Tired of skinny fat... help with weight training!!!!!

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rherrin5
rherrin5 Posts: 136 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
2 years ago I lost alot of weight and felt great! But it was all thru cardio and I lost the weight pretty fast. 5 days a week at about 60 mins each day. I was what you would call skinny fat. No muscle or definition to me what so ever but I was fine with that. Now I have gained weight back. Im 162 and would like to get back to around 130 So 30 pounds to lose.... I have been going to gym 3 days a week and doing cardio (30 mins elliptical @ 300 cals burned, biking 10 mins @100 cals burned) then I do the weight machines. Takes me about 30 mins to go around and do them mostly all. I estimate 400 each time I do this but scale isnt moving!!!! Am I doing something wrong???? Im new to weight machines. Like I said it was all cardio before but this time I want to do it right and build lean muscle and stick with it this time. Should I do more cardio, or less or more weights????? Im sore after I lift weights and drink a protein shake after wards. I net around 1100 to 1200 cals a day. Any help would be greatly appreciated!!!!
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Replies

  • mandfree
    mandfree Posts: 15
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    I dont have any help, but do want to see the responses you get. I am like you and do a lot of cardio. I have gotten a few ideas from Pinterest (weight exercises to do and which ones to do together etc.).
  • TavistockToad
    TavistockToad Posts: 35,719 Member
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    2 years ago I lost alot of weight and felt great! But it was all thru cardio and I lost the weight pretty fast. 5 days a week at about 60 mins each day. I was what you would call skinny fat. No muscle or definition to me what so ever but I was fine with that. Now I have gained weight back. Im 162 and would like to get back to around 130 So 30 pounds to lose.... I have been going to gym 3 days a week and doing cardio (30 mins elliptical @ 300 cals burned, biking 10 mins @100 cals burned) then I do the weight machines. Takes me about 30 mins to go around and do them mostly all. I estimate 400 each time I do this but scale isnt moving!!!! Am I doing something wrong???? Im new to weight machines. Like I said it was all cardio before but this time I want to do it right and build lean muscle and stick with it this time. Should I do more cardio, or less or more weights????? Im sore after I lift weights and drink a protein shake after wards. I net around 1100 to 1200 cals a day. Any help would be greatly appreciated!!!!

    You estimate that half an hour on weight machines burns 400 cals?
  • rherrin5
    rherrin5 Posts: 136 Member
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    No the entire work out. 300 from cardio and 100 from weights. I'm totally guessing though. I havnt a clue :(
  • AJ_G
    AJ_G Posts: 4,158 Member
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    Switch to TDEE. How accurate are you with tracking your food? Do you weigh and measure everything you eat exactly or do you do a lot of guessing and estimating?

    Weight lifting should be first and foremost, and cardio should be secondary. Cardio isn't necessary to lose weight, but you do want to be lifting so that you don't lose too much muscle mass as you lose weight.

    How many grams of protein are you eating a day?
  • rherrin5
    rherrin5 Posts: 136 Member
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    Today I had 110 gr protein. I measure most everything. When I do machines I try to do at least 50 reps total. Is 30 mins to much for cardio or not enough? With weight lifting will it just be a slower pace to lose weight? And is it true that you will weigh more the next morning after lifting? Thanks!
  • meg099
    meg099 Posts: 14
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    Keep in mind that your muscle mass weighs more, so if you are toning and building muscle, you may not see the scale move, but you could still be losing fat! You should try going by your measurements rather than by weight if you are going to incorporate strength training with your cardio
  • AJ_G
    AJ_G Posts: 4,158 Member
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    Today I had 110 gr protein. I measure most everything. When I do machines I try to do at least 50 reps total. Is 30 mins to much for cardio or not enough? With weight lifting will it just be a slower pace to lose weight? And is it true that you will weigh more the next morning after lifting? Thanks!

