wanna lose, but gain muscle..

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bnoack83
bnoack83 Posts: 11
in Fitness and Exercise
thats why i kinda find it hard to see me reach my goal of getting to 180 in the next yr or so.. i lift and do a mile, weather i run or walk it, but muscle weighs more than fat, so if i keep gaining muscle and losing fat, i wont know unless i do the body fat measurements.... is that what i should be doing?

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  • bnoack83
    bnoack83 Posts: 11
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    thats why i kinda find it hard to see me reach my goal of getting to 180 in the next yr or so.. i lift and do a mile, weather i run or walk it, but muscle weighs more than fat, so if i keep gaining muscle and losing fat, i wont know unless i do the body fat measurements.... is that what i should be doing?
  • neverbeenskinny
    neverbeenskinny Posts: 446 Member
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    Hard to judge just by the weight on the scale if you're working out, especially lifting weights. If you don't have access to measuring body fat, then go by inches measured or how your clothes fit.
  • khskr1
    khskr1 Posts: 392
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    You should see the results in your measurements...that's true. But gaining muscle is not as easy as it looks. A pound is a pound whether it's muscle or fat. Muscle just takes up a lot less room....hence why you will see a difference in the clothes but not the scale. You should still see a difference in the scale if you are doing the right things! It will balance itself out...have faith and keep working out!!
  • Alisha28
    Alisha28 Posts: 406 Member
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    You will lose give it time Yes you will gain muscle but you will lose pounds too. I suggest upping your mileage on running and adding strength training to your routine. I know they say if you want to gain muscle you should do strength training before cardio, If you want to lose cardio before strength. Hope that sort of helps..:wink:


    Alisha
  • atodaro
    atodaro Posts: 27 Member
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    Check with BodPod.com and see if there is a bodpod in your area, maybe at a local university. They can test your body fat composition. (Usually about $35 or $40) Also, consider buying a Tanita scale (about $50) that tracks not only body fat but also water. The scale relies on impedence, and is not near as accurate as the bodpod, but if you check yourself first thing in the morning just before you go do the bodpod, and then see how far off your scale is, you can use the scale to give you a pretty fair idea if you are making progress.
    I started back in December, and have dropped about 18 pounds, but because I am short, and can't go below 1200 calories a day, I can't lose a lot of weight each week without threatening my lean mass. I only found this site a few days ago, but it is making my calorie counting SO MUCH easier!!
    As Alisha says, get cardio and strength training. And drink that water and eat 5 or 6 small meals a day, each with a lean protein and some fresh produce.
    Good luck!
    69115.png
    Created by MyFitnessPal.com - Free Calorie Counter
  • jdk34951
    jdk34951 Posts: 18
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    up the cardio to lose the punds. Try running for time before distance. 30 minutes every other day. You can run/walk. Run for 3, walk for 1. Then in 2 weeks try 45 minutes then 60. After you reach 60, then go for mileage. Lift weights AFTER you run (If you can) If not, lift them the next day. If you up the cardio you will get to that goal. You can also alternate. Cycling, walk the bridge fast, etc..... just get the heart going for more than a mile
  • bnoack83
    bnoack83 Posts: 11
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    thanks to everyone who posted so far.. heres another question for you... should i get a sweatsuit, or jog/walk wiht a sweatshirt on? or what do you think?
  • Xtracrispy69
    Xtracrispy69 Posts: 55
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    My suggestion comes down to your fitness and heart condition. Still a young guy so when I know my gym will be hot I'll do my cardio with a hoodie and shorts. Sweating can be good for the body and provides a great workout. The amount of clothes and the use of energy drinks comes down to heart condition and fitness in my opinion, great to use if you can handle them...only in small doses
  • songbyrdsweet
    songbyrdsweet Posts: 5,691 Member
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    thanks to everyone who posted so far.. heres another question for you... should i get a sweatsuit, or jog/walk wiht a sweatshirt on? or what do you think?

    It's not going to aid in fat loss...it'll just put you at a greater risk of dehydration and heat stroke/exhaustion. Sweating does NOT equate to fat loss. You'll lose scale weight due to the large amount of water you'll sweat out, but it will return once you rehydrate. Dehydration will increase blood viscosity, which in turn raises your blood pressure...combine that with exertion during exercise, and all you're doing is endangering your health. Even healthy, young athletes shouldn't do that, and that's reflected in statues in place concerning athletics performed in certain temperatures and percentages of humidity. It's not safe for anyone.

