No lifting/strength training?

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Ben2055
Ben2055 Posts: 96 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
So my workout week is planned for 45 minutes cardio 5 times a week after work. Eating at a deficit 6/7 days a week. (One cheat meal normally puts me over a daily target - normally Friday nights)

I also do ab exercises once every two days to tone my stomach up. However I do not do any strength/resistance work. Ive lost 110lbs and have been on and off strength training all my journey. I do enjoy strength training but I just dont have the time in my day to do it!

My gym opens 7AM-10PM. I work 830AM-530PM. My normal cardio workout is at night, its incredibly busy at night and its a small gym filled with people lifting. Its basically impossible to get anything done. My only other options is to go when it opens, however I think that would burn me out. Lifting right after breakfast, it would make me hungry like 2hours later at work.

What will happen to my body when I lose these last 20lbs? 13st 3-12st. I do want a muscular look but my game plan was just to cut body fat and therefore BF% and then bulk, and stop cardio and lift weights while eating at a surplus.

Does anyone else just do cardio? Am I going to make my body look saggy and poor? Advice please?

Replies

  • Jams009
    Jams009 Posts: 345 Member
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    My understanding is that since muscle requires more calories to maintain, your body will burn muscle as well fat to try and decrease the calorie deficit (by reducing expenditure). However if you do some strength training, your body thinks "hold on, I need this muscle... better burn some fat instead" So I'd recommend replacing one or two of your cardio workouts with a strength workout to try and hold on to your muscle. You won't be able to build any new muscle while in a deficit, but you can hold on to what you have (meaning all weight lost will be fat, and your body fat % will drop quicker).
  • Jams009
    Jams009 Posts: 345 Member
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    Awesome job on losing 110lbs btw... wow.
  • Sued0nim
    Sued0nim Posts: 17,456 Member
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    Cut down the cardio and go for the weights

    Go before work and eat something at work?

  • SonicKrunch
    SonicKrunch Posts: 192 Member
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    So couple of things:

    1)To maintain muscle, increase your protein intake, decrease carbs not fat.
    2)Focusing on ab work will do nothing to "tone" your stomach. Tone comes 100% from lowering your BF%. Your body will "tone" your stomach when it chooses to, targetting does nothing.
    3)If you've lost 110lbs so far and you don't currently have sagging issues, then the last 20lbs isn't going to make it worse, however...this is mostly genetic. If you are prone to sagging, it'll just happen unfortunately. You can try to fill out those areas with bigger muscles but other than surgery there isn't much you can do. Time will reduce it some, but not all.

    I've seen guys go from 265 to 165 and have no apparent sagging skin and I've seen others(myself included) end up with extra skin but that isn't too bad, and I've seen others where it's just hanging there and very plainly visible. If there was a science to stopping sagging skin, we'd hopefully know about it. All I can recommend is eating more fats and rubbing skin tightening/vit e over the areas and hope...but if it's already fully detached and sagging, surgery is the only option.

    Congrats on your loss!
  • DancingMoosie
    DancingMoosie Posts: 8,619 Member
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    My suggestion would be to go to the gym when it opens and lift for 3-40min 3x/wk and do cardio another 3-5x/wk. I used to lift before work at 7am and then eat right after. I wasn't hungry before, just had my coffee and was ready to go. Then, you won't be hungry right after, because you will be eating right after:) As far as getting burned out, well, I work out twice a day many days for over a year now. Its up to you and how much you want to put into it.

    As far as what your body will look like, who knows? You have been losing muscle during your weight loss and will continue to lose it if you don't start lifting and eating enough protein. Why wait? Maximize your efforts now.
  • Ben2055
    Ben2055 Posts: 96 Member
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    SonicKrunch wrote: »
    So couple of things:

    1)To maintain muscle, increase your protein intake, decrease carbs not fat.
    2)Focusing on ab work will do nothing to "tone" your stomach. Tone comes 100% from lowering your BF%. Your body will "tone" your stomach when it chooses to, targetting does nothing.
    3)If you've lost 110lbs so far and you don't currently have sagging issues, then the last 20lbs isn't going to make it worse, however...this is mostly genetic. If you are prone to sagging, it'll just happen unfortunately. You can try to fill out those areas with bigger muscles but other than surgery there isn't much you can do. Time will reduce it some, but not all.

    I've seen guys go from 265 to 165 and have no apparent sagging skin and I've seen others(myself included) end up with extra skin but that isn't too bad, and I've seen others where it's just hanging there and very plainly visible. If there was a science to stopping sagging skin, we'd hopefully know about it. All I can recommend is eating more fats and rubbing skin tightening/vit e over the areas and hope...but if it's already fully detached and sagging, surgery is the only option.

    Congrats on your loss!

    Heya, Nah im actually very surprised. I dont have loose skin, dont know why I dropped 110 lbs in 12months. I think it may be because im young? But im mostly dont wanna end up really skinny fat before I start really focusing on muscle gain i guess.
  • Ben2055
    Ben2055 Posts: 96 Member
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    DancingMoosie wrote: »
    My suggestion would be to go to the gym when it opens and lift for 3-40min 3x/wk and do cardio another 3-5x/wk. I used to lift before work at 7am and then eat right after. I wasn't hungry before, just had my coffee and was ready to go. Then, you won't be hungry right after, because you will be eating right after:) As far as getting burned out, well, I work out twice a day many days for over a year now. Its up to you and how much you want to put into it.

    As far as what your body will look like, who knows? You have been losing muscle during your weight loss and will continue to lose it if you don't start lifting and eating enough protein. Why wait? Maximize your efforts now.

    Yeah I guess. I just really struggle to get up that early haha! Also when I used to lift in the morning I was really weak and fatigued :(
  • ana3067
    ana3067 Posts: 5,623 Member
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    You don't need to do cardio to lose weight. I weight train 3x a week, that's my only exercise.

    You need to be strength training and eating enough protein to help retain muscle mass, so you might want to consider swapping things out now. There's no guarantee you'll be at a low enough body fat to acquire the definition yuo desire 20lbs from now, it all depends on how much body fat you've dropped in that 20lbs.

    And as mentioned, you're not toning your stomach.
  • ducati45
    ducati45 Posts: 54 Member
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    I see the logistical reason you are shying away from lifting Have you looked in to body weight exercises (not crunches)- it is still strength work and you can do most of it at home, maybe using the pull up bar at the gym.
  • KarenE86
    KarenE86 Posts: 75 Member
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    Personally, I loose more when I do a mixture of cardio and strength excerices than if i strictly do cardio. There are a lot of body weight excerices you can do anywhere/anytime.
  • Liftng4Lis
    Liftng4Lis Posts: 15,150 Member
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    Bag the cardio and focus on lifting!

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