What does lifting heavy do?

gdreeves71 · September 2014

. However, no improvement on my abs. I feel as if my stomach has gotten even bigger.

Also, literally learned about eating deficit yesterday. I was barely eating 1100 and my intake should be 1378. Bumped it up today. Could it be that my diet was too low for me to lose all that fat?

First....you will get bigger with adding weights if you're not burning fat that covers it.
Second...yes you're not eating enough. Your body metabolism will actually slow to conserve energy.

JoRocka · September 2014

I'm not saying this to be rude, so hear me out. You can lift more than 10 lbs. You say you're "petite," but a toddler can lift more than 3 lbs, which is the weight you say you started at, so just how petite are you?

Just a cute story. My 3 year old went with me to lift one day. Without prompting, he walked over to the dumbbells, picked up some 5's (they may have been 3's, can't remember) and started doing suitcase deadlifts....with good form! I don't even do those!

cute-

it's hysterical how many people don't know how to pick stuff up- it's the most basic and natural thing to need to know how to do.

good job!!!!

Also why is this not an answer

"what does heavy lifting do"
<makes you awesome>

WillLift4Tats · September 2014

Keep in mind that when you start a new exercise regime, your muscles will bloat with water for repair. So those "gains" in measurement you're seeing from one month of lifting is NOT an increase in muscle, but just an increase in water. In a few more weeks, your body will get used to the new routine and the bloat will disappear.

This is why so many women get discouraged when starting to lift. They think they are getting that dreaded bulk super fast, when in reality, it's just water weight that will disappear in just a few more weeks.

3laine75 · September 2014

I also want to point out that resistance training will also maintain metabolic functions, maintain strong bones and help offset disease like osteoporosis <-- big for women.

Excellent point - this is why I'm bullying my mum into lifting =D

12by311 · September 2014

I'm not saying this to be rude, so hear me out. You can lift more than 10 lbs. You say you're "petite," but a toddler can lift more than 3 lbs, which is the weight you say you started at, so just how petite are you?

Just a cute story. My 3 year old went with me to lift one day. Without prompting, he walked over to the dumbbells, picked up some 5's (they may have been 3's, can't remember) and started doing suitcase deadlifts....with good form! I don't even do those!

cute-

it's hysterical how many people don't know how to pick stuff up- it's the most basic and natural thing to need to know how to do.

good job!!!!

Also why is this not an answer

"what does heavy lifting do"
<makes you awesome>

also...increase in libido.

I guess because the increase in testosterone.

SonyaCele · September 2014

here is what heavy lifting has done for me. Mentally i feel great , full of endorphins, made lots of new friends in the gym that also lift which keeps me motivated to stay active and lift. I truly lift heavy, i dont just lift 5 pounds more than i think i can. I used to just lift weights until i found that mental and physical rush i get from a heavy 1RM . So i got into power lifting, and its pushed me through mental barriers and i've challenged myself , set personal goals that i've accomplished or failed and kept on trying .
Physically, i've learned so much about my body that i never knew about. I am strong, i carry my own groceries to the car. My muscles now hold my skeleton together tightly in perfect posture. I learned how to bend over and pick things up without hurting my back. I am proud of my body now, even though i have a few extra pounds and imperfections. Being a woman, we will never get "bulky" or have bulging muscles. But my body has taken on a curvy feminine shape, the shape we are supposed to have. Everything is firmly in its place. So thats what lifting heavy has done for me.

vjohn04 · September 2014

Lifting heavy helps increase your strength (as you are seeing) and, depending on whether you are cutting or bulking, it will help maintain/preserve muscle mass, or increase it.

Cutting = eating at a deficit so as to lose weight, optimally to lose fat and not muscle.
Bulking = eating at a surplus so as to gain muscle mass.

As for abs: One thing to recognize is that you cannot target fat loss. When your body starts to burn fat from your body, it will take the fat from all over. Your stomach may feel bigger, and actually be bigger, because you're developing the muscles underneath the fat. The muscles get bigger, the fat stays the same, so you will gain size as a whole.

