I can't seem to lose weight when doing strength training!
piinkegoboxx
Posts: 1 Member
I've been going to the gym 6 days a week for almost 3 weeks now and I do 15-30 minutes of the stair master, and then weights and machines for an hour- an hour and a half. I've been eating super clean as well, my calories equal to about 1200 every day. Yet I haven't been able to lose a single tenth of a pound even!! Even though my body does look much more fit already as it is, I know that my ideal weight for my frame and height, I still should be about 10 pounds less. Any suggestions? Or do you think that if I keep doing my thing, eventually the weight will come down?
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congratulations! I think you might have added muscle and lost fat - the holy grail for many people on this site!
My advice is to keep it up, watch out for symptoms of overtraining, and review where you're at in 4 weeks. 1200 calories does sound a bit low, what is your height?0 -
Doing lots wrong! First, always do weights first, then cardio if at all. 6 days week too much. Reduce to 3-4. Eat more calories on workout days, with most carbs right after workout.0
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I think it takes longer than 3 weeks to see much of a change. Keep doing what your doing, maybe switch off from the 30 minutes on the stairmaster to a treadmill and walk or run for 45 minutes to an hour.0
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Keep going.
If you are logging accurately (weighing everything on a digital foodscale) it will come.
Since you have been doing this for 3 weeks, it could be that your muscles are still retaining a lot of whater while trying to recover, keeping the scale stable. There could also be some new muscle mass, but that would be very minimal.
Are you doing the same strength exercises every day? Because your muscles need atleast a day rest to recover.
Consider doing strength every other day, or training your upper and lower body on different days.0 -
piinkegoboxx wrote: »I've been going to the gym 6 days a week for almost 3 weeks now and I do 15-30 minutes of the stair master, and then weights and machines for an hour- an hour and a half. I've been eating super clean as well, my calories equal to about 1200 every day. Yet I haven't been able to lose a single tenth of a pound even!! Even though my body does look much more fit already as it is, I know that my ideal weight for my frame and height, I still should be about 10 pounds less. Any suggestions? Or do you think that if I keep doing my thing, eventually the weight will come down?
HAHA!! There is so much wrong with this statement, it is a little surprising. OP, I am not the know all, end all of fitness but I am certified in 2 different organizations, including Nutrition Specialist in one of those. Take my words below as you will, they are only meant to help.Doing lots wrong! First, always do weights first, then cardio if at all. 6 days week too much. Reduce to 3-4. Eat more calories on workout days, with most carbs right after workout.
Yi5hedr3 - I would like to apologize in advance if I come off as a d*ck but there is so much horrible advice given on this website that I tried to avoid the "community" at all cost. That being said, a coworker sent me this and I just couldn't keep quite about it.
1. "First, always do weights first, then cardio" - what is this based off of? An article someone wrote in "Bro Science weekly"?! It doesn't matter WHEN you do the movement. AT ALL! When it comes to cardio, lifting and core work, I use the rule of thumb of doing the one I like least, first. That will make sure I do it and don't talk myself out of it when I get done with the other that I was looking forward to.
2. "6 days a week is too much" - This is complete BS fed to people by under qualified "fitness professionals". As long as you give a specific body group sufficient time to rebuild and you practice good hydration and stretching you only need 48-72 hours to recover at the most. Hence why programs like Push/Pull/Legs exist. If you are worried about "over training" that doesn't exist. If "over training" were real, then Military special ops wouldn't exist. It is the issue with HORRIBLE form, inadequate hydration and recovery "steps" (stretching, foam rolling, etc) that causes injury with 95% of people who weight lift as a part of their fitness routine.
3. "Eat more calories on workout days" isn't exactly accurate, it is the type of calories. OP is already not eating enough as it is, unless she is a 4'11" 100lb'r.
4. "most carbs right after your workout". Once again, this isn't exactly true. You want to have fast digesting, high GI carbs like fructose after a workout to support muscle growth and regeneration during metabolic window. However if you workout in the evening, you don't want a meal full of rice/potatoes/bread after because you are not going to be active after that. Once you reach a certain insulin level, all those carbs (pretty much sugar) will be converted into stored fat by the liver.
