When to start heavy lifting?

amiwills · April 2016

Hi everyone I've posted loads on here lately, sorry! I currently do cardio 7 days a week and do 2 days a week where I will do squats bench presses deadlifts row, with a weight of 20kg at the moment.

I reevaluated my goal, and I currently still have 16 pounds to lose. Looks like the majority of it is sitting on my sides/tummy. I am 132lbs. Anyways so my plan has always been to slim down and then start heavy lifting to achieve my dream body!

I have read so much about when to start lifting and something that keeps coming up is that the more muscle you have the faster you burn fat, which sounds great. However, I was under the impression you can't build muscle while eating at a deficit. And with so many pounds still to lose, I need to be eating at a deficit don't I? So is there any point in starting the heavy lifts just yet? Should I wait until I'm a lot closer to my goal?

Also, when people talk about lifting for recomp, what lifts do these include? Would I be able to achieve a body like this (link at bottom, looking at third picture) by heavy lifting or does it require doing one of those programs? Like the bikini body guide etc. Here's the link, third picture! http://soniatlev.com/clients-transformations-en/

pcpop7 · April 2016

I started lifting when I was in a deficit for many reason, to get the routine down, to retain muscle, to slowly increase weight lifted if I could while in a deficit. This then made my life a lot easier when it came to bulking. However you will notice you stall and plateau on your program of lifting a lot quicker while in a deficit and might even drop back a little on some exercises depending on the size of your deficit. Or this is my experience.

Lois_1989 · April 2016

I started lifting heavy right from the start. Mostly because I love it, but everyone on the success stories say they wish they had started sooner than they did, so I figured I would just do it straight away. I highly recommend Stronglifts 5x5, which it sounds like you are doing already apart from OHP's. I would start today if I were you. Happy lifting!

trjjoy · April 2016

Start today.

RodaRose · April 2016

Cut some cardio time so that you can do heavy lifting now.

Sherriediva1 · April 2016

Unlike OP I have 40 lbs to loose still! I am going to start now (reducing my deficit to TDEE-400) and lift until I stall then increase my deficit again in hopes that increased muscle will burn more calories. I'd rather have slower weight loss if that means my body will look better in the long run. Plus, heavy lifting helps with osteoporosis in women as they age (I'm 43).

I do wonder about the pictures in the link @amiwills ?

evildeadedd · April 2016

While you are unlikely to gain much muscle while in a deficit, lifting can help retain what you already have. Maybe consider body recomposition. If you have never looked into it, do a Google Search, the number on the scale isn't always accurate for how you look.

Packerjohn · April 2016

Yesterday

reddeament · April 2016

Start today. Do Stronglifts 5x5. My boyfriend got me into it and some of his friends also do it. I've seen their results and I'm impressed. So I wanna get in on the action as well! I'm still calorie counting, but I try to time my food with my weight lifting (have a meal beforehand as pre-gym snack or straight after) - so I don't eat extra. Make sure to have protein straight after your workouts.

Carlos_421 · April 2016

Yesterday.

(full disclosure: I didn't read more than the title. Still, no matter what stage of weight loss you're in, the time to lift is now.)

itsbasschick · April 2016

start heavy lifting now. there is no reason to wait.

Sumiblue · April 2016

Agree to not wait to lift. When you lose the fat you will have a better body composition if you've maintained or even built some muscle (if new at lifting).