Weights / Strength training while still obese?

The more muscle you have, the more calories the body will burn.

I can only go off what you say in your post, but if you're obese and have a long way to go on losing weight....you won't notice a hinderance to your weight loss by weight training.

I started strength training while still obese. My weight loss was slower but I lost inches, firmed up, and preserved muscle while losing fat.

So I still have a long way to go on losing weight. I started out in January at 248lbs and am currently 212lbs.

My exercise at the moment is doing the couch to 5k program so that is like 3 days a week and I will also do an exercise DVD once or twice a week, usually 30 day shred or Davina Mccall one.

I just wondered if it was worth doing strength training such as weights? I know that you can’t see the muscle under all the flab! But is increasing muscle going to help with weight loss and overall toning up as I lose weight?

I love going into the weight room... Ok ok ok... I hate going into the weight room... But I LOVE coming out

I'm 268...still very heavy... But I can kick it with the big boys... I've been asked for help... My entire gym knows me... And I feel so damn sexy while I'm pumping iron... (there I said it... But it's true!)

I think this would be a great idea for you. It will strengthen your whole body, lifting burns calories really well & look at it this way, most ppl get to their goal weight & then think "i'd like to look more athletic & then they begin lifting, b/c they want to look tone or don't like the excess skin, etc - youll start seeing definition as your weight comes off when you get to that point...


kudos to you!! go get it!!!

So I still have a long way to go on losing weight. I started out in January at 248lbs and am currently 212lbs.

My exercise at the moment is doing the couch to 5k program so that is like 3 days a week and I will also do an exercise DVD once or twice a week, usually 30 day shred or Davina Mccall one.

I just wondered if it was worth doing strength training such as weights? I know that you can’t see the muscle under all the flab! But is increasing muscle going to help with weight loss and overall toning up as I lose weight?

YES!!!! I started at 263 and dropped 18 pounds fast with just diet and cardio, but when I added strength training, the inches began melting off quickly, so I *look* like I have lost weight now, where before you couldn't even tell. Also, strength training helps you burn more calories while at rest. Your body will use fat for energy to repair the muscles that you worked.

I have been doing resistance bands and body weight exercises. You don't have to buy a bunch of equipment or anything to get started.

Weight training at any weight is good. It makes your muscles work beyond their comfort zone and get bigger/denser/better to adapt. That increase will start burning more calories, making the weight drop more. That drop in weight will ease the load on your muscles, which in addition to the strength increase, will up your comfort zone. Then you can lift heavier to start the cycle all over again.

I've recently added strength training to cardio work, and while it's probably too soon to be absolutely sure, I think I feel better for it. I can certainly do more for longer than I used to, and it's a nice break from running on my rebounder in front of the television.

I don't have a gym membership or one close by, and I'm not as brave as others here about exercising in public. Kudos to those who are happy to do that, but I struggle to see me and pumping iron ever getting on. Perhaps I'm missing out. Instead, I do a bodyweight workout at home which I have a love/hate relationship with, and does hurt (though less so recently). Main advantages that I can see are that it's cheap, quick, done in my front room, so fewer excuses for me not to do it!

http://www.nerdfitness.com/blog/2009/12/09/beginner-body-weight-workout-burn-fat-build-muscle/

I've heard that building muscle may slow down weight loss if people make the mistake of judging by the scales alone - muscle bulk increasing by X and body fat reducing by X is a great thing, but it may not show up on the scale. It'll show up in NSVs, though....

I can't add any more than what others have said, but, I'm 60, and I'm lifting for the first time in 25 years or so. I am doing New Rules of Lifting for Women (with Holly and Daisy) and I've lost a whole pants size. No, right now I'm not trying to lose any weight, I just am working on getting muscle but I've lost 1.5 pounds or so because muscles burn fat!

Do it!! Join us on the NROL4W group if that's the way you decide to go. It's fun!