OP (piinkegoboxx)
You are not doing anything wrong. There are studies to support what hamlet proposed and I have seen it myself during contest prep when you are losing as much fat as you are gaining in lean mass. My recommendation would be to go off of measurements. The tape measure never lies but the scale will lie to you like a cheating lover. (HAHA)0 -
OP, my guess is that you are not weighing or measuring your food accurately and likely not logging it accurately either. Yes, it is common to retain some water when starting weight training. I'm also going to point out that your weight loss expectations are way too high. With only 22 pounds to lose, there is no way that you should expect to lose 10 pounds in 3 weeks. My suggestions:
- Get a digital kitchen scale. Weigh all of your food.
- If you cannot use a digital kitchen scale for some reason (e.g., the batteries are dead and you haven't gotten to the store to buy new batteries yet) use measuring cups/spoons. But don't jam food into them in order to get extra bites. Also, you can measure liquids using a liquid measuring cup. Some people weigh liquids but using a measuring cup for them is fine.
- If you cannot use a scale or a measuring cup, get really good at estimating portion sizes. Google "portion size chart" and you'll get a ton of visual cues. Print out a chart and put it in your wallet if necessary.
- When you log your food, use good solid MFP entries. USDA entries (search "usda seedless grapes" for example) are great, as are entries that match food packaging.
- Log your exercise. Eat the calories you get from it. If you want to freak out when reading that suggestion, start by eating 50% of these calories and then reevaluate after 4 weeks to see if you should adjust that percentage up or down.
- Set your MFP profile up with a 1/2 pound per week loss rate.0 -
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I have to agree.0 -
piinkegoboxx wrote: »I've been going to the gym 6 days a week for almost 3 weeks now and I do 15-30 minutes of the stair master, and then weights and machines for an hour- an hour and a half. I've been eating super clean as well, my calories equal to about 1200 every day. Yet I haven't been able to lose a single tenth of a pound even!! Even though my body does look much more fit already as it is, I know that my ideal weight for my frame and height, I still should be about 10 pounds less. Any suggestions? Or do you think that if I keep doing my thing, eventually the weight will come down?
3. "Eat more calories on workout days" isn't exactly accurate, it is the type of calories. OP is already not eating enough as it is, unless she is a 4'11" 100lb'r.
4. "most carbs right after your workout". Once again, this isn't exactly true. You want to have fast digesting, high GI carbs like fructose after a workout to support muscle growth and regeneration during metabolic window. However if you workout in the evening, you don't want a meal full of rice/potatoes/bread after because you are not going to be active after that. Once you reach a certain insulin level, all those carbs (pretty much sugar) will be converted into stored fat by the liver.
OP (piinkegoboxx)
I was going to comment on this when I saw that you touched on it already. Allow me to add a few more comments to this?
There is a window as soon as you get done working out (like 30-60 minutes) where your muscles are primed to respond to nutrients better and pump start the recovery process.
You want to eat high GI carbs that @mjwoodcum mentions (think simple sugars) as well as quick absorbing protein (whey protein shake for example). The best combination is 4 grams carbs to 1 grams protein. You want somewhere between 10-20 grams of protein as soon as you are done working out (along with 40-80 grams of carbs). The less calories you are alloted for the day, the closer you want to be to that 10/40 (gPro/gCarb).
I may get a lot of bro science flack on this timing window thing. But here's the science behind it.
As you are working out, the body releases a lot of catabolic hormones. Cortisol (stress hormone), Glucagon, adreneline, cytokines, ect are all released so that your body can provide as much energy to fuel your workout by breaking down stored energy in your body in the form of carbs, fats, and proteins. Catabolic means (to break or tear down). For example, lipolysis is a catabolic process to break down stored fats into simplier chemicals so they can be used for rapid energy. Lipase is the catabolic enzyme that is responsible for this. As you are working out, you are also performing catabolic stress on your muscle tissue. You create tiny tears into your muscle fibers. Also, to fuel your workout, you are using up stored carbs in your muscle cells known as glycogen. A catabolic process called phosphorylyse breaks down glycogen into glucose so your body can be fueled to do the movements necessary to working out. So when you are done, you used up a lot of your stored glycogen and you have tiny muscle tears. Your body immediately goes into recovery mode by releasing anabolic (to build up) hormones. When you eat this large number of carbs immediately after working out, large amounts of insulin is released which will literally shove the glucose you just ate back into the muscle cells to produce more glycogen you just lost during the working. During this short recovery window (30-60 minutes after finishing your workout) your body is very sensitive to this insulin creating what we call high uptake of glucose. There are similar anabolic processes that make muscle cells sensitive to certain anabolic hormones to receive amino acids (simplier chemicals from the protein you just ate) so that new muscle cells can be synthesized to begin the healing of those tiny muscle tears. The healing is supercompensation in nature meaning that you are a little weaker soon after you workout but then are stronger than when you started after the recovery period.