    That protein intake should be sufficient. When you say 50 reps total, how many different machines are you using, and how many sets are you doing per machine? Are you lifting to failure? How many reps do you usually do per set? 30 minutes of cardio a day should be plenty. As for the weight lifting. When you lift heavy enough weights, you actually cause micro tears in your muscles and when your body repairs them, you get stronger, and if you're eating enough, your muscle grows. The day after you lift, your damaged muscles draw in water so they can repair themselves, so it can play tricks on the scale.
  • rherrin5
    rherrin5 Posts: 136 Member
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    I do 3 leg machines and 3 arm machines. I will do usually 30 at a time to start and last 10 is killing me to finish. I'll rest a sec and do 20 more. Sometimes it's 25 x 2. Or 20, 20, 10. Depends on machine. Today I ate 1400 cals. According to TDEE which Iv never tried before or heard of, at 20% I'm 1584... So I am under. If I'm hungry I eat. If I'm not I don't. But I probably should increase my cals.
  • acogg
    acogg Posts: 1,870 Member
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    I am following the book New Rules of Lifting for Women and it is a progressive plan. So far, so good and I am seeing and feeling good results. And yes, you must push yourself to lift heavier and heavier (strength) not do more and more lifts (cardio). This program has you building up on weight, with fewer reps.
  • acogg
    acogg Posts: 1,870 Member
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    At this stage of the plan, my lifts reps are 10, rest 60 seconds, do another 10 reps, rest another 60 seconds, etc. Looking ahead, I will do more weight, rest up to two minutes. Rest between reps is to get the heart rate down so that you can complete the next set of reps.
  • AJ_G
    AJ_G Posts: 4,158 Member
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    I do 3 leg machines and 3 arm machines. I will do usually 30 at a time to start and last 10 is killing me to finish. I'll rest a sec and do 20 more. Sometimes it's 25 x 2. Or 20, 20, 10. Depends on machine. Today I ate 1400 cals. According to TDEE which Iv never tried before or heard of, at 20% I'm 1584... So I am under. If I'm hungry I eat. If I'm not I don't. But I probably should increase my cals.

    Your rep range is much too high. The muscle building rep range is 8-12 reps to failure. The strength rep range is 1-7 reps to failure. If you can only do a handful of machines and you'd like to do full body workouts instead of body group splits, then I'd suggest doing squats, shoulder press, bench press, rows, and lat pull downs.
  • rherrin5
    rherrin5 Posts: 136 Member
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    So lifting weights is by far better than any work out if I wanna get serious???
  • AJ_G
    AJ_G Posts: 4,158 Member
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    So lifting weights is by far better than any work out if I wanna get serious???

    Think of it this way. Lifting weights helps you retain muscle mass as you are losing weight so most of your weight loss is actual fat loss. Cardio helps create a calorie deficit which can be done without cardio by just eating less.
  • mockchoc
    mockchoc Posts: 6,573 Member
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    In to learn more.
  • Makoce
    Makoce Posts: 938 Member
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    Posting to read responces
  • missb92
    missb92 Posts: 200 Member
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    very interested!
  • David_AUS
    David_AUS Posts: 298 Member
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    AJ_G is correct - your reps are too high - you need a higher weight if you are looking at strength gain. Especially if you are not exercising to failure. Weights (on gym equipment) are a great way to start on increasing intensity - as it helps make sure you are in a supported position to prevent damage. As you build some strength you can look at other weight training methods.
  • Natmarie73
    Natmarie73 Posts: 287 Member
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    No the entire work out. 300 from cardio and 100 from weights. I'm totally guessing though. I havnt a clue :(

    Invest in a heart rate monitor. You are probably overestimating your calories burned. It takes me a 10km run to burn 300 calories but my metabolism will be vastly different to yours. I am always surprised when I see the calories burned on a treadmill compared to what my HRM says - treadmill says 3-4 times as many.

    I also burn approx 100 calories in an hour workout lifting weights but I am not lifting super heavy stuff yet.
  • snowmaniac
    snowmaniac Posts: 600 Member
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    Does your gym have squat racks? Take a look at Stronglifts 5x5. You can watch the video for the two (yes, only two), alternating workouts A and B that are based on lifts that work the most muscle groups at a time: squats, bench press, barbell row, overhead press, and deadlift. Working with free weights will work many more smaller muscles than using the machines and you can't get away with sloppy form. Stronglifts starts light so you can focus on form as you get started. Working up to heavier weight with fewer reps will get you the best results.
  • randomtai
    randomtai Posts: 9,003 Member
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    Yeah I definitely recommend SL 5X5.

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