Week 5 Magic or Mixing up the Workout did this

donjtomasco · March 2015

On Tuesday I was stuck, had been stuck around the same weight for around a week. My guy at
Gold's Gym had told me that if I stuck to what I was doing that I would see the weight rolling off in week 5 and 6.

Well, I had also read to change up the workout routine after 3-4 weeks to mix up the body and take it out of the now usual routine.

Whatever it was, I DID change up my weight routine (going from mostly barbells and machines to dumb bells) and on my cardio day doing inclines on the treadmill.

Also, since Tuesday's weigh in was so depressing I also really watched recording all of what I eat more accurately.

Well it has to be too soon for calories to take affect, but since Tuesday's 198 weight this morning I hit 193.8.

WHY????????

Was it really changing up my routine? Was it really just week 5-6 being a really critical time where all the hard work shows up on the scale?

Whatever it is, what an encouraging surprise this morning. All you newbies like me hang in there. It really is CICO, deligently recording, wxercising and staying with it.

vanessalillian82 · March 2015

Who knows. Bodies are weird like that! I've heard that we become accustomed to a certain type of activity, so mixing things up a bit helps when you begin to find it easier, but I'm certainly no expert. Keep up the good work!

liltroy19777 · March 2015

Here is my experience with weight training/cardio mix. Five years ago I started the p90 program. Week one I gained two pounds but lost an inch off my waist. Week two I gained another two lbs but lost another inch and a half off my waist and my "mirror image" was definately changing for the better. Week three I neither lost nor gained weight but lost yet another inch off my waist. Week four BOOM! Lost three lbs! Consistently lost several lbs a week after that for a total of 42lbs lost after 12 weeks! Almost a year ago I suffered a neck injury and was on my back getting pumped full of steroids for four months. In that time I put on 38lbs so I decided to start p90 again now that my orthopedic has approved me to "lightly" workout. I am noticing a similar pattern this time around. Here is what I think happens when you weight train instead of cardio only.
I believe in the beginning you are gaining muscle rapidly so this prevent weight loss but you lose inches as the fat is being replaced with muscle which is more dense. You tend to gain more muscle faster in the beginning because you're activating these muscles that aren't used to being used. Then, at some point, the muscle gain slows down but the fat loss continues, plus the muscle you have gained is helping to amplify the fat loss so you start losing weight very rapidly(at least this has been the case for me). With cardio only programs such as Zumba, or other aerobic only programs, you start to experience weight loss faster because there isn't much muscle being gained to offset the fat loss. In my opinion, this makes weight training plus cardio programs superior though because unlike cardio only programs, you tend to keep the weight off longer due to the extra calorie burning muscle the weight training put on. Remember, the more muscle you have, the more calories you burn just sitting around. This is my take on the situation. I am no expert. I only speak from the experience of myself and my spouse.

donjtomasco · March 2015

Wow liltroy, that was so beneficial to hear your breakdown. I have always lifted weights as part of my tennis playing, then just staying (or trying) when aging. I was injured last year, groin and right arm, so my lifting and cardio was on hold. I started back Jan 15th after hitting 217 or higher in December. I set up a upper body weights on one day, typically 75-90 minutes followed with 30min to 60 minutes on the treadmill at various resistences. The other day is lower body work followed by the same cardio. 3 days a week I get heavy cardio from intense tennis, 90-120 minutes each day.

So I can correlating what I am going through with what you laid out in your message, and it really makes sense that what I am going through follows your experience. AND, I went through this same workout in 2013 except without calorie counting. I did however track weight daily, AM and PM, and saved my spreadsheet. It is interesting how this time my weight loss is following a similar track but with fewer high/low swings, it is more consistent, and my weight loss is now accelerating some.

I guess this is why the guy at Gold's told me that week 5-6 would be the watershed time weight loss wise, if I stuck through the first 4 weeks with blinders on and not worrying about weight, just worrying about CICO, weights and cardio. Whalla. It is happening. I wish he had explained it to me though, if in fact this is all what he meant.

Anyway, thank you for this detail you put in your message.

Hopefully others can add their track and journey, and others (especially newbies like me) can ask questions here.

In case I did not mention it, I was at 217 Jan 1, started working out on the 15th, and this morning weighed in at 193.8 after around a week of being stuck in the 197-198 range.

My goal is to be at 180 after 12 weeks, possibly 170-175 if I feel good at that weight.

Be well.

liltroy19777 · March 2015

When using weight training and cardio, I use measurements more than the scale in the beginning. It helps motivate me so I can see I'm making progress even though the weight isn't coming off. Just like you, I didn't count calories before either but I am this time. Keep at it sir!!!

Week 5 Magic or Mixing up the Workout did this

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