It's also advisable you give yourself time to workout, eat, and then settle down before going to bed for the reason @mjwoodcum mentions. Mornings or early afternoons are preferred if your schedule allows.
List of references:
http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/8871.php
http://www.timinvermont.com/fitness/timing.htm
http://www.menshealth.com/fitness/hormone-exercises
http://www.livestrong.com/article/420512-hormones-released-when-exercising/
http://www.elitefts.com/education/training/bodybuilding/maximizing-supercompensation-for-maximal-hypertrophy/0 -
Doing lots wrong! First, always do weights first, then cardio if at all. 6 days week too much. Reduce to 3-4. Eat more calories on workout days, with most carbs right after workout.You give the absolute worst advice on MFP. Congratulations on your consistency.
I don't know the top commentator at all, so I don't know what their other advise is like. But I am not going to say that the bolded comment is terribly wrong.
If you are new to lifting or working out, KISS is probaly the best advise. The OP is obviously highly motivated and if they can continue that motivation, then great. But if burnout starts to settle in, then maybe the "less is more" concept and keeping things simple is good advise. Main thing to remember is that you don't get stronger or better from working out. You get stronger and better from the rest and recovery AFTER working out.
So you don't want to workout everything every day. This was touched already. You can do everything like 3 days a week, or you can do upper body one day then lower body the next day which would make working out 6 days a week a good idea. Just don't feel like you have to spend 3 hours a day in the gym every day. Don't burn yourself out and don't try to do every exercise there is to hit your chest, then do every exercise there is to do your biceps (ect). And give yourself some recovery time after you are done.
Here is an article that says that it doesn't matter if weights come before cardio or vice versa.
http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2014/09/26/ask-well-weights-before-cardio/?_r=0
As far as Eat more calories on workout days. It kind of makes a little sense that the days you are burning more calories, you have more calories to eat. But because of what i posted above, you actually need more calories that day to jump start the recovery process.
And he is right, mostly carbs as soon as you are done working out. The actual correct ratio is depending on your workout and goals apparently. I am more of a cardio guy in marathon training, so the 4:1 ratio is appropriate for me. Weight lifters it is probably closer to 2:1.
For example:
http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/post_workout_carbs.htm
Protein should be in a ratio of 2 to 1, so if you have a lean body mass of 170 lb, this would mean 42 grams of carbs and 21 grams of protein if you are cutting, and 85 grams of carbs and 43 grams of protein if you are in a mass gaining cycle. This should be ingested within 30 minutes of training, and you should have a good meal within one hour of your shake.
But for runners:
http://www.runnersworld.com/nutrition-for-runners/post-run-recovery-starts-with-protein
Dietitians are careful to note that hydration is still king, followed closely by replenishing carbohydrates, with most studies suggesting a 3:1 or 4:1 carbohydrate-to-protein ratio.
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Keep going.
If you are logging accurately (weighing everything on a digital foodscale) it will come.
Since you have been doing this for 3 weeks, it could be that your muscles are still retaining a lot of whater while trying to recover, keeping the scale stable. There could also be some new muscle mass, but that would be very minimal.
Are you doing the same strength exercises every day? Because your muscles need atleast a day rest to recover.
Consider doing strength every other day, or training your upper and lower body on different days.
I tend to agree with all of this (assuming she meant 'water' not 'whater').0 -
Keep going.
If you are logging accurately (weighing everything on a digital foodscale) it will come.