Lifting Heavy: this is basically a requirement for building strength. The "toned" look you are after is a product of muscle mass and low body fat percentage. Unfortunately you cannot really do both at the same time (add muscle and cut fat). It's more or less a one-or-the-other approach. Most often what happens is people choose to cut first, eating at a deficit and cutting body fat. To ensure that more fat is lost and less muscle is lost during this process of cutting, strength training - lifting heavy - is done to preserve the muscle you already have (because if you don't lift, you will lose fat AND muscle).

Once you've reached a low enough body fat percentage to be happy, then you can choose to add additional muscle, if you wish, but eating a slight caloric surplus and continuing to lift heavy.

You do not need to "blast out" cardio to lose body fat. Walking is an effective enough cardio exercise to sufficiently create a larger calorie deficit for weight loss.

What you want to do, ideally, is eat at a slight caloric deficit, and then create a larger deficit through exercise. Everything you do, from strength training to yoga to walking or running, will burn calories.

Maintain a consistent deficit and you will lose weight.

^^Listen to this. Yeah no one else really needs to add a comment. Lol

^this.

Do it.
Stick with it.
Be consistent.
See results.

quellybelly · September 2014

Lifting heavy helps increase your strength (as you are seeing) and, depending on whether you are cutting or bulking, it will help maintain/preserve muscle mass, or increase it.

Cutting = eating at a deficit so as to lose weight, optimally to lose fat and not muscle.
Bulking = eating at a surplus so as to gain muscle mass.

As for abs: One thing to recognize is that you cannot target fat loss. When your body starts to burn fat from your body, it will take the fat from all over. Your stomach may feel bigger, and actually be bigger, because you're developing the muscles underneath the fat. The muscles get bigger, the fat stays the same, so you will gain size as a whole.

Lifting Heavy: this is basically a requirement for building strength. The "toned" look you are after is a product of muscle mass and low body fat percentage. Unfortunately you cannot really do both at the same time (add muscle and cut fat). It's more or less a one-or-the-other approach. Most often what happens is people choose to cut first, eating at a deficit and cutting body fat. To ensure that more fat is lost and less muscle is lost during this process of cutting, strength training - lifting heavy - is done to preserve the muscle you already have (because if you don't lift, you will lose fat AND muscle).

Once you've reached a low enough body fat percentage to be happy, then you can choose to add additional muscle, if you wish, but eating a slight caloric surplus and continuing to lift heavy.

You do not need to "blast out" cardio to lose body fat. Walking is an effective enough cardio exercise to sufficiently create a larger calorie deficit for weight loss.

What you want to do, ideally, is eat at a slight caloric deficit, and then create a larger deficit through exercise. Everything you do, from strength training to yoga to walking or running, will burn calories.

Maintain a consistent deficit and you will lose weight.

this.

SeptemberLondon · September 2014

Lifting heavy helps increase your strength (as you are seeing) and, depending on whether you are cutting or bulking, it will help maintain/preserve muscle mass, or increase it.

Cutting = eating at a deficit so as to lose weight, optimally to lose fat and not muscle.
Bulking = eating at a surplus so as to gain muscle mass.

As for abs: One thing to recognize is that you cannot target fat loss. When your body starts to burn fat from your body, it will take the fat from all over. Your stomach may feel bigger, and actually be bigger, because you're developing the muscles underneath the fat. The muscles get bigger, the fat stays the same, so you will gain size as a whole.

Lifting Heavy: this is basically a requirement for building strength. The "toned" look you are after is a product of muscle mass and low body fat percentage. Unfortunately you cannot really do both at the same time (add muscle and cut fat). It's more or less a one-or-the-other approach. Most often what happens is people choose to cut first, eating at a deficit and cutting body fat. To ensure that more fat is lost and less muscle is lost during this process of cutting, strength training - lifting heavy - is done to preserve the muscle you already have (because if you don't lift, you will lose fat AND muscle).

Once you've reached a low enough body fat percentage to be happy, then you can choose to add additional muscle, if you wish, but eating a slight caloric surplus and continuing to lift heavy.

You do not need to "blast out" cardio to lose body fat. Walking is an effective enough cardio exercise to sufficiently create a larger calorie deficit for weight loss.

