Heavy weights/lower reps versus light weights/higher reps?

Nikkimaxim
Nikkimaxim Posts: 221 Member
edited November 24 in Fitness and Exercise
Hello. My goal is to burn fat while still maintaining/possibly gaining more muscle. I would like to get my abs back and tighten my muscles up. I currently weigh 123 pounds, but 115 pounds would be my ideal weight. What rep range should I be lifting in? How much and how often should i do cardio? Should i eat below, above or at maintenance calories? What has worked for you all?

Replies

  • FrankWhite27330
    FrankWhite27330 Posts: 316 Member
    If you want to lose fat.... and gain muscle I would eat at maintenance or slightly under lift heavy often
  • ovidnine
    ovidnine Posts: 314 Member
    Depends. Yeah, I know that's a cop-out, but seriously, it sorta depends. What is your lifting experience? Have you been lifting some to this point and are trying to decide how to continue?

    Since I don't know that stuff I'll just suggest this:

    Eat at maintenance or slightly below (depends on how much cardio you'll be doing honestly). If you're not an experienced lifter, I'd start with lighter weights that you can do 7-10 good reps with. If you're more experienced I would suggest more sets of few reps with heavier weight (instead of say 3 sets of 7-10, do 5 sets 3-5 but heavier) so that your form doesn't suffer but you're moving a similar amount of total weight.

    Cardio, it depends a lot on what you want to do: If just getting to 115 is your goal, HIIT can help you burn lots of calories. If you want to also focus on gaining the most strength I would suggest just doing a lot of walking and easy-moderate cycling as those burn calories but tend not to inhibit muscle gain. Though it seems for most of us the inference with strength gain from cardio is over-stated, running does seem to inhibit slightly more than walking/cycling. If you're doing hardcore cardio, you'll actually have to eat more to keep your body fueled to build or maintain muscle.

    Alternatively, you could focus heavily on a calorie deficit, lift lighter weights to attempt to maintain your current muscle, then once you are at or a couple pounds below your "ideal" weight, up the calories, cut back on the hard core cardio, and up the weight for your lifting

    Really it all comes down to what your personal goals are. Mine are to get to a certain weight, continue to get stronger, but also have decent enough cardio that I can hike and bike when I want.

    Good luck!

  • arditarose
    arditarose Posts: 15,573 Member
    Judging from your profile picture on the right, you might want to lift in maintenance. Lifting heavy in maintenance is called body recomposition. You can lose a little fat and gain a LITTLE muscle at the same time, following a heavy lifting program with a progressive overload. It doesn't matter if you choose a body building program (high reps), strength program (lower reps), or a hybrid. In maintenance, I prefer high weight/low reps for compound lifts, and accessory work in the hypertrophy range (lower weight, higher reps).

    If you lift in a deficit you will save LBM as you lose fat. I don't like isolation/hypertrophy training in a deficit. If I'm not eating to gain, I don't want to spin my wheels. I stick to a tried and true strength training program like Strong Lifts 5x5 or Starting Strength.

    If you eat at a surplus, you'll gain muscle, but fat as well. I don't know if you are ready for a bulk yet.
  • AppetiteControlFreak
    AppetiteControlFreak Posts: 76 Member
    If you eat enough protein your muscle tissue won't go away while doing diet and cardio to burn off 8 lbs of fat

    I would lift moderate at good form and focus on diet and some HIIT.

    No reason to worry about your muscles going away. Just eat enough protein.
  • pmm3437
    pmm3437 Posts: 529 Member
    Start with a beginner progressive lifting program like StrongLifts, Strong Curves, Starting Strength, etc. You can maintain muscle mass, and even potentially get some "newbie gains" while eating at a slight deficit, as long as you get enough protein to support it.

    Recomp at maintenance is another option, but is a much slower process. This tends to be very weight neutral; your not eating to lose, your just working to transform BF%/composition.

    Many women, once they start lifting, realize they look better and are happier at a weight higher than they initially felt they had to reach, because of the change in composition.

    Your physique is 80% nutrition, and 20% exertion. The most efficient way to get leaner is at a caloric deficit. The only way your going to really see abs is to get your BF% down. How low you have to go varies based on age, gender and genetics. If you actually want visible definition ( as opposed to simply slim/flat ), that will be somewhere below 14% for a female.

    Long duration cardio can be catabolic, which could potentially limit or wipe out mass gains from lifting. Any cardio that is at or above 85% of your max should be limited to 20 min or less intervals. You also want to do your cardio after your lifting, other than short duration mild intensity to warm up, if you choose.
  • Nikkimaxim
    Nikkimaxim Posts: 221 Member
    Should i have my macros set a certain way to achieve my goals?
  • AnvilHead
    AnvilHead Posts: 18,343 Member
    Nikkimaxim wrote: »
    Should i have my macros set a certain way to achieve my goals?
    You can find everything you need to know here. Sara explains setting both your calorie and macro targets in detail.
  • kwtilbury
    kwtilbury Posts: 1,234 Member
    It depends. What's more important, gaining strength or hypertrophy (size)?
  • Nikkimaxim
    Nikkimaxim Posts: 221 Member
    Should i have my macros set a certain way to achieve my goals?
    FrankWhite27330 wrote: »
    If you want to lose fat.... and gain muscle I would eat at maintenance or slightly under lift heavy often
    kwtilbury wrote: »
    It depends. What's more important, gaining strength or hypertrophy (size)?

    Gaining hypertrophy while burning fat lol
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