Since you have been doing this for 3 weeks, it could be that your muscles are still retaining a lot of whater while trying to recover, keeping the scale stable. There could also be some new muscle mass, but that would be very minimal.
Are you doing the same strength exercises every day? Because your muscles need atleast a day rest to recover.
Consider doing strength every other day, or training your upper and lower body on different days.
I tend to agree with all of this (assuming she meant 'water' not 'whater').
Since we aren't sure exactly what the OP is doing each of those 6 days per week, from the tone of the post and overly high expectations of how much weight she can lose in 3 weeks, I'd assume it's the same workout every day which would lend itself to a lack of recovery. But even if she were retaining water, there would still be some fat loss which should translate into the scale dropping a bit not staying constant. There's no way she's building much muscle even with newbie gains on that much activity every day while eating only 1200 calories unless she's really short and already tiny.
Of course she says "about 1200" and that's a red flag, too.
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Lots of posts here that are likely to confuse and some that are just plain wrong or at least, over-complicating things.
1) When you start exercising you retain water in your muscles which can mask weight loss. It can last quite a few weeks.
2) Make sure you are on a good progressive loading lifting routine. While 6 days a week is not necessarily bad, doing a full body workout 3 days a week is usually more ideal for a beginner - however it really depends on how much time you have each day to get to the gym/workout
3) Don't worry about your carb timing - time your foods/macros in such a way as to get a good workout in and allows the best adherence.
4) 1,200 calories is often too low - however many people actually are eating more than they think. Are you weighing your food and logging everything? How much weight do you have to lose? Where did you come up with 1,200 being a good goal?
Edit: I see you only have 22lb to lose - unless you are really short, 1,200 is very likely too low. Can you open your diary?0 -
1) When you start exercising you retain water in your muscles which can mask weight loss. It can last quite a few weeks.
I've never heard this... Does this apply to someone who is doing cardio as well? (Yes, I'm aware it's probably a stupid question! I am nowhere near a healthy weight and am trying to educate myself.)
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1) When you start exercising you retain water in your muscles which can mask weight loss. It can last quite a few weeks.
I've never heard this... Does this apply to someone who is doing cardio as well? (Yes, I'm aware it's probably a stupid question! I am nowhere near a healthy weight and am trying to educate myself.)
It applies for any change in activity.0 -
1) When you start exercising you retain water in your muscles which can mask weight loss. It can last quite a few weeks.
I've never heard this... Does this apply to someone who is doing cardio as well? (Yes, I'm aware it's probably a stupid question! I am nowhere near a healthy weight and am trying to educate myself.)
It can apply to someone doing cardio as well - just usually not as extremely. When you start cardio, you are using muscles you have not used (or at least not to the extent you are using them) so you retain water/glycogen (which helps repair the muscles).0 -
Good lawd! Ok, first, the idea behind doing cardio after lifting is to accelerate fat loss because your glycogen stores should be depleted from lifting. Second, you can easily do cardio 7 days a week, depending on HOW YOU FEEL. Try alternating cardio types and movements (HIIT, steady-state, biking, eliptical, running, and the best, stairclimbing).
Again, you are also only 3 weeks into a routine. Results take time, be patient and focused, and before you know it, you'll be at your goal.0 -
Good lawd! Ok, first, the idea behind doing cardio after lifting is to accelerate fat loss because your glycogen stores should be depleted from lifting. Second, you can easily do cardio 7 days a week, depending on HOW YOU FEEL. Try alternating cardio types and movements (HIIT, steady-state, biking, eliptical, running, and the best, stairclimbing).
Again, you are also only 3 weeks into a routine. Results take time, be patient and focused, and before you know it, you'll be at your goal.
Lifting does not deplete glycogen stores. The reason to do cardio after lifting is that you do not want to be fatigued when lifting weights - so it really depends on what and how much you are doing.0 -
Good lawd! Ok, first, the idea behind doing cardio after lifting is to accelerate fat loss because your glycogen stores should be depleted from lifting. Second, you can easily do cardio 7 days a week, depending on HOW YOU FEEL. Try alternating cardio types and movements (HIIT, steady-state, biking, eliptical, running, and the best, stairclimbing).