What you want to do, ideally, is eat at a slight caloric deficit, and then create a larger deficit through exercise. Everything you do, from strength training to yoga to walking or running, will burn calories.

Maintain a consistent deficit and you will lose weight.

I think I love you....This is literally every question I've always asked and you have answered it so beautifully...It finally made sense to me. :flowerforyou:

Same here, Dozer! I've been grumbling all week about gaining inches in my thighs & waist (but LOSING in my chest). I'm finally "getting it": I'm gaining muscle and as the fat disappears the muscle is building. Just have to hang in there for the long haul.
Again, great explanation!

Leonidas_meets_Spartacus · September 2014

Lifting heavy helps increase your strength (as you are seeing) and, depending on whether you are cutting or bulking, it will help maintain/preserve muscle mass, or increase it.

Cutting = eating at a deficit so as to lose weight, optimally to lose fat and not muscle.
Bulking = eating at a surplus so as to gain muscle mass.

Lifting Heavy: this is basically a requirement for building strength. The "toned" look you are after is a product of muscle mass and low body fat percentage. Unfortunately you cannot really do both at the same time (add muscle and cut fat). It's more or less a one-or-the-other approach. Most often what happens is people choose to cut first, eating at a deficit and cutting body fat. To ensure that more fat is lost and less muscle is lost during this process of cutting, strength training - lifting heavy - is done to preserve the muscle you already have (because if you don't lift, you will lose fat AND muscle).

So if i cannot add muscle and cut fat at the same time, should i even bother lifting weights if i am in weight loss mode?

Thanks, CF.

You can do both at the same time especially if you are a newbie. I have seen big gains in muscle while losing fats.

arditarose · September 2014

Regarding your strength gains from 3 weeks of working out, they are neuro-muscular at this point meaning you are training your nervous system to work more efficiently. It takes a long time to add actual muscle mass.

Great point, and so important for beginners to understand. Just because you can push more weight around after a couple weeks and are getting "stronger" doesn't mean you automatically have more muscles (or more accurately, I suppose, bigger muscles).

Muscle growth requires a lot of things. Extra fuel (in the form of calories), testosterone, and time. They don't grow quickly, that's for sure.

On a couple points here...not just this post.

Yes you can lose fat and gain muscle at the same time...but that is while eating at maitenance or a very small deficit. It is called recomp.

Yes you can gain muscle while at a deficit if you are new to lifting or obese...those gains will be small and short lived but doable...

Not saying that has happened here but...it is possible.

Normally for building muscle you do need a surplus and a progressive load lifting program.

For recomp you need patience as it takes a while.

See I had a question about this. I've done my reading and I get it, everywhere says you can't gain muscle mass while at a calorie deficit. I get it, I'm currently just maintaining my muscles while losing fat--but why then am I getting such big results in my arms and back? Is that not new? Is it just muscle I already had, now showing because loss of fat? What is my body doing?

BusyRaeNOTBusty · September 2014

Regarding your strength gains from 3 weeks of working out, they are neuro-muscular at this point meaning you are training your nervous system to work more efficiently. It takes a long time to add actual muscle mass.

Great point, and so important for beginners to understand. Just because you can push more weight around after a couple weeks and are getting "stronger" doesn't mean you automatically have more muscles (or more accurately, I suppose, bigger muscles).

Muscle growth requires a lot of things. Extra fuel (in the form of calories), testosterone, and time. They don't grow quickly, that's for sure.

On a couple points here...not just this post.

Yes you can lose fat and gain muscle at the same time...but that is while eating at maitenance or a very small deficit. It is called recomp.

Yes you can gain muscle while at a deficit if you are new to lifting or obese...those gains will be small and short lived but doable...

Not saying that has happened here but...it is possible.

Normally for building muscle you do need a surplus and a progressive load lifting program.

For recomp you need patience as it takes a while.

See I had a question about this. I've done my reading and I get it, everywhere says you can't gain muscle mass while at a calorie deficit. I get it, I'm currently just maintaining my muscles while losing fat--but why then am I getting such big results in my arms and back? Is that not new? Is it just muscle I already had, now showing because loss of fat? What is my body doing?