Should you lose weight before building muscle??

nessdeal7
nessdeal7 Posts: 6 Member
edited November 16 in Health and Weight Loss
I've read conflicting information and just wanted some insight.

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  • Unknown
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  • ninerbuff
    ninerbuff Posts: 48,988 Member
    Lose weight to see what muscle you have underneath. Then go from there. Many people end up being happy with what lean muscle they have underneath fat.
    BTW, building muscle is no easy task. Takes a good amount of time with decent effort.


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  • lorrpb
    lorrpb Posts: 11,463 Member
    You should begin strength training when you begin weight loss. It will help you fat Instead of muscle, will help you look better when you get to goal, and will improve your overall health & fitness. Adding muscle mass comes later, as said above.
  • size102b
    size102b Posts: 1,370 Member
    Talk to a trainer in a gym
    Personally I think it depends on how much weight you have to lose
    I've 40lbs so I will lose 30 first then start weights as I know scale weight bothers me it shouldn't but I know it does and once you start on weights losses don't show up so much on scales
  • kshama2001
    kshama2001 Posts: 28,052 Member
    edited March 2017
    size102b wrote: »
    Talk to a trainer in a gym
    Personally I think it depends on how much weight you have to lose
    I've 40lbs so I will lose 30 first then start weights as I know scale weight bothers me it shouldn't but I know it does and once you start on weights losses don't show up so much on scales

    You might have an initial and temporary water weight gain when you start lifting weights, but we women would have to work extraordinary hard to build enough muscle to mask fat loss on the scale. And even if that happened, we'd not care because of what we saw in the mirror.

    Note she's 18 pounds heavier in the picture on the right compared to the one in the middle.

    b2z5igh70tv2.jpg
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  • Rocknut53
    Rocknut53 Posts: 1,794 Member
    edited March 2017
    kshama2001 wrote: »
    I can't recall a single poster here mention regretting lifting when they started their weight loss journey, and conversely many do regret they did not start lifting earlier.

    This is so true. I started with some strength training in addition to my hiking, skiing, and snow shoeing while on my quest to lose 50 pounds. Then for whatever reason I quit. Now at my ideal weight my upper body looks "untoned" and squishy, while my lower body is fine from all my outdoor activities. I'm working on my upper body and core now and in 2 months have noticed a difference, but I certainly wish I had continued as I lost weight. At my age the building muscle part seems harder.
  • SideSteel
    SideSteel Posts: 11,068 Member
    nessdeal7 wrote: »
    I've read conflicting information and just wanted some insight.

    It depends on your goals and preferences. There are substantial benefits to resistance training while you lose weight and so regardless of whether this results in an increase