Again, you are also only 3 weeks into a routine. Results take time, be patient and focused, and before you know it, you'll be at your goal.
You won't deplete too much glycogen after lifting. If you really want to "accelerate fat loss" because of glycogen depletion, work out first thing in the morning fasted.
Second, it won't really matter. So you lift and deplete some glycogen. Do cardio and loose more glycogen and begin some fat burning. First off, if you run too fast or do cardio too intense, you won't burn much fat cause you will be at an intensity much higher than your lactic threshold meaning it is more anaerobic in nature which requires carb burning not fat burning. So to make this fat burn to work, the OP has to perform cardio at an aerobic intensity. Plus it will take some time to burn fat since glycogen does need to deplete. Cardio for 30 minutes won't do this. Plus if you ate something during the workout, that also will effect how much fat you burn. The body will prefer the glucose you ate first, then glycogen, then fats and protein. But in the end, long term effects of fat burning will depend upon burning more energy than you eat. Doesn't matter if you burned a little extra fat from the cardio only to eat is back later on. Just think zero sum gain (or loss).
You can do cardio 7 days a week, but stair master is also going to put tiny tears into her leg muscles which requires some recovery time just like the lifting. Plus even with cardio you don't want to overdo it. Just ask Eminem:
http://www.runnersworld.com/briefs/why-eminem-shouldve-stuck-to-eight-miles
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I digress. There countless studies that can either refute or support any claim, so I'm not going to argue. And, there are also studies that discuss how muscle growth and decreased DOMS are a result of doing targeted cardio after lifting the same muscle group. Since I've been doing solely stairclimbing and biking, ALL of my leg lifts have increased.0
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I digress. There countless studies that can either refute or support any claim, so I'm not going to argue. And, there are also studies that discuss how muscle growth and decreased DOMS are a result of doing targeted cardio after lifting the same muscle group. Since I've been doing solely stairclimbing and biking, ALL of my leg lifts have increased.
Now this is pretty interesting. Enough to spark me into a search. 2 articles of interest I found because of the bolded comment above. Thanks.
http://www.muscleforlife.com/cardio-and-muscle-growth-friends-or-foes/
"Thus, cardio can help your body repair muscle damage quicker because it increases blood flow. This helps your body build the muscle back up quicker and remove the waste, which results in an all-around quicker recovery. This is why I always do a cardio session on legs day–it dramatically reduces leg soreness in the days to follow."
http://www.muscleandfitness.com/workouts/workout-tips/recover-faster-steady-state-cardio
I do what are called recovery runs the day after my more intense speed workouts basically for the same reason. Never thought about combining that concept into the weight lifting portion.0 -
I have had the same issue every time I start a workout routine. And every time, until now, I quit because of it. However, I have now been working out for 4 months consistently (a new record for me, lifestyle change this time!) and started losing again after the 1st month. Keep at it, you can do this!!0
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I digress. There countless studies that can either refute or support any claim, so I'm not going to argue. And, there are also studies that discuss how muscle growth and decreased DOMS are a result of doing targeted cardio after lifting the same muscle group. Since I've been doing solely stairclimbing and biking, ALL of my leg lifts have increased.
Now this is pretty interesting. Enough to spark me into a search. 2 articles of interest I found because of the bolded comment above. Thanks.
http://www.muscleforlife.com/cardio-and-muscle-growth-friends-or-foes/
"Thus, cardio can help your body repair muscle damage quicker because it increases blood flow. This helps your body build the muscle back up quicker and remove the waste, which results in an all-around quicker recovery. This is why I always do a cardio session on legs day–it dramatically reduces leg soreness in the days to follow."
http://www.muscleandfitness.com/workouts/workout-tips/recover-faster-steady-state-cardio
I do what are called recovery runs the day after my more intense speed workouts basically for the same reason. Never thought about combining that concept into the weight lifting portion.
+1 ... all of this is good stuff. I lift and run..
OP, research and educate your self on all of this. Three weeks in on this is awesome. The scale will play tricks on you. But you need to take pictures, take measurements and use the scale. Also maybe invest in a caliper to test BF%. I use all four of these and I take pictures every month.
This takes a bit of time and patience and I see that you may have some great dedication... Keep up the good work.0
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