Weight Lifting and cardio=Weight loss?

jaymikhail69
jaymikhail69 Posts: 40 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
So I just did my 1st weekly weigh in and i lost 3.6 pounds :) Now I am getting a membership at the YMCA next week and plan to do more weight lifting while maintaining my 60 minutes of basketball cardio. Now my question is if I do say maybe 30 minutes of lifting 5 days a week to go with that cardio, while continuing my calorie counting to make sure im under my goal, will I still lose weight? I hear people all the time say muscle weighs more than fat. I am just trying to tone up.

Replies

  • carla113
    carla113 Posts: 27 Member
    Muscle is more dense than fat. Therefore, the same amount (weight) of lean muscle mass will take up less space. To me, this is a much better view...:)
  • richardheath
    richardheath Posts: 1,276 Member
    A pound of muscle weighs 1 lb. Same as 1 lb of fat. BUT muscle is denser, so takes up a smaller volume.

    That said, eating at a deficit, even while weight training, means you will NOT gain (significant) muscle mass. It just ain't going to happen.

    You will get stronger and maintain your muscle while losing FAT by eating at a deficit and weight training. Just make sure you are getting enough protein.
  • cwolfman13
    cwolfman13 Posts: 41,865 Member
    weight loss is a result of an energy deficit...this is most efficiently done with your diet; exercise is for your fitness. If you're just starting out, that 3.6 Lbs is largely water...you can only mobilize and oxidize so much fat in a given period and initial water weight losses are generally expected when dieting/cutting calories because your body needs less water for metabolizing those calories.

    Your cardio is good for your heart and cardiovascular system...it is weight lifting for your cardiovascular system...weight training is good for the muscles and skeletal system...and just makes you look better and is essential for preserving lean mass while in an energy deficit. Neither one has a direct correlation to weight loss...plenty of people work out frantically and never lose weight because they don't understand the energy consumption part of that equation. Exercise simply allows you to consume more energy while achieving the same goals...whether those goals are to maintain or lose weight.

    Example...I'm in maintenance for 9 months now...without regular exercise my maintenance calories dip to around 2300-2400 calories per day...which means to lose one pound per week without any exercise I could only consume 1800 - 1900 calories per day. Now, when I exercise...and on average I burn around 500 calories 5x weekly...so 2,500/7 = 357 calories per day prorated over 7 days...then my average maintenance increases by that much...thus my calories required to lose weight would increase by that much...so now my maintenance with exercise would be 2,657 - 2,757 and my goal with 500 calorie deficit built in would be 2,157 - 2,257. Either way, I'm maintaining the same goal...exercise is just allowing me to eat more.

    TL/DR - Diet for weight control; exercise for fitness.
  • Unknown
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  • 20ever
    20ever Posts: 125 Member
    Weight is weight no matter how you measure it or what it is. Don't even worry about all the fat weight vs muscle weight hocus-pocus guesstimates. Exercise mixing cardio and weight training to burn more than you are taking in and voila you have weight loss.

    Don't read too much into it.

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