Weight lifting tactics for OVERALL fat loss?

I agree with everyone on the compound lifts and kettlebells, but I disagree with "lift heavy". If you want overall tone you want to do lighter weights with more reps, heavy weights will cause your muscles to want to adapt to that heavy weight so they will rebuild bigger--this is what body builders do. You don't need a lot of weight to just create strength and tone. Of course you want to add weight over time as it gets easier. Also, starting out really heavy could cause you to hurt yourself since I'm guessing you haven't lifted in a while. All in all muscle is better than fat in any form.

I'm doing 4 day splits which is upper body, lower body, rest, upper, lower, then rest for the weekend. It's easy and is very similar to the 5x5, but it adds in some smaller isolation exercises too.

Here's what I am using. As I said, I'm doing the 4 day, but the 3 day works too. http://www.aworkoutroutine.com/the-muscle-building-workout-routine/

I agree with everyone on the compound lifts and kettlebells, but I disagree with "lift heavy". If you want overall tone you want to do lighter weights with more reps, heavy weights will cause your muscles to want to adapt to that heavy weight so they will rebuild bigger--this is what body builders do. You don't need a lot of weight to just create strength and tone. Of course you want to add weight over time as it gets easier. Also, starting out really heavy could cause you to hurt yourself since I'm guessing you haven't lifted in a while. All in all muscle is better than fat in any form.

no no no. The rep range of 10-12 is "supposed" to build mass......The rep range of 6-8 is "supposed" to build strength. That said......there is no real difference and if you are going to be eating at a deficit it won't matter because you can not gain mass on a deficit. Heavy is relative. Heavy = the most weight you can do........with good form.......for < 10 reps.

If you want to build a bigger calorie deficit then you should do more cardio. You can burn way more calories with cardio because you can do it for longer times, use bigger muscle groups and do it every day.

This is ABOLUTELY wrong. Please don't listen to it. If you want to know why, read about EPOC or the "afterburn" effect. Yes, the initial calorie burn with cardio is more, but with resistance trainging, that calorie burn will continue for up to 48 hours AFTER your workout. Cardio may last for 2 to 3 hours after on a good day, unless you are talking about HIIT, which is a completely different story.

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I agree with everyone on the compound lifts and kettlebells, but I disagree with "lift heavy". If you want overall tone you want to do lighter weights with more reps, heavy weights will cause your muscles to want to adapt to that heavy weight so they will rebuild bigger--this is what body builders do. You don't need a lot of weight to just create strength and tone. Of course you want to add weight over time as it gets easier. Also, starting out really heavy could cause you to hurt yourself since I'm guessing you haven't lifted in a while. All in all muscle is better than fat in any form.

no no no. The rep range of 10-12 is "supposed" to build mass......The rep range of 6-8 is "supposed" to build strength. That said......there is no real difference and if you are going to be eating at a deficit it won't matter because you can not gain mass on a deficit. Heavy is relative. Heavy = the most weight you can do........with good form.......for < 10 reps.

I wasn't talking about those tiny 5lb weights, guess I should have said that. I'm talking like 15lb dumbells at 12-15 reps compared to 25lbs at 5-10 reps. When someone said lift heavy I automatically assumed lift something super heavy to a point where you can't do more than 3 reps or you're struggling, and using other muscles or momentum to lift it. And of course there's more to what body builders do than just lifting--like eating 5,000 calories a day. I'm speaking from my own experience here (I have lost more than 13 lbs btw) as well as what I have learned from personal trainers and my own research. But yes everyone's basic point to the OP is lift weights to gain muscle and lose fat. Nothing wrong with a little cardio too!

If you want to build a bigger calorie deficit then you should do more cardio. You can burn way more calories with cardio because you can do it for longer times, use bigger muscle groups and do it every day.

This is ABOLUTELY wrong. Please don't listen to it. If you want to know why, read about EPOC or the "afterburn" effect. Yes, the initial calorie burn with cardio is more, but with resistance trainging, that calorie burn will continue for up to 48 hours AFTER your workout. Cardio may last for 2 to 3 hours after on a good day, unless you are talking about HIIT, which is a completely different story.

, but I think the intent was cardio combined with a good solid weight lifting program will create a great fat burning program. Many lifters do massive amounts of cardio when they are trying to cut, like before a show, they might do cardio sessions twice a day combined with their lifting, in order to burn the fat. I think that was the message there and I believe it's true, although I am not an expert.

My apologies then. ^^^This is right.....if you want to do both, more power to you! Just give yourself plenty of time to recover.

Compounds Compounds Compounds.