Weight Lifting! Q & A's

Marcillene
Marcillene Posts: 484 Member
edited November 12 in Fitness and Exercise
I am needing some advice. I am on day 4 of weight-lifting and am looking for a few solids advocates.

I am wanting to tone, lose body fat percentage, and strengthen muscles in all areas.

I am clean eating, and not eating back any calories burned, however making sure i eat before and after lifting, to give my body the nutrients.

Is cardio a MUST DO, in order to lose body fat percentage or can you actually drop excess body fat through the regime i am doing.

Also, what is your opinion..... Amino Acid complex powder vs. creatine. i know creatine holds water in your muscles, and can cause water weight gain.... but physically for lifting.. what is your opinion?

Replies

  • branflakes1980
    branflakes1980 Posts: 2,516 Member
    edited February 2015
    The only way to drop body fat is a calorie deficit. I would suggest a lifting program. Stronglifts or New rules of lifting for women seem to be the go to's. I lift weights 4 days a week followed by 20 minutes of HIIT and I do 1 day per week of steady state cardio for 40 minutes. The cardio is ONLY because I like food... ALOT!

    ETA I know nothing about Amino acids or Creatine. I don't like pre workouts. They make me jittery!
  • dbmata
    dbmata Posts: 12,950 Member
    If you want to lose fat, eat fewer calories than you burn.

    Cardio isn't a requirement. It's good, but not a requirement. "Clean eating" isn't a requirement, and in general, a bit silly and fiddly often leaving the clean eater confused and hangry when they fall off the band wagon and are unsure what to eat.

    BCAAs are ok, lots of broscience, little REAL science.
    Creatine is a well studied nootropic and performance increaser.

    Neither are a pre-workout.
  • dbmata
    dbmata Posts: 12,950 Member
    a caffeine tab and a little water is a great pre.
  • jemhh
    jemhh Posts: 14,261 Member
    What is your height/weight? Based on your profile pic alone, I don't know that your best for reducing body fat percentage is to lose fat. It may be better to work on gaining muscle. You could eat at maintenance or slightly higher to work toward that goal.

    Is there a specific reason why you are looking for a preworkout supplement rather than regular food?


    (That's your arm after 4 days of lifting? I just checked your profile--do you carry your baby a lot? As much as having a child who didn't walk until 15 months was a hassle, I do miss the side benefit of the strong arms it gave me.)
  • Sam_I_Am77
    Sam_I_Am77 Posts: 2,093 Member
    Marcillene wrote: »
    Also, what is your opinion..... Amino Acid complex powder vs. creatine. i know creatine holds water in your muscles, and can cause water weight gain.... but physically for lifting.. what is your opinion?

    The short-answer to this is that Creatine can improve your weight lifting performance. Creatine is one of few proven supplements that actually does what it says it does. Amino Acids have a different purpose in that they help reduce muscle breakdown. Although there is some more current research that indicates Creatine might help prevent muscle catabolism as well, but more research is probably warranted on that.

  • cajuntank
    cajuntank Posts: 924 Member
    Marcillene wrote: »
    I am needing some advice. I am on day 4 of weight-lifting and am looking for a few solids advocates.

    I am wanting to tone, lose body fat percentage, and strengthen muscles in all areas.

    I am clean eating, and not eating back any calories burned, however making sure i eat before and after lifting, to give my body the nutrients.

    Is cardio a MUST DO, in order to lose body fat percentage or can you actually drop excess body fat through the regime i am doing.

    Also, what is your opinion..... Amino Acid complex powder vs. creatine. i know creatine holds water in your muscles, and can cause water weight gain.... but physically for lifting.. what is your opinion?

    So hopefully your program is aligned to your goals at this point.

    Clean eating is subjective for most, so won't go into that.

    Cardio is never a Must DO, but cardio will increase caloric deficit (if needed), help cardiovascularly, and help increase work capacity so you can do more.

    Amino acid complex is just marketing for protein. If you eat adequate protein throughout the day, then adding in more protein is only just adding in more calories. Creatine, like any other supplement, is to supplement the body's Creatine levels. Creatine is naturally occurring in animal meats. So its typically a matter of people not normally being able to eat enough meat to get an optimal amount in daily. 1 lbs of beef contains 5g of Creatine, 1 lbs of Salmon contains 4.5g, so calorically, it's a challenge. Creatine is cheap and different people respond differently. Some don't feel any difference (and that's not to say its not working as it would take a Dexa scan to really know), some are able to get maybe an extra rep or two out of their workout. But an extra rep or two over the course of a year adds up.
  • art_brutale
    art_brutale Posts: 8 Member
    I say cardio should be viewed as a way to keep you within your calorie goals. I see my calorie goals as daily and weekly, and mentally apply the cardio deficit to the week rather than thinking about it as a "daily".

    I lift 3x a week and this is where the focus of my program/goals is, alternating with 1 day spinning (because it's fun), 1 day elliptical (because its so easy), and the 6th day is what I like to call "active relaxation" which means that I go for a hike if I've got the time (but I don't stress about it), plank and roll out my muscles, light some candles, make some tea or pour a celebratory scotch before I take a nice epsom salt bath and ready myself for the next week.

