should I lose weight before lifting weights?

kattp07 · September 2012

I upped my calories to 1500 from 1300 1/2 lb. a week cause I was starving and I started lifting heavy on my bowflex 3 days a week about 3 weeks ago and gained almost 5lb! I take a cardio kickboxing class 3 other days for the past 4 months and only lost 4lbs so I thought this would help me.My question is should I try to lose weight before I start lifting or just keep doing what I am doing?Will the weight come off or will I just gain more?My clothes are tight now when they were just starting to fit good.I just want to cry!Please don't judge my diary I have ate bad a couple times this month !

shabaity · September 2012

this is likely water weight you can fluctuate quite a bit over the course of a single day upwards of 8 lbs i believe make sure to take atleast one rest day (very light exercising like a walk) to give your muscles time to repair themselves

shinjite · September 2012

Ignore the scale. Building muscle weighs more. Plus sometimes you build muscle while the fat has not burned off yet. A few years ago I began a resistance training routine and was shocked to realize that the scale had upped by almost 20 lbs while I went down 2 dress sizes. Then almost overnight I had a 30lb drop. Go by the fit of your clothing, a tape measure and your sense of well being.

mmapags · September 2012

Here's the deal. Wait to start lifting until your lose weight will look like this: You will lose weight some of which will be fat and some of which will be lean muscle mass. Probably 60% fat and 40% muscle mass. Then, you will work at gaining muscle mass which you will do by increasing calories and lifting. You will gain some fat also. Probably 80% muscle mass, 20% fat.

Or, you can start lifting now and gain some lean muscle mass and possible burn off some fat as a newbie but it not maybe gain a little fat but gain mostly muscle by eating a slight (300 to 500 calories) surplus. Again, about 80% muscle and 20% fat. Then do a cut while still lifting and lose weight that will be about the same 80% fat and 20% muscle for the weight loss.

If you ask me, you will have more lean, healthy mass by starting lifting now and building lean mass then waiting. At the very least, if you start lifting now, you will insure that a higher % of your weight loss will be fat and you will maintain more lean mass in deficit.

FTR, I am lifting, eating in a slight surplus and when I am done with that and I've gained a few pounds of muscle, I'll go back to a deficit while still lifting. It's called a Bulk/ Cut cycle and I'l do this over and over until I am at the body fat % I want to be, which is more important to me than what I weigh. Just food for thought.

Sarauk2sf · September 2012

Its never to early to start lifting weights and the increase in your weight will be water weight, assuming you ate at a deficit.

Ms_Steel · September 2012

Lift now= happy you later.
Why waste a minute?

nz_deevaa · September 2012

Its never to early to start lifting weights and the increase in your weight will be water weight, assuming you ate at a deficit.

This.

My scale jumped around a lot when I first started lifting. I noticed that if I'm sore from lifting, I always weigh more.

Yanicka1 · September 2012

My only regret about lifting was not starting sooner

harlanJEN · September 2012

I'd start lifting now. I've been lifting since last year. Cardio and weight machines June - September then switched to free weights and heavy lifting in October. I've eaten at a modest deficit ..10-15% With some weeklong breaks at TDEE and I've had GREAT results. I've lost 53 lbs, but most folks think its 75 lbs. I've lost inches, sizes and BF%. weights have been THE difference maker for me. my BF was prob way over 40% to start , I'm at 28% now. I WOULD NOT have been where I am now if I had not started lifting. I will continue training at 10% deficit to burn te additional fat I want to rid myself of, then I will do a Bulk.

I'm 10 yrs older than you ..so Get With It! pick up some heavy things : )

P.S. I have a friend that weighs 23 lbs less than I do, but has higher BF%. Wow ..right?? Weight lifting . RUN, don't walk to the barbells ; )

dinosnopro · September 2012

Here's the deal. Wait to start lifting until your lose weight will look like this: You will lose weight some of which will be fat and some of which will be lean muscle mass. Probably 60% fat and 40% muscle mass. Then, you will work at gaining muscle mass which you will do by increasing calories and lifting. You will gain some fat also. Probably 80% muscle mass, 20% fat.

Or, you can start lifting now and gain some lean muscle mass and possible burn off some fat as a newbie but it not maybe gain a little fat but gain mostly muscle by eating a slight (300 to 500 calories) surplus. Again, about 80% muscle and 20% fat. Then do a cut while still lifting and lose weight that will be about the same 80% fat and 20% muscle for the weight loss.

If you ask me, you will have more lean, healthy mass by starting lifting now and building lean mass then waiting. At the very least, if you start lifting now, you will insure that a higher % of your weight loss will be fat and you will maintain more lean mass in deficit.

FTR, I am lifting, eating in a slight surplus and when I am done with that and I've gained a few pounds of muscle, I'll go back to a deficit while still lifting. It's called a Bulk/ Cut cycle and I'l do this over and over until I am at the body fat % I want to be, which is more important to me than what I weigh. Just food for thought.

Carol_L · September 2012

Heavy objects are your friends. I love kettlebells

Seriously, start lifting. If you don't want to lift, start with some basic body weight stuff - planks, burpees, push ups, mountain climbers, squats etc.

Find out what your TDEE and RMR are. Don't eat below your RMR. Try to eat 80% of your TDEE, and check your macro balance. If you're lifting heavy, you will want to skew things more toward protein. I'm eating 40% protein, 40% Fat, 20% carbs and doing fine; it keeps me satiated and provides my body with the materials it needs to rebuild the muscle that gets broken down in my workouts.

I work out 4 x week, doing Metabolic Resistance Training. I'm still working on losing, but doing well so far. I'm wearing clothes now that I was wearing when I was 15 lbs lighter, but only doing dieting and some cardio.

mmapags · September 2012

Here's the deal. Wait to start lifting until your lose weight will look like this: You will lose weight some of which will be fat and some of which will be lean muscle mass. Probably 60% fat and 40% muscle mass. Then, you will work at gaining muscle mass which you will do by increasing calories and lifting. You will gain some fat also. Probably 80% muscle mass, 20% fat.

Or, you can start lifting now and gain some lean muscle mass and possible burn off some fat as a newbie but it not maybe gain a little fat but gain mostly muscle by eating a slight (300 to 500 calories) surplus. Again, about 80% muscle and 20% fat. Then do a cut while still lifting and lose weight that will be about the same 80% fat and 20% muscle for the weight loss.

If you ask me, you will have more lean, healthy mass by starting lifting now and building lean mass then waiting. At the very least, if you start lifting now, you will insure that a higher % of your weight loss will be fat and you will maintain more lean mass in deficit.

FTR, I am lifting, eating in a slight surplus and when I am done with that and I've gained a few pounds of muscle, I'll go back to a deficit while still lifting. It's called a Bulk/ Cut cycle and I'l do this over and over until I am at the body fat % I want to be, which is more important to me than what I weigh. Just food for thought.

Wow, man! You are right!! I was pretty tired when I wrote that and looking back at it, it is pretty confusing.

Bottom line. Lift now, keep muscle mass. No downside. All good.

should I lose weight before lifting weights?

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