Is lifting "heavy", the only weigh to get rid of body fat?

surfergal9988
surfergal9988 Posts: 36 Member
edited November 13 in Fitness and Exercise
So, i don't have a weight issue rather that I'm skinny fat.
And, in thread after thread i see people saying start lifting and you will tone up.

Now, i don't have access to a gym, only dumb bells.
Do I have to go all crazy with lifting to lower my body fat?
I eat well. But, i think its my exercise thats the problem.
Can't Pilates help with body fat?
I've been doing HIIT, but maybe i should stick to strength training.

Replies

  • arditarose
    arditarose Posts: 15,573 Member
    What are your stats?

    If you are not going to the gym, body weight exercises will be helpful still.
  • yopeeps025
    yopeeps025 Posts: 8,680 Member
    You lower body fat with a calorie deficit. Strength training is the best way to maintain muscle mass while eating in calorie deficit.

    Notice how I talk about calorie deficit more than exercise.
  • jacksonpt
    jacksonpt Posts: 10,413 Member
    edited February 2015
    No, you can do anything you want, it just has to be at a difficulty/intensity to sufficiently stress your muscles. That, paired with the proper diet, should work just fine.
  • Yisrael1981
    Yisrael1981 Posts: 132 Member
    There are formulas online which can calculate i.e. the bench press weight equivalent of a pushup .
    So you don't need to go to the gym to "lift"
  • belgerian
    belgerian Posts: 1,059 Member
    edited February 2015
    Plenty of body weight exercises you can do which help start googling them plenty of books also. you are your own gym, convict conditioning just to start out. Theres also resistance bands you can incoporate and plenty of DVD programs out there Beach Body makes several differnt ones along with others.
  • surfergal9988
    surfergal9988 Posts: 36 Member
    oh okay. Thank You.
    Yeah, i know Im DEF not going over the calories i should have for the day.
    I'll do more research.
    I feel like so many videos mostly are Cardio.Or exercise programs focus on cardio.
  • Need2Exerc1se
    Need2Exerc1se Posts: 13,575 Member
    No. Is this a serious question?

    Getting rid of fat require burning more calories than you consume. That's all.

    Lifting weights is one way to burn fat, but there are many other ways. Lifting helps more with preserving/building muscle. But there are many other ways to do that too. You just need to create resistance.
  • jacksonpt
    jacksonpt Posts: 10,413 Member
    edited February 2015
    surfergal9988 wrote: »
    I feel like so many videos mostly are Cardio.Or exercise programs focus on cardio.

    They generally do, because it's easier to do that type of workout with an instructor led DVD intended for the masses. Resistance training, in whatever form you choose to use, is very individual and it doesn't translate well to an instructor-led DVD type of thing.
  • tomatoey
    tomatoey Posts: 5,446 Member
    My experience was that cardio burns + deficit via diet + circuit training (with up to 20 lb dumbbells as well as bodyweight resistance exercises, like squats, lunges, etc.) + a protein focus was not enough to prevent skinny fat/limit loss of lean mass.
  • tomatoey
    tomatoey Posts: 5,446 Member
    jacksonpt wrote: »
    No, you can do anything you want, it just has to be at a difficulty/intensity to sufficiently stress your muscles. That, paired with the proper diet, should work just fine.

    important. probably, it will take "heavier" lifting
  • neaneacc
    neaneacc Posts: 224 Member
    You can find plenty of body weight exercises on youtube. They are great for maintaining or building muscle to keep shape. However, the elephant in the room is getting enough protein. It is a strange but true fact that your body won't store protein like it does carbs for energy. Therefore, if it isn't replaced regularly the body will actually digest your current muscle for protein if your diet doesn't provide enough. Sadly I think that MFP guesses low for most people about the amount of protein they need. You made need to experiment with adding a little bit more and seeing how you feel to get it right. Normally, you need at least 1 gram of protein for each lean pound of weight to make sure your body isn't losing your current muscle. The hard part is determining how much lean muscle you have which can be a bit tricky. Luckily great sources of protein can be found in: beans, meats, eggs, Greek yogurt, and even some nuts/seeds and veggies.
    I hope this helps.
  • surfergal9988
    surfergal9988 Posts: 36 Member
    Yeah, its just i use 3,5,and 8 pound weights.When i use weights.
    I'm not overweight, and I'm short.I just dont get why it would take such heavy weights to tighten and make me lean all over.
    But, maybe I'll just not do HIIT and focus on Strength Training videos every day. Or do HIIT like 2 times a week and Strength 4 times.

    Thank you all for your advice.