    Honestly, I used to use BCAAs because I got really sore and achey, but I hate the flavor and I'm not always sure it helps, so unless I'm feeling like crap I stay away from supplements. Not sure what kind of look you're going for, but I bet you can get your protein needs from whole nutrients alone. The bath soak though... It's pretty blissful, and I always think of it as necessary for the strength of my training program. This is often the day I cook and food prep for the week! The next morning I'm blissed out and ready to hit hard in the weight rack. Good luck.
  • 3laine75
    3laine75 Posts: 3,069 Member
    Calorie deficit to drop your fat - doesn't matter if it comes from diet or exercise. Do cardio if you enjoy it and want more food.

    BCAAs are a waste of money IMO. Creatine is a waste of money, for me, but is a tried and trusted supplement for many.

    Coffee is my, go to, pre-workout.

    Oh and 'clean' eating is only good for getting more volume of food. No harm in enjoying the things you like if they fit your calories/macros for the day.
  • Marcillene
    Marcillene Posts: 484 Member
    jemhh wrote: »
    What is your height/weight? Based on your profile pic alone, I don't know that your best for reducing body fat percentage is to lose fat. It may be better to work on gaining muscle. You could eat at maintenance or slightly higher to work toward that goal.

    Is there a specific reason why you are looking for a preworkout supplement rather than regular food?


    (That's your arm after 4 days of lifting? I just checked your profile--do you carry your baby a lot? As much as having a child who didn't walk until 15 months was a hassle, I do miss the side benefit of the strong arms it gave me.)

    I do carry him and lift him often (he is 50lbs), and have carried him his entire life. I owe a lot of my forced strength to him. ;P

    I am 157-158 and 5'9. I have a body fat percentage of about 27 I think last time I checked.
  • dbmata
    dbmata Posts: 12,950 Member
    3laine75 wrote: »
    Calorie deficit to drop your fat - doesn't matter if it comes from diet or exercise. Do cardio if you enjoy it and want more food.

    BCAAs are a waste of money IMO. Creatine is a waste of money, for me, but is a tried and trusted supplement for many.

    Coffee is my, go to, pre-workout.

    Oh and 'clean' eating is only good for getting more volume of food. No harm in enjoying the things you like if they fit your calories/macros for the day.
    Something to keep in mind about creatine is in the right dose, it's a good nootropic.

    I think most people (myself included) could use a good nootropic in their lives.
  • Sam_I_Am77
    Sam_I_Am77 Posts: 2,093 Member
    dbmata wrote: »
    3laine75 wrote: »
    Calorie deficit to drop your fat - doesn't matter if it comes from diet or exercise. Do cardio if you enjoy it and want more food.

    BCAAs are a waste of money IMO. Creatine is a waste of money, for me, but is a tried and trusted supplement for many.

    Coffee is my, go to, pre-workout.

    Oh and 'clean' eating is only good for getting more volume of food. No harm in enjoying the things you like if they fit your calories/macros for the day.
    Something to keep in mind about creatine is in the right dose, it's a good nootropic.

    I think most people (myself included) could use a good nootropic in their lives.

    I think the research is a little too new and more is needed, much of the success has been in animal studies. I've seen some of the human studies and it does show some promise in helping things like Alzheimer's and Hutchinson's disease but more research is needed. Vitamin-D on the other hand, some actually feel that it is more of a pro-hormone and believe that a Vitamin-D deficiency can lead to certain neurological disorders as well. I forgot which one, but they pretty much proved that Vitamin-D deficiency does cause it, it may have been Alzheimer's but I don't recall.
  • Marcillene
    Marcillene Posts: 484 Member
    Sam_I_Am77 wrote: »
    dbmata wrote: »
    3laine75 wrote: »
    Calorie deficit to drop your fat - doesn't matter if it comes from diet or exercise. Do cardio if you enjoy it and want more food.

    BCAAs are a waste of money IMO. Creatine is a waste of money, for me, but is a tried and trusted supplement for many.

    Coffee is my, go to, pre-workout.

    Oh and 'clean' eating is only good for getting more volume of food. No harm in enjoying the things you like if they fit your calories/macros for the day.
    Something to keep in mind about creatine is in the right dose, it's a good nootropic.

    I think most people (myself included) could use a good nootropic in their lives.

    I think the research is a little too new and more is needed, much of the success has been in animal studies. I've seen some of the human studies and it does show some promise in helping things like Alzheimer's and Hutchinson's disease but more research is needed. Vitamin-D on the other hand, some actually feel that it is more of a pro-hormone and believe that a Vitamin-D deficiency can lead to certain neurological disorders as well. I forgot which one, but they pretty much proved that Vitamin-D deficiency does cause it, it may have been Alzheimer's but I don't recall.

    I definitely would like to learn more about Vitamin D. Some people swear by the results of before their deficiency and after correct doses of Vitamin D.
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