Eating and only lifting, whats the outcome?

My opinion: You do not want to start building muscle until you have your bodyfat at a manageable level because when you look in the mirror it will give you the appearance that you are getting bigger.

Hi there,

I appreciate the comment you made here. This is my biggest decision on my weight loss journey yet...when to move from the fat reduction phase through my deficit phase to eating at maintenance maybe slightly below with an emphasis on weight lifting. (I was 245 lbs, approx 35% bf and am now down to 174/ 28% bf.)

I have no real idea when I should make the change in my approach. I mean, I figure I could still stand to lose 15-20 pounds and there is still a large gap to close on my body fat. Part of me thinks I should wait to adjust my approach until I hit my weight goal and then start the recomposition phase. I do strength work 3-4x/week - but I would not call it heavy lifting so to speak. I do try and progress the weights upward but still, I am eating at a 20% deficit and realize I am not buiding muscle at this stage. Any thoughts?

What do you do? Sets and rep range?

ETA: the advice in the first quotes bad imo, however, you may be ok with what you are doing.

Hi there,

So the strength training I do is from fitnessblender.com. I do 2/3 lower body workouts which are predominantly dumbell weighted squats, lunges, bridges, deadlifts - 4 sets of each with 7 -10 pound weights in each hand (up from 3-5 lb). The workouts are called 'tabata' in that they give you 2 sets of 20 second cardio 'bursts' between the sets of strength training. The cardio bursts are really high intensity body weight driven movements...

I do 1 or 2 upper body workouts which are mainly dumbell weighted overhead press, skull crushers, bicep curls, chest flys and rows and again the workout is structured with bursts of cardio between strength sets.

I can't go to a gym and realize I am going to run into trouble with increasing the weight as I will be limited to dumbells...

My opinion: You do not want to start building muscle until you have your bodyfat at a manageable level because when you look in the mirror it will give you the appearance that you are getting bigger.

Hi there,

I appreciate the comment you made here. This is my biggest decision on my weight loss journey yet...when to move from the fat reduction phase through my deficit phase to eating at maintenance maybe slightly below with an emphasis on weight lifting. (I was 245 lbs, approx 35% bf and am now down to 174/ 28% bf.)

I have no real idea when I should make the change in my approach. I mean, I figure I could still stand to lose 15-20 pounds and there is still a large gap to close on my body fat. Part of me thinks I should wait to adjust my approach until I hit my weight goal and then start the recomposition phase. I do strength work 3-4x/week - but I would not call it heavy lifting so to speak. I do try and progress the weights upward but still, I am eating at a 20% deficit and realize I am not buiding muscle at this stage. Any thoughts?

What do you do? Sets and rep range?

ETA: the advice in the first quotes bad imo, however, you may be ok with what you are doing.

Hi there,

So the strength training I do is from fitnessblender.com. I do 2/3 lower body workouts which are predominantly dumbell weighted squats, lunges, bridges, deadlifts - 4 sets of each with 7 -10 pound weights in each hand (up from 3-5 lb). The workouts are called 'tabata' in that they give you 2 sets of 20 second cardio 'bursts' between the sets of strength training. The cardio bursts are really high intensity body weight driven movements...

I do 1 or 2 upper body workouts which are mainly dumbell weighted overhead press, skull crushers, bicep curls, chest flys and rows and again the workout is structured with bursts of cardio between strength sets.

I can't go to a gym and realize I am going to run into trouble with increasing the weight as I will be limited to dumbells...

I would try to incorporate some more challenging lifts from a resistance perspective. People have had good success with Convict Conditioning, so you may want to have a look at that.

You can do a lot with body weigh exercises (or light DBs) but increasing the difficulty. For example, for squats, you can do one legged squats like Pistol Squats.

I would try to incorporate some more challenging lifts from a resistance perspective. People have had good success with Convict Conditioning, so you may want to have a look at that.

You can do a lot with body weigh exercises (or light DBs) but increasing the difficulty. For example, for squats, you can do one legged squats like Pistol Squats.

great idea...I am betting fitnessblender does have more advanced body conditioning routines that increase the complexity of the movements as well. Thanks for your insight!

OP, I do little to no cardio as well (maybe a 3 min warmup), all lifting 3-4 days a week. I'm still progressing but I love lifting and have never liked cardio. It is possible!! My brief progress update: http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/1034920-my-1-year-progress

As long as you're lifting a decent amount of weight, and not too much of a deficit (TDEE - 20%) your results should be awesome - but take measurements with a goal to look at body fat % rather than weight alone.

my weight loss was almost entirely diet and strength training with limited cardio. I have only recently got back into distance running as a new challenge and to strike something off my bucket list and run a marathon.

But my 75lbs of weight is almost entirely thanks to proper diet and strength training.

I agree with what you are saying but we are talking about someone who is 50 lbs overweight. How much lean body mass do you think she has to preserve? The psychological factor for someone trying to lose 50 lbs is huge and it is my opinion that seeing your scale weight decrease at the fastest rate possible is what motivates newbies to continue to work.

lol wut?

I didn't get fat because I was lazy. I got fat because I ate too much. But, while I was putting on the pounds, I was still very active, lifting and moving heavy things (farm work) on a regular basis. You can basically say I've been on a 20 year bulk. Why in the world would I want to let all the muscle I've accumulated waste away because I'm overweight?

OP: I've only been lifting a few months, so no incredible results yet, but I am SO much stronger than I was just 4 months ago. My deadlifts started with just the bar (45 lbs) and yesterday I lifted 165. I am not bulky, but am starting to get some sweet cutting in my arms where the fat is dwindling away. I was running quite a bit, but have cut that pretty much completely out and am just lifting. I am so much happier now...I don't dread going to the gym and it doesn't take me 2 hours to get a really great workout in. 45 mins and I am in and out.

I also agree with whoever said look into bodyweight exercises. You will very quickly outgrow the kind of dumbbells you get at Wal-Mart if you are doing a program such as NROLFW. However, maneuvering your bodyweight will last you quite a bit longer and you will still see fabulous results.

ETA: Also to those of you with knee problems: I too have knee problems and had surgery last fall to fix it (which didn't work ugh!). Of course check with your doctor, but what I have found is if I widen my squat stance and point my toes out slightly allowing my knees to follow my toe line, I am able to squat without pain and still drop below parallel. I cannot squat at ALL with a normal squat stance...the very first squat makes it feel like my knee is tearing apart.

Bump

You have lots of good information so far. I started lifting weights before high school, and have power lifted off and on for many years. My goal is ALWAYS to maximize lean muscle mass. For me more muscle translates into more calories I can eat...I do cardio so I can have ice cream though. ( I combine weight exercise and cardio)
You WILL NOT get any bulkier than you are right now unless you gain fat. You said that you at one point were pressing over 160. So it sounds like you are familiar with the basics already. I was going to suggest that you try Insanity until you said your knees are shot-this program is much too much jumping for sore knees. But, I bought a book for my husband that you may be interested in called "The New Rules of Lifting for Life." There are a lot of women here who have gone through "The New Rules of Lifting for Women( NROLW)," and it is a good program, but you need a gym to do NROLW. NROLL does NOT require a gym, and it can be as challenging as you make it. It has suggestions for a variety of exercises for people who are dealing with injuries as well. (ie, if you can't forward lunge, try a reverse or split lunge which puts less pressure on your knee).
You certainly can lose weight lifting and eating well...hell, you can lose weight just eating well. You'll just lose it faster. Best of luck to you!

Love this thread...BUMP