weight loss vs muscle gain

bluffskruff
bluffskruff Posts: 7 Member
edited September 28 in Health and Weight Loss
Hi I have been on my fitness now for 20 days and I am looking for some info, and was hoping someone out there may have a good answer.
I am a big guy and been trying real hard to lose a lot of weight, I have read that a pound of fat is the same as a pound of muscle. A pound is a pound. Now my question is if I am doing lots of cardio and counting every single calorie , will I stop losing weight if I keep doing heavy weigh lifting, . Should I wait till I have lost more weight and then start on heavy weights , am I wasting time by trying to build muscle while I am trying to lose weight, or does it not matter , if any one has any info on this I would really appreciate it , thank you
Gary

Replies

  • hroush
    hroush Posts: 2,073 Member
    A lot of your questions about weight lifting can be answered at www.stronglifts.com There are testimonials of guys on there that have lost fat while gaining muscle doing only this program. You can check out a direct link in my signature or message me with any additional questions, but here are some answers for your current ones.

    A pound is a pound, but muscle is more dense than fat, so it takes up less space. If you do a lot of cardio, most likely you will burn muscle to (I know I did). Heavy weight lifting will burn fat and gain muscle, which will save you time in the long run if you want to build strength. I am kicking myself for doing cardio first and not lifting as I am now working on gaining back the 20 lbs of muscle I lost.
  • knittnponder
    knittnponder Posts: 1,953 Member
    Quick answer: keep lifting! My weight loss isn't going very quickly compared to others on here but I've dropped two sizes and am flirting with a third. My inches have shrunk dramatically and I've gotten lots of comments about how good I'm looking and it's due to the strength training. Strength training will actually help you keep your muscles instead of losing them along with your fat. I'm sure someone will come along with a lovely explanation on that soon. :)
  • MarieNevada
    MarieNevada Posts: 395 Member
    the more lean body mass you build up now, the better your metabolism works continuously. so definitely lift weights and continue the cardio. dont worry too much about that lb of muscle vs lb of fat. your focus should be on weight loss which means you'll be in a calorie deficit so you wont bulk up but you definitely will build tons of lean muscle which will only help you lose more weight. Check out The Body Fat Solution by Tom Venuto. Excellent book about burning maximum amount of fat the right way and lifting weights.
  • bluffskruff
    bluffskruff Posts: 7 Member
    thank you for the info, checking it out now
  • KPFOLSOM
    KPFOLSOM Posts: 7
    Yes a pound is a pound, however the volume of muscle is smaller than the volume of fat. If you weight lift you are more than likely going to see the scale slow down because you are replacing fat with muscle. Keep in mind that muscle burns fat, it uses it as fuel, so the more weights you the more muscle you gain and the fat is burning away :) I have seen this in action in myself as well as my husband. Right now I weigh more than I have, but at 114lbs I was 27% body fat now I am 126lbs and 20% body fa (I am working on losing some weight and get to 16% body fat). I look so much better with muscle definition. My husband is still losing weight and his body percentage has gone down as well. You need muscle, it will help you lose weight!!
  • Kdoran73
    Kdoran73 Posts: 12 Member
    Great advise, Listen to Hroush. You need to do both. also check out musclefitness.com.
  • loosecannonzs
    loosecannonzs Posts: 6
    Yes a pound is a pound, however the volume of muscle is smaller than the volume of fat. If you weight lift you are more than likely going to see the scale slow down because you are replacing fat with muscle. Keep in mind that muscle burns fat, it uses it as fuel, so the more weights you the more muscle you gain and the fat is burning away :) I have seen this in action in myself as well as my husband. Right now I weigh more than I have, but at 114lbs I was 27% body fat now I am 126lbs and 20% body fa (I am working on losing some weight and get to 16% body fat). I look so much better with muscle definition. My husband is still losing weight and his body percentage has gone down as well. You need muscle, it will help you lose weight!!

    Exactly
  • larsbeachgirl
    larsbeachgirl Posts: 39
    Hey Bluff (Gary)

    I'm no expert, but I've done quite a bit of research and I've been working on LBM (Lean Body Mass) for quite some time as I lose weight - for me it works...I still haven't reached my goal weight but I have definition now as I lose my weight... :wink: and I'm loving it!!!! I'm so excited and can't wait to see my end result - it just makes me more determined :happy:

    You were saying 'A pound is a pound'... but a pound of apples looks different to a pound of bananas... same with a pound of fat and a pound of muscle... Did you know 1 pound of fat burns 2 Cals per day, where as 1 pound of Muscle burns 50 Cals per day... :tongue: Get your body working for you :wink: boost your protein intake and work your muscles.

    With the Heavy weights.. start with something manageable and build up from there - don't go killing yourself trying to lift something beyond your strength, try to equal it... be comfortable lifting, trying to do something too heavy will only result in injury and but you back even further. If you are going to a gym - get expert advice if not, take it slowly!

    Good luck :drinker: :smile:
  • jeffpettis
    jeffpettis Posts: 865 Member
    Try doing some circuit training with weights, you get more calorie burn than just cardio, and you are building muscle at the same time, granted the muscle you build is not going to bulk you up big time, but when you get to the weight you want you will be more toned and you can start working on bulking up with just strength training. Hope that makes sense.
  • psuLemon
    psuLemon Posts: 38,431 MFP Moderator
    For me, I haven't had to lose a lot of weigh. In fact, in the past 90 days or so, I only lost 5 lbs but I have lost 3% body fat and 6" around my waist, hips and abs. I guess you can consider me near my final 10 lbs but I don't really care too much about my weight. Once my wrist heals, I plan to work to lose another 3% body fat in the next 90 days. Currently, I am at 12% body fat and have gain significant muscle. I say lift heavy and it will give you the results you strive for. If you feel you are bulking up too much, reduce the weight a little and make sure you are failing around 12-15 reps instead of 8-10 reps. But muscle will replace fat in general which means your body might not lose weight but it will decrease in size. I would highly suggest getting a tape measure and some body fat calipers. Coverting fat to lean muscle mass is more important than weight.
  • kklindsey
    kklindsey Posts: 382 Member
    do you only care about the number on the scale or are you more concerned with how you look than the number? Lifting will affect the number on the scale but it will also affect how you look. When I lost all my weight I weighed 135 and was a size 4. I started lifting seriously and went up to 145 and was.........a size 4. So I added 10lbs and stayed the same "size" in jeans, but my body looked a whole lot better at 145 with muscle than it did at 135 without.
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