Lifting weights to lose weights?

Good morning, Friends!

Have any of you had success with lifting weights to lose weight? I always feel that I must include some form of cardio in order to lose weight, but have recently read about people who have only lifted weights and lost weight. I guess the idea with that is that as you build muscle it causes you to burn more calories post workout. Anyway, I'm just curious if anyone has had success with this method? Thoughts?

God bless,

Laura
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Replies

  • n0ob
    n0ob Posts: 2,390 Member
    Me me me....

    Dropped 70 pounds (so far) this year by lifting and diet.
  • Iron_Maiden
    Iron_Maiden Posts: 326 Member
    I've had success with it & enjoy it quite a bit!!! I like it more than cardio though I do mix up my routine with both. Hit those weights woman!!!!! :flowerforyou:
  • Kateswalsh
    Kateswalsh Posts: 10 Member
    I have lost weight by lifting but I do like to combine some cardio in between rotations. It keeps my heart pumping.
  • maryjay52
    maryjay52 Posts: 557 Member
    i lost 80lbs by lifting weights , functional training and cardio .. have to mix it up but more than anything you have to find what works for you.i dont like functional training . i do it because its really good for my core and burning fat .. i love weights and am ok with cardio..started playing basketball a hand full of times a week now because its more fun and busy than just running
  • nturner612
    nturner612 Posts: 710 Member
    i used to be the biggest pro-weight lifting advcates around. id hardly do cardio and i was in great shape. this time around, two kids later, i was too big and lacked the self confidence to do free weigths. i finally got over myself and i am right back to lifting free weights and not only do i feel great but i am seein much better results. u get the leaner look with weights. :)
  • cbrrabbit25
    cbrrabbit25 Posts: 384 Member
    you definetly do not need cardio ONLY exercises to lose weight. But you are also getting cardio workouts from lifting weights. I always am sure to do the weightlifting first, then cardio only if i have extra time.
  • Weight lifting is the #1 way to lose weight. Each pound of muscle gained is ~7% increase in your BMR.

    However, as a female your genetics will only leave you at 6 - 9 pounds of muscle in the first year, 3 - 4.5 pounds in the second and even less in the third. Thus your genetic maximum capacity to burn calories would theoretically increase (Assuming perfect genetics) within two years to 94.5% after two years of lifting 4-5 days/week. Cardio is a fast fix. Lifting is a long term fix.
  • Kat5343
    Kat5343 Posts: 451 Member
    bump.... very interested in this topic!!!
  • FullOfWin
    FullOfWin Posts: 1,414 Member
    You lose weight by eating less calories than you burn. You keep\gain muscle and make your body look better with resistance training. My preference is with barbells, but properly done bodyweight can get you pretty far.
  • lauralogan2010
    lauralogan2010 Posts: 20 Member
    Wow! Thanks everyone! Great responses. Does anyone have a specific weight lifting workout that they follow and wouldn't mind sharing?

    Thanks again!
  • ubermensch13
    ubermensch13 Posts: 824 Member
    Wow! Thanks everyone! Great responses. Does anyone have a specific weight lifting workout that they follow and wouldn't mind sharing?

    Thanks again!

    5x5 stronglifts. google it. youtupe the exercises if you don't know them. Do them, lift heavy, see results!
  • jacksonpt
    jacksonpt Posts: 10,413 Member
    ok, here's the deal.

    Weight loss happens when you burn more cals than you consume... cals in vs cals out... the energy balance equation.

    So as long as your are burning more than you are consuming, you'll lose weight. You can do that with exercise or without. If you chose to incorporate exercise, it can be cardio or strength training. Cardio and strength training (i.e. heavy lifting) have different effects on the body, but they both burns cals and thus both help you get into the ever important calorie deficit.


    And because I'm too big of a jerk to let it slide, I HAVE to say this (yes, I know it's a matter of semantics, but it needs to be said)...

    All those people who say they lost weight lifting or running or kick boxing or whatever... WRONG. They lost weight by eating less cals than they burned. It wasn't the exercise that caused the weight loss, it was the deficit. This is an important distinction to make because people who don't want to exercise (or who can't exercise) CAN STILL LOSE WEIGHT through proper eating.

    .
  • FullOfWin
    FullOfWin Posts: 1,414 Member
    Wow! Thanks everyone! Great responses. Does anyone have a specific weight lifting workout that they follow and wouldn't mind sharing?

    Thanks again!

    Look at the first link. I recommend the routine in the second link for people trying to lose weight because it is slower strength progression and eaier to manage while eating a calorie deficit.