    As far as gaining muscle mass while losing fat loss...it can be done over an extended period of time, and takes longer than straight fat loss, but in my opinion it's a great option. Just keep in mind that you *don't lift for fat loss.* Lift to meet your musculoskeletal goal (strength, increase in muscle size, endurance) and do cardio to improve your CV health and increase the amount of calories you can eat while maintaining a small deficit. You won't be able to gain size like you would with an excess of calories, but you can gain a modest amount of strength since that's largely a neromuscular change and requires change in your nervous system rather than your muscle fibers.
  • frankp
    frankp Posts: 83
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    I want the same thing. So I decided to track my body fat %.

    On myfitnesspal I did set a goal weight, but my true goal is to lower my body fat %.

    Male atheletes often have a body fat % around 10%. Competitive body builders are down around 5%, But 15% is real good also though you probably won't have a six pack at that % (though that may not be your goal anyways).

    I got a body fat caliper to measure body fat (cheaper than a scale) and I use this link to do the calculation. You can also estimate body fat on that site just measuring your height, neck and abdomen.

    http://www.linear-software.com/online.html
  • stschulz
    stschulz Posts: 340
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    I believe I go through the same thing. Bike 4 times a week, gym 2-3 times. Gained half a pound despite checking calories. Doing that only for a few days here so I can't really tell. I know I can stay on the same weight forever and then all over sudden loose quite a few pounds. That's how it always was. So far I rely on that my calorie count is exact enough, that the amount of calories I am allowed to eat will let me loose weight and keep doing my exercise.
    The exercise is not just for the weight loss. I want to get in shape again on the bike. So I do cardio on the bike and weights (with a little cardio) in the gym. I noticed today though that I might be lifting to heavy weights 'cause sometimes I can not finish all my reps. So I plan to decrease the amount of weight and increase reps. The weight training is only meant to offset the biking and add some upper body strenght, but nothing too serious. So I will try to take it easier there. See what happens..
    I know I have to do this for a few weeks before I can make a judgement.
    But it STILL stinks that you do everything right and gain weight:mad:
  • Valjas_
    Valjas_ Posts: 29 Member
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    thats why i kinda find it hard to see me reach my goal of getting to 180 in the next yr or so.. i lift and do a mile, weather i run or walk it, but muscle weighs more than fat, so if i keep gaining muscle and losing fat, i wont know unless i do the body fat measurements.... is that what i should be doing?

    You are in the same boat as me. I am trying to gain muscle while at the same time losing weight. Most of the advice given above I would agree with. What I have been doing and it has been working for me is Chad Waterbury's Total Body Training Program. You can find it free on T-Nation. So basically I do 3 total body workouts M/W/F and then I do H.I.I.T. (High Intensity Interval Training) cardio on T/Th.

    Despite what a lot of people think H.I.I.T. is better for fat loss then long duration cardio. A recent study shows that 15-20 minutes of H.I.I.T. burns 3x the fat of an hour of moderate-to-high intensity regular cardio. So what I have been doing is a 2:1 ratio of it. For example I peddle my butt off for 2 minutes and then rest for a minute then back at it for 2 minutes. You keep that up for 15-20 minutes. The intervals causes your body to start using your fat reserves for energy. This can be applied to any form of cardio workout. For running you can use sprints, etc. etc. And you can play with the interval durations. Some people even do 1/2:1 ratios for their intervals (less work than rest). Just depends on what results you begin to see.

    Plus the muscle you start gaining from the lifting routine causes you to continuously burn fat. This is because it takes energy to preserve your muscle. It will take longer than a straight weight loss program as someone else mentioned but over the long term the muscle gained will help you keep the weight off. That is where a lot of people fail. They lose weight, but because they have not gained much new lean muscle mass they balloon back up very easily.
  • Poison5119
    Poison5119 Posts: 1,460 Member
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    :smile: Thanks everyone for your input. I had the same questions as the original poster, and the answers helped.

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