    Oh, well. I read from many trainers and books that if you want great legs and lower body to lay off dairy. Now, of course this isn't true for everyone, but since I just want toned legs I decided to give up dairy for 2 months and see how my body is doing with just strength training. Trust me i love greek yogurt.
  • jacksonpt
    jacksonpt Posts: 10,413 Member
    surfergal9988 wrote: »
    Yeah, its just i use 3,5,and 8 pound weights.When i use weights.
    I'm not overweight, and I'm short.I just dont get why it would take such heavy weights to tighten and make me lean all over.
    But, maybe I'll just not do HIIT and focus on Strength Training videos every day. Or do HIIT like 2 times a week and Strength 4 times.

    Thank you all for your advice.

    Oh, well. I read from many trainers and books that if you want great legs and lower body to lay off dairy. Now, of course this isn't true for everyone, but since I just want toned legs I decided to give up dairy for 2 months and see how my body is doing with just strength training. Trust me i love greek yogurt.
    1. I highly doubt 3lb weights are going to do much for you. 8lb weights, maayyyybe, depending on how you use them and your current strength/fitness level. Go back to my prior comment about sufficiently stressing the muscle.
    2. HIIT is great, just make sure you don't forget what the "H" means.
    3. Dairy, in and of itself, will have no bearing on body comp.
  • middlehaitch
    middlehaitch Posts: 8,486 Member
    Lifting heavy means lifting heavy for you.

    I am small and do a lot of body weight exercises at home. You have to continually challenge your muscles; ie: once you can do a full arms extended plank in good form for 60 seconds. Up the time or try consecutive planks. Same for squats, lunges and push-ups. You can work on body weight for a long time before you exhaust the progressions you can make and have to move on to any kind of weights. Look at nerdfitness for a nice simple set of exercises. Fitness Blender is good too.
    Cheers , h.
  • sofaking6
    sofaking6 Posts: 4,589 Member
    surfergal9988 wrote: »
    Yeah, its just i use 3,5,and 8 pound weights.When i use weights.
    I'm not overweight, and I'm short.I just dont get why it would take such heavy weights to tighten and make me lean all over.
    But, maybe I'll just not do HIIT and focus on Strength Training videos every day. Or do HIIT like 2 times a week and Strength 4 times.

    Thank you all for your advice.

    Oh, well. I read from many trainers and books that if you want great legs and lower body to lay off dairy. Now, of course this isn't true for everyone, but since I just want toned legs I decided to give up dairy for 2 months and see how my body is doing with just strength training. Trust me i love greek yogurt.

    How did you go from normal questions to complete off-the-rails weirdness just like that? Like a Trojan troll!
  • arditarose
    arditarose Posts: 15,573 Member
    sofaking6 wrote: »
    surfergal9988 wrote: »
    Yeah, its just i use 3,5,and 8 pound weights.When i use weights.
    I'm not overweight, and I'm short.I just dont get why it would take such heavy weights to tighten and make me lean all over.
    But, maybe I'll just not do HIIT and focus on Strength Training videos every day. Or do HIIT like 2 times a week and Strength 4 times.

    Thank you all for your advice.

    Oh, well. I read from many trainers and books that if you want great legs and lower body to lay off dairy. Now, of course this isn't true for everyone, but since I just want toned legs I decided to give up dairy for 2 months and see how my body is doing with just strength training. Trust me i love greek yogurt.

    How did you go from normal questions to complete off-the-rails weirdness just like that? Like a Trojan troll!

    lol.

    OP. Erase what you think you know about dairy.
  • HeySwoleSister
    HeySwoleSister Posts: 1,938 Member
    Any dumbbells over 5 pounds can be useful, I think, maybe not for some of the experienced men lifters, but for isolation moves like tricep extensions, etc, the lighter dumbbells can still be "heavy" for beginner women.

    Google Nerd Fitness, there is a great at-home bodyweight workout there that you could do starting out with just the weights you have for the bent over rows and the rest are bodyweight. (Especially if you are like me and have long fingers...I've been known to hold 2 dumbbells in one hand in a pinch!)

    Yeah, and that no-dairy BS is just that. Eat your dairy if you can digest the lactose. Your bones will thank you...both for that and the weight work.
  • rckeeper22
    rckeeper22 Posts: 103 Member
    Body-weight exercises can definitely help, but if you do use weights and want to tone up: stay away from light weight/low-rep work (12-15 rep range). Unfortunately that's a persistent myth for women, that we have to stay in that range or look like guys. We simply don't have the testosterone for that to be possible without steroids, etc. Light weights mean low gains. So if you want to tone with weights, I recommend staying with whatever weight has you putting forth effort in the 8-10 or 6-8 rep range. For example, squats are fantastic for your butt (particularly weighted back squats).

    If you do venture into weight training, just make sure you watch some credible videos or get a good trainer to coach you on form first. It's worth it in terms of injury prevention and making gains from using the proper form.
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