    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/686963-large-collection-of-info-for-beginners

    http://forum.bodybuilding.com/showthread.php?t=147447933
  • VitVit18
    VitVit18 Posts: 103 Member
    I don't know the exact amount of weight I lost after I started lifting free weights in February, but it's been enough for friends and family to start taking notice, new work clothes needed to be purchased, and my collarbone to become unearthed!

    I had a personal trainer and he started me on basically a "starting strength" type program. Focusing on the compound lifts (squats and benches for me). Personally, I warm up with some quick cardio first (about 10 minutes) and then get into my lifts. Like someone else said, bodyweight work can go a long way too!
  • Marge321
    Marge321 Posts: 131 Member
    Wow! Thanks everyone! Great responses. Does anyone have a specific weight lifting workout that they follow and wouldn't mind sharing?

    Thanks again!

    Check out New Rules of Lifting for Women. Very interesting book with fun exercises that don't take forever. Good way to start !
  • lauralogan2010
    lauralogan2010 Posts: 20 Member
    Great! Thanks everyone! :smile:
  • LorinaLynn
    LorinaLynn Posts: 13,247 Member
    I didn't start seriously lifting until after I reached my goal weight (oh, do I wish I started sooner!) but I've completely transformed my body shape through lifting.
  • In my experience, the more muscle you have the more calories your body burns even at rest. Losing weight is 75% your food intake. This is the main and most important part of losing weight. Cardio is necessary to burn fat. However, cardio alone can leave you as what I describe as "soft skinny". Lifting weights can drastically change the shape of your body. So moral of the story is...combine all 3. So to lose weight - eat clean, cardio 5 days a week and weight lifting at least 2 days a week.
  • Iron_Maiden
    Iron_Maiden Posts: 326 Member
    Wow! Thanks everyone! Great responses. Does anyone have a specific weight lifting workout that they follow and wouldn't mind sharing?

    Thanks again!

    5x5 stronglifts. google it. youtupe the exercises if you don't know them. Do them, lift heavy, see results!
    I personally lift 3x12. The idea and goal I agree with and that is to push yourself and struggle on the final reps. When I lift I am sure to not rush it and throw the weights around - I see a lot of that improper form at the gym & it makes me cringe. Get the most out of each lift both on the way out & in.
  • UticaBoy51
    UticaBoy51 Posts: 344 Member
    I do Stronglifts 5x5 and found it to be outstanding. I actually put weight on at first and then reached a tipping point where the weight then started to come off. It works differently for everyone though.
  • californiagirl2012
    californiagirl2012 Posts: 2,625 Member
    Good morning, Friends!

    Have any of you had success with lifting weights to lose weight? I always feel that I must include some form of cardio in order to lose weight, but have recently read about people who have only lifted weights and lost weight. I guess the idea with that is that as you build muscle it causes you to burn more calories post workout. Anyway, I'm just curious if anyone has had success with this method? Thoughts?

    God bless,

    Laura


    Exercise is for making your lean body mass pretty (especially lifting weights) for when the fat is gone. Losing fat with no muscle is ugly and cardio alone will not make you pretty. You cannot out exercise too many calories.

    Everyone needs resistance training to improve their health and bone density and this will especially improve your quality of life when you get older. But you will not gain all that much lean body mass as fast as everyone thinks. Guys of course will gain more. A DXA scan will prove the point. There are lots of stories about changing size but no one REALLY knows unless they do a DXA scan. Here's more about that --> http://bradpilon.com/weight-loss/intermittent-fasting-and-bulking/ this is true whether you IF or not. My DXA scans proved that I really didn't gain that much lean body mass yet I look very muscular for a female. I have very high bone density from over 30 years of lifting yet my lean body mass is still only 104 lbs and my RMR is still only 1380.

    I recently had my DXA scan done and at 51.5 years of age I have the bone density of a super athletic 30 year old. That is a direct result of lifting for over 30 years. Now if that is not scientific proof that lifting weights keeps you younger I don't know what is! Also I believe it is why most people think I look much younger than I really am. Because of this I don't have to worry about osteoporosis. If you wait until you are older and your bones start to deteriorate it's a bit too late, you can't get back what you lost, and you can only start a resistance routine that will prevent further damage.

    Cardio is good for you but it is optional. I love cardio, but you can't out exercise too many calories. Of course you burn calories, but not near what all the HRM's say. I learned the hard way, running marathon after marathon (yes even multiple runs during the day), as well as hitting the gym hard, martial arts, staying active all the time, not eating while watching TV, not binging, not mindlessly eating, not pigging out, not having emotional eating issues, yet I gained weight year after year, each decade putting on the pounds. I worked harder and harder, not able to figure out what was wrong. It didn't seem like I ate too much, but for my small size I did and didn't realize it until just a few years ago when I finally started losing weight by eating less.


    Everyone is different, but it's very easy to do a lot of cardio and think you can eat more than you really need, especially when you need to lose weight. It is also easy to think that you are burning more fat than you really are. Just do cardio if you enjoy it and because it's good for you.

    The scale: As you start lifting ignore the scale to some extent, you will get sore, you will get DOMS, you body adjusts so relax and enjoy the progress of making your body HEALTHIER.

    Your body loses weight in chunks, not linear. I have found that you can do everything right and your weight loss seems to plateau but if you are patient and keep exercising and eating at a deficit (however slight) you will lose it, it will suddenly "whoosh". There are so many variables for the scale; water retention, digestion, hormones, allergies, sodium, carbs, water intake, DOMS, inflammation, the list goes on. People mistakenly think they lose or gain weight when they eat more or less because of these fluctuations.

    Losing weight requires tremendous patience. You will not lose it when you want it or where you want it. The body does its thing. Some apparent plateaus can last a month or so. You cannot make it happen faster. You must focus on two things; calories and exercise. Nothing else matters. Scales and metrics don't matter. The day in and day out grind of exercise and calories are all that matters. It is not very exciting until things fall into place. You get your victories and you ride one victory to the next.

    The scale is a trend tool. The scale is good but put it away and only check once a week and only use it as a trend tool. It will fluctuate, it does not matter. Take front side and back progress pictures at least once a month. You will see differences that the metrics won't tell you and it's that little bit of NSV that will keep you going until the next victory.

    The routine I do consists of weight lifting first and cardio second, but I still do cardio (mainly running). I change up everything all the time. My running is sometimes long easy runs, sometimes HIIT, sometimes shorter medium pace runs. My weight routine changes each day, each week, Circuits, Intermittent Super Sets, Fibonacci Pyramids, X-sets, Progress Venus Pyramids, and some splits, constantly changing it up, everything a variety of Strength, Hypertrophy, and Endurance.

    These exercises are not done every day, but most days I do an all body workout just different exercises each time. I did not design it but have found it works beautifully. Every day is different and constantly changing, some days heavy low reps, some days moderate weight with medium reps, some days light with high reps, some days circuit style, some days pyramid style, etc.

    Legs; In addition to Deadlift's, Stiff Leg Dead Lifts, Sumo Dead Lifts and Squats I do Bulgarian Split Squats, Lunges, Reverse lunges, Curtsey lunges, Step Ups, Crossover Bench Step Ups, One legged Deadlifts (T-Bend), Lunge Matrix, Bowler Squat, One Legged Get Ups, Bower Squat and Calf Raise, Bowler Squat + Stiff Leg Deadlift, Curtsey Lunge + Dumbbell Squat, T-Bend + Y-Squat, Reverse Lunge & Step Up, Curtsey Lunge + Step Up, Y-squat, Narrow Stance Squat

    For upper body I do Standing Shoulder Press, Standing Dumbell Curls, Lying Tricep extension, Pullovers, Bent Barbell Row, Standing lateral Raise, Standing front Raise, Curl and Press, Shoulder Press + Curl, Dips, Lying Tricep Extensions + Flyes, Venus Raise (a type of snatch), Bent Row + Standing Lateral Raise, Pullovers, Pushup + Dips, Standing Dumbbell curls + Overhead Tricep Extension, Bent Lateral Raise + Pullovers, One Arm Dumbbell row, Flyes + Pushups, Seated Curl & Tate Press, Seated Curls + Overhead Tricep Extension, Pushups, Pullovers + Dips, Bent Barbell Row, Lateral Raise + Full Front Raise, Venus Raise + Dips, Standing Dumbbell curls + Lying Tricep Extension, Upright Row + Dips, Bent Barbell Row, Flat bench Press, Incline Bench Press, Bent Row Narrow, Bent Row + Kickback,

    Then some upper and lower combos; Squat and Front Raise, Step Up & Press, Step Up + Standing Shoulder Press, Squat & Press, Squat & Swing, Curtsy Lunge + Standing Shoulder Pres, T-Bend & Row, Pike Front Rais + Curtsey Lunge, Flat Bench Press + Step Up.

