Toning while trying to lose weight is harmful?

ABSOLUTELY NOT! I work with a personal trainer on a regular basis who always fields this kind of question! She preaches the fact the muscle burns more calories than fat. She constantly tells me that she would much rather see me on the treadmill for a half-hour and strength training for a half-hour instead of spending the whole hour on the treadmill because it will be so much more beneficial in the long run. Hope this helps!

That is simply the stupidest fitness myth I have ever heard.....lol

If you are trying to loose weight building muscle will actually help you loose weight. The stronger your muscles the more efficient they are at burning calories.

I think I understand what your coworker is saying.

If you're simply trying to make the scale move, you don't want to strength train, you simply want to do cardio and create a caloric deficit. Building muscle puts weight on (when comparing the same volume of fat and muscle, the muscle outweighs the fat almost 2:1)

I just finished a contest where the winner is determined by biggest percentage of bodyweight lost. I did absolutely zero weight training, only cardio, and managed to lose 21% of my starting body weight during the contest period (60% from fat, the other 40% was lean tissue). I'm now switching to adding strength training and focusing solely on reducing my body fat percentage. So while the scale may not move, as long as body fat percentage drops I'll be happy.

I think I understand what your coworker is saying.

If you're simply trying to make the scale move, you don't want to strength train, you simply want to do cardio and create a caloric deficit. Building muscle puts weight on (when comparing the same volume of fat and muscle, the muscle outweighs the fat almost 2:1)

I just finished a contest where the winner is determined by biggest percentage of bodyweight lost. I did absolutely zero weight training, only cardio, and managed to lose 21% of my starting body weight during the contest period (60% from fat, the other 40% was lean tissue). I'm now switching to adding strength training and focusing solely on reducing my body fat percentage. So while the scale may not move, as long as body fat percentage drops I'll be happy.

It is extraordinarily difficult for women to bulk up and gain muscle mass. It's even harder to build muscle while your body is operating at a deficit. So that she would gain muscle weight is extremely unlikely. What working out with weights will do is stop muscle loss. Everyone who loses weight loses some muscle in addition to fat. The goal is to keep this loss the lowest muscle percentage possible. Strength training will help reduce the amount of muscle lost during weight loss.

ABSOLUTELY NOT! I work with a personal trainer on a regular basis who always fields this kind of question! She preaches the fact the muscle burns more calories than fat. She constantly tells me that she would much rather see me on the treadmill for a half-hour and strength training for a half-hour instead of spending the whole hour on the treadmill because it will be so much more beneficial in the long run. Hope this helps!

My trainer says the same thing.

I think I understand what your coworker is saying.

If you're simply trying to make the scale move, you don't want to strength train, you simply want to do cardio and create a caloric deficit. Building muscle puts weight on (when comparing the same volume of fat and muscle, the muscle outweighs the fat almost 2:1)

I just finished a contest where the winner is determined by biggest percentage of bodyweight lost. I did absolutely zero weight training, only cardio, and managed to lose 21% of my starting body weight during the contest period (60% from fat, the other 40% was lean tissue). I'm now switching to adding strength training and focusing solely on reducing my body fat percentage. So while the scale may not move, as long as body fat percentage drops I'll be happy.

It is extraordinarily difficult for women to bulk up and gain muscle mass. It's even harder to build muscle while your body is operating at a deficit. So that she would gain muscle weight is extremely unlikely. What working out with weights will do is stop muscle loss. Everyone who loses weight loses some muscle in addition to fat. The goal is to keep this loss the lowest muscle percentage possible. Strength training will help reduce the amount of muscle lost during weight loss.

I agree that the best plan is to maintain lean mass while dropping the fat. In my case the goal was simply making the scale move - and losing lean mass was "collateral damage".

That smacks of old wives' tale nonsense. Muscle contributes to fat burning. Period.

That is simply the stupidest fitness myth I have ever heard.....lol

I double that! I wish this myth would just GO AWAY!