Lifting weights to lose weights?

Me me me....

Dropped 70 pounds (so far) this year by lifting and diet.

I have lost weight by lifting but I do like to combine some cardio in between rotations. It keeps my heart pumping.

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.

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.

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.

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!

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

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 !

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.

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.

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

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.

I have lost weight, but that is due to diet. My body is changing in wonderful ways and that is due to heavy lifting.

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.

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."