Gym twice in a day-is it ok?

It's subjective to the individual and their activity level, not to mention your goals.

Your goal of losing weight (I assume you mean fat) and gaining muscle is near impossible.

One can lose fat and retain muscle though.

sunshines4nate wrote: »

Thanks foe the replies... and Oh sorry yes sorry I do mean I want to loose fat and gain muscle. Silly me. I have been working so hard and the scales are barely moving at all so im just assuning and hoping changes are happening but I just dont know what they are! I just found myself at a loose end and thought perhaps doing another round might help but wasnt sure wether it would be productive or not or if it would even be healthy to do so! My class is circuits so cardio and strength and i do most of my gym cardio on the rowing machine.. I also then work on weight machines after. Atm I have no workout plan set but I am working on that!

It's nearly impossible to lose fat and gain muscle at the same time. You can, however, lose weight and maintain muscle while eating at a caloric deficit so that's what you'll be doing.

If the scale isn't moving and you really are working hard at strength training you may be seeing some recomp going on, especially if this is all new, but more than likely your muscles are retaining water to repair themselves because you're abusing them. Have you also been measuring yourself with a measuring tape? If no, I'd highly suggest you get one and start tracking on a bi-weekly or monthly basis. Often when the scale isn't moving you're still shrinking. The scale isn't the best measurement of success, especially if you're strength training.

SueInAz wrote: »

Also, extended gym time is a good way to burn yourself out quickly.

This. There is no need to workout for hours. Sometimes less is better!

As for gaining muscle and losing weight, you can't really do both unless you are recomping (eating at maintenance, your body weight will roughly stay the same but your body composition will change, very slowly)

If your goal is fat loss, then you need to eat at a deficit. You also preferably want to have a good lifting routine and eat enough protein to maintain your muscle mass while cutting.

If you want to build muscles you need to eat over your maintenance.

My personal philosophy to this whole thing is to develop weight loss habits that I can maintain for life. I exercise once a day 6 days a week and occasionally will take a day off.

Most weight loss happens in the kitchen rather the gym. Weight loss 101.

Its true like 80% diet and 20% exercise but exercise helps A LOT

I started gym yesterday, I'm trying to go 3/4 times a week .

Sounds like you'd be either setting yourself up for an overuse injury or just burning yourself out.

People are often the victims of their own enthusiasm especially when starting something new. Then there's also the paradox of exercise and weight loss, exercise takes fuel (food) while a moderate amount of exercise can help you acheive a caloric deficit you aren't doing yourself any favours by going overboard on the exercise. You then either eat more to fuel it and maintain more-or-less the same caloric deficit or risk just being plain exhausted. Ask any marathon runner of long distance triathlete how much weight they're losing in the latter stages of a training cycle.

The amount of exercise you can do will increase over time, your body becomes more efficient at glycogen storage, your cardiovascular capacity increases, your mitochondrial density improves. I frequently do more than 1 workout a day but they're completely different in terms of impact (eg Monday I'll be in the gym at 6AM for about 45 min to an hour doing strength & then have my tri club's spinning class in the evening. Tuesday morning I'll run & then ride 20 to 30km on my bike after work) but I've also been running for the last 8 or 9 years, I wouldn't recommend my schedule to someone just starting.