    Core: Bar Bell Rollouts (you can start out with Stability Ball Roll Outs), Swiss Ball Pikes (you can start out with Stability Ball Curl Ups), and planks. As you advance Swiss Ball Pike and pushup.

    I probably forgot some but you get the idea.


    Best of luck to you! Bobbie
  • athenaheim
    athenaheim Posts: 496 Member
    Just interested in this topic.
  • FullOfWin
    FullOfWin Posts: 1,414 Member
    In my experience, the more muscle you have the more calories your body burns even at rest, but the amount is neglibile. Losing weight is 100% your food intake. This is the main and most important part of losing weight. Cardio is not necessary to burn fat. However, weight loss alone can leave you as what I describe as "soft skinny". Lifting weights can drastically change the shape of your body. So moral of the story islift weights and eat a deficit, cardio optional. So to lose weight - eat less, cardio if you feel like it, and weight lifting at least 2 days a week.

    Fixed.
  • jacksonpt
    jacksonpt Posts: 10,413 Member
    In my experience, the more muscle you have the more calories your body burns even at rest, but the amount is neglibile. Losing weight is 100% your food intake. This is the main and most important part of losing weight. Cardio is not necessary to burn fat. However, weight loss alone can leave you as what I describe as "soft skinny". Lifting weights can drastically change the shape of your body. So moral of the story islift weights and eat a deficit, cardio optional. So to lose weight - eat less, cardio if you feel like it, and weight lifting at least 2 days a week.

    Fixed.

    *like*
  • belladonna786
    belladonna786 Posts: 1,165 Member
    I have lost weight, but that is due to diet. My body is changing in wonderful ways and that is due to heavy lifting.
  • heaven_511
    heaven_511 Posts: 315 Member
    bump
  • Jaulen
    Jaulen Posts: 468 Member
    When I was in the best shape of my life, I weighed in at 130pounds, was 18% body fat, and had a 24 inch waist. And I'm 5'5"

    I lifted weights every day. Worked out 6 days a week.
    And it was baisically just a very simple circuit set on machines.

    I'd start with 15 mins of cardio to warm up, then go through the circuit doing three sets of 12 reps with increasing weight each set, then half hour of cardio (split between a treadmill on high incline, an elliptical, stationary bike, rowing machine and a stair-mill) then would go and do 15 min of jumping rope (at first it was like jumping rope goal is to jump 100 jumps.....dang jumping rope is WORK!), and then one of two videos the trainer at the gym had recorded of the fitness classes (either core or full body).

    Proper form, it's essential if you want to get the most out of weight lifting, using a machine or free weights....it's funny watching people (especially guys) lift super heavy weights with horrible form, and when they get shown the proper form then can lift about half of what they were doing before.
  • waldo56
    waldo56 Posts: 1,861 Member
    Also needs to be said that you aren't going to gain anything more than a slight pittance of new muscle tisse if you are in a calorie deficit trying to lose weight. Aside from total beginners your body only gains new muscle tissue when you are in a calorie surplus. Even if you are a total beginner, that won't last long.

    Yes new muscle tissue does raise your metabolism, but you can ignore this effect unless you plan on going into a surplus and actually building new tissue. Even then, you need A LOT to see a noticable difference.

    Now this isn't to say you won't gain weight, strength training will cause your inter-muscle energy systems to charge up, meaning more creatine, more glycogen, and a lot more water, your muscles will get a little bigger and feel firm and the scale will go up, but this is not new muscle tissue (new muscle tissue is not firm unless charged with energy), it does not contribute to your metabolism. This gain will plateau rather quickly and you'll pee it away if you quit strength training for a couple weeks (you will not lose real tissue growth).

    What most people see as a raise in ther metabolism from strength training is actually a gross underestimation of the calorie burn of strength training. Strength training burns a lot of calories, every bit as many as running.
  • weloveourboys
    weloveourboys Posts: 133 Member
    Weight lifting is the #1 way to lose weight. Each pound of muscle gained is ~7% increase in your BMR.

    Cardio is a fast fix. Lifting is a long term fix.

    Oh give me a break. Cardiovascular exercise is imperative for your heart health. It is ignorant to think that cardiovascular exercise is a "fast fix."
  • weloveourboys
    weloveourboys Posts: 133 Member
    I have lost weight, but that is due to diet. My body is changing in wonderful ways and that is due to heavy lifting.

    She's got it. Losing weight is 80% diet and only 20% due to exercise.