Is Strength Training Neccesary to lose weight?

I personally feel you have to do what is right for you.

I LOVE the feeling of having muscles...even now below 20 more pounds of fat. Of course I am 47 and at your age you may still be very strong....but for me when I can lift my own bag of dogfood with our grunting like and old lady.....now that is powerful!!

I have heard many different ways of losing. Fitness chick has lost 180 sum-odd pounds with diet but also a LOT of exercise. Tami has lost 125 + and when she broke out of the old 'suit' she had fabulous muscles to show off!

So do what works for you....motivation is key. If you are motivated by lost pounds...go for it for a few months.

Good Luck!:flowerforyou:

What has worked for me is mostly cardio. However, I do use handweights with large reps. I keep my handweights under 10 lbs. I also find kickboxing does both toning and is excellent cardio. I find myself getting leaner but also stronger. I also switch up my routine every month or so. I run, that is my constant, but I switch workout tapes.

Im just wondering if I should focus on losing weight first?

To make a long story shor....Ive lost alot of weight...but ive been stuck around the same size for about two years now(very frustrating) after I yo-yoed around a while i finally got focused with my diet and decided to not lift any weights for awhile....well,long and behold-i started losing about a lb a week?

WELL,I started lifting agian about three weeks ago and now the weight is coming back? So now Im wondering If i should just not lift until I get closer to my goal weight( 30lbs)?

What do you guys think?

if you're gaining weight and the only thing you've changed up is adding strength training....it's more likely it's muscle & some water tossed in since you've began to do weights....the water won't stay...the muscles will! Muscle weighs more than fat.... Muscle burns fat......doing strength training continues burning fat all day even well after you've left the gym....:bigsmile:

Weight training keeps your metabolism boosted through out the day (which means continuing to burn cals all day even while not at the gym:drinker: ).... it keeps blood sugars regulated (which we ALL NEED) and often helps decrease appetite. It might temporarily show a gain on the scale but don't think of that as added fat....it's not!!:noway:

Keep up the weights....toning is a wonderful thing to discover when you begin realizing how defined muscles look and feel....beats losing the weight and only have less lbs. but still the fat to show on our bodies....

It's just scary sometimes when you lose so much then you gain and it sorta freaks our mind out a bit...when you know you're doing all the right things.

It's working just right for you....!! Good luck you've come along way Baby:drinker: :flowerforyou:

I do a lot of cardio to burn calories and melt away the fat. But muscle burns fat quicker. Strength training is a very good thing to get into. Cardio is also very important for many reasons. Burning calories and strengthening your heart. They are both essential along with a healthy diet.:drinker:

Congrats on your progress thus far :drinker: :flowerforyou:

Thanks Guys!

Ive decided to keep doing my weight lifting but instead of the fullbody heavy lifting that ive been doing...im gonna try doing two circuits a week,maybe even three. Lets see if that don't change things up a bit.

Besides, I weight lifting:blushing:

Sounds like a great plan Punka:flowerforyou: