Strength training question

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mdrichardsons
mdrichardsons Posts: 83 Member
in Fitness and Exercise
Ok I have lost the majority of my weight 44 lost 8-15 lbs to go. I know I need to add strength training to tone up currently doing one class with some toning but once a week isn't enough. I mostly walk ride my bike and do Zumba for excersize. I love my activity level and routine and I'm really not looking forward to changing it but I know if I want to finish everything off I need to do this. There was a time in my life when the thought of cardio made me want to cringe but I loved my toning classes. Now it's the opposite. So I would probably enjoy it more if I just get started. My question is this: if i do the strength training and tighten up loose skin build strength and then quit will I go back to flab? (obviously I know I will some) but I guess I'm wondering if I will be back to square one. Mentally I feel confident in controlling my calorie intake and not gaining the weight back. Now that I have mfp and understand cico I feel in control of that part. Also I hear good things about lifting heavy and think that's what I want to go for... Although I admit I feel intimidated. About how long is your weight routine? 30 minute workout? 1hr? How many times a week? TIA

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  • arditarose
    arditarose Posts: 15,575 Member
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    If you start a strength routine, and get to a body composition you like, you do have to keep up some sort of resistance training to maintain that physique.

    For beginners, full body routines 3x per week are a great option. You hit each muscle group more, the workouts are relatively short as they mostly involve compound lifts and little isolation work. Something like Strong Lifts 5x5 would be my first suggestion. You can find the whole routine online, with videos on form etc. This will probably take 45 min, though may take up to an hour once you have been doing it for a longer time (weight increases therefore rest time may increase).
  • Yi5hedr3
    Yi5hedr3 Posts: 2,696 Member
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    35-40 mins, twice a week is plenty! :)
  • SonyaCele
    SonyaCele Posts: 2,841 Member
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    loose skin and flab and all that has nothing to do with strength training. to answer your question: if you build some strength and then stop working out, yes you will lose strength and some muscle size

    Heavy lifting is awesome, i love it, my workout is 4 days a week for about 2 hours each workout.
  • cgvet37
    cgvet37 Posts: 1,189 Member
    edited March 2016
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    My opinion, you have several options. Work two muscle groups per day. 1. Back/Biceps (pull) 2. Chest/Triceps (push) 3. Legs/Shoulders. I would start with four movements per body bart. Four sets of 10-15 reps each. If you don't mind five days a week. Then you can focus on one muscle group each day. I would start with 5-6 movements per body part, 8 for arms, as you would do triceps and biceps on the same day. The other days would focus on only one muscle group. Four sets of 10 reps each. I would not suggest doing five sets of five reps starting out. If you need some guidance, feel free to message me.
  • awnurmarc
    awnurmarc Posts: 125 Member
    edited March 2016
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    arditarose wrote: »
    Something like Strong Lifts 5x5 would be my first suggestion. You can find the whole routine online, with videos on form etc. This will probably take 45 min, though may take up to an hour once you have been doing it for a longer time (weight increases therefore rest time may increase).

    Stronglifts is excellent but if you read about where he got the program, you will find the original 5x5 programs that he credits were more like 3x5. The first two sets were warm ups with lesser weight. Stronglifts has you do warm-ups and then do 5 full working sets. So you can save time doing 3x5 if you want.

    Most of my gym time is spent waiting for a squat rack or bench to be available and resting between sets. The time you spend actually lifting working sets for all three lifts probably doesn't add up to 15 minutes.

  • arditarose
    arditarose Posts: 15,575 Member
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    awnurmarc wrote: »
    arditarose wrote: »
    Something like Strong Lifts 5x5 would be my first suggestion. You can find the whole routine online, with videos on form etc. This will probably take 45 min, though may take up to an hour once you have been doing it for a longer time (weight increases therefore rest time may increase).

    Stronglifts is excellent but if you read about where he got the program, you will find the original 5x5 programs that he credits were more like 3x5. The first two sets were warm ups with lesser weight. Stronglifts has you do warm-ups and then do 5 full working sets. So you can save time doing 3x5 if you want.

    Most of my gym time is spent waiting for a squat rack or bench to be available and resting between sets. The time you spend actually lifting working sets for all three lifts probably doesn't add up to 15 minutes.


    Yeah. Starting Strength is fine too. Whatever.

    The point is to pick a 3x5 or 5x5 program focused on compound lifts.
  • mdrichardsons
    mdrichardsons Posts: 83 Member
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    Great thank you for all of you help. My second question how do you tell the difference between loose skin and fat. I know I can do a bf check which I need to do but can you see just by the looking at it? This is probably a dumb question haha

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