscle mass and weight loss. It was obviously originally put out there to debunk the notion that muscle burns a very large amount "more" calories than fat at rest. (He says muscle burns 6 cals/hr/lb as opposed to fat at 2 cals/hr/lb)
But that's just part of the story. I believe it shows in a pretty good way, how adding muscle mass to the skeletal structure of the body allows the body to perform more efficiently through improved insulin sensitivity. Also realize that 1 pound of muscle has a very defining and toning effect when spread throughout the body. Diet is absolutely the most important thing in terms of weight loss, lifting and getting stronger/denser muscles enables the body to be much more efficient and thus NOT convert as much of the calories you consume to fat stores.
http://www.marksdailyapple.com/how-many-calories-does-muscle-really-burn-and-why-its-not-about-calories-anyway/#axzz2S9zbsRTU0 -
I don't know what makes sense to different individuals, but I would stick with the basics:
1. Resistance training helps to promote weight loss even with no increase in lean mass.
2. Resistance training + cardio promotes greater fat loss than either modality alone.
3. Resistance training can prevent the slowdown in metabolism that occurs with dieting alone. (Don't worry about the details).
4. Resistance training increases self-confidence which improves compliance with a fat loss program.
5. Resistance training is important from day 1 of a fat loss program and is essential for maintaining fat losses.
Personally I would not go into the "building muscle burns more fat". For the average person, those effects have been wildly overstated, as is the "afterburn" effect.
I also would not use people who have achieved their goals solely through resistance training and lot of increased muscle mass as "proof" of efficacy. Kudos to those who have done it, but most folks aren't going to see those kinds of results (mainly because they won't be willing to work that much).0 -
Someone else said this and I second it, loudly: show her the article about Staci on the Nerd Fitness website.
*fist bump*
Thank you
That is a pretty awesome article.
not as helpful for chicks who want to lose 100lbs since she lost her fat doing cardio BUT it's a great example for how lifting *IS* actually good for women and how it isn't going to make us look like radioactive muscle monsters.
I'm sure she could have gone from her 179 to 143 by lifting and eating her (deliciously awesome looking) diet.
It shows (to me at least) how lifting can eating proper can help you get healthy
:) 0 -
I don't know what makes sense to different individuals, but I would stick with the basics:
1. Resistance training helps to promote weight loss even with no increase in lean mass.
2. Resistance training + cardio promotes greater fat loss than either modality alone.
3. Resistance training can prevent the slowdown in metabolism that occurs with dieting alone. (Don't worry about the details).
4. Resistance training increases self-confidence which improves compliance with a fat loss program.
5. Resistance training is important from day 1 of a fat loss program and is essential for maintaining fat losses.
Personally I would not go into the "building muscle burns more fat". For the average person, those effects have been wildly overstated, as is the "afterburn" effect.
I also would not use people who have achieved their goals solely through resistance training and lot of increased muscle mass as "proof" of efficacy. Kudos to those who have done it, but most folks aren't going to see those kinds of results (mainly because they won't be willing to work that much).
Thank you! This is helpful too!0 -
I'm not an expert but this is what I understand:
Beyond newbie gains (where you gain muscle for mueromuscular reasons aka you are training muscles in a way they have never been trained before and they have to adapt to that) it is nigh on impossible to gain muscle on a deficit (which you will be if you are trying to lose weight).
Heavy weight lifting is not really to do with the weight itself. It is about what is heavy for you. You need to do strength training, something like Stronglifts or Starting Strength so you can increase your strength. With these you progressively increase your weight every time you perform the same exercise.
Many people ask, 'why lift if I'm not going to increase muscle on a deficit?' The reason is if you just change your diet and/or cardio you will lose muscle mass as well as body fat, which can lead to being 'skinny-fat' (where you lose the weight but your body is still wobbly). If you lift weights 'heavy' (progressively increase the weights each workout) you will retain your muscle mass and just lose fat (which is preferrably as bf% is a much better indicator of health than weight/BMI).
I hope this helps.0 -
What I learn was cardio will make you lose the calories while you are doing the work. So whatever you logged, you got that number. With lifting, you will log lower number because your heart usually stays in Zone 3/. However, the magic happen after the lifting workout, You will continue to burn an added 5-10% for another 24-36 hours. that's what makes the difference.
Pure cardio will make you thinner but looks like a smaller version of yourself, Lifting will give you definition where you didn't have before, thus making you look better. and the results will stay with you longer, sometimes even a lifetime. My father in law used to do some lifting. nothing crazy, he managed to keep a pretty active lifestyle, he's still learning yoga at a ripe young age of 84. but when he flexes, you can still see that defined bicep. So that's a testament to take it to your old age. And also muscles need more calories to maintain. thus throughout your lifetime, it burns more calories.
I personally mixed it up with 4 pure lift days. and 3 cardio days with some lighter lifting almost every cardio day unless I'm out of time.
Hope it helps0 -
Sorry to keep splitting hairs, but HRMs are terrible for estimating calories burned during strength training. The calculations they use assume steady state cardio, and strength training is nether steady state nor cardio. In most cases, and HRM will DRASTICALLY over estimate calorie burns for lifting.
Ok, I've only ever had the one HRM that I have right now. It seems to be just fine. If my HR is only like 90 it shows me burning hardly any calories, which makes sense because It's close to resting heart rate. When my rate is up, I burn more. Make sense to me.
I have to put out there than whenever I do any lifting or strength training, I'm doing other stuff inbetween that raises my heart rate too.
Since I track my calories both in and out, I feel this is important.
my gf doesn't use a HRM so it's cool 0 -
I'm not an expert but this is what I understand:
Beyond newbie gains (where you gain muscle for mueromuscular reasons aka you are training muscles in a way they have never been trained before and they have to adapt to that) it is nigh on impossible to gain muscle on a deficit (which you will be if you are trying to lose weight).
Heavy weight lifting is not really to do with the weight itself. It is about what is heavy for you. You need to do strength training, something like Stronglifts or Starting Strength so you can increase your strength. With these you progressively increase your weight every time you perform the same exercise.
Many people ask, 'why lift if I'm not going to increase muscle on a deficit?' The reason is if you just change your diet and/or cardio you will lose muscle mass as well as body fat, which can lead to being 'skinny-fat' (where you lose the weight but your body is still wobbly). If you lift weights 'heavy' (progressively increase the weights each workout) you will retain your muscle mass and just lose fat (which is preferrably as bf% is a much better indicator of health than weight/BMI).
I hope this helps.
That helps too! many of my friends have lost weight just through diet and cardio and put it right back on. Somehow this post gives me a better understanding of why.
If you just lose bf% but have stronger muscles to maintain your loss (now I'm soundsing like an idiot again lol) then you have a great chance of keeping the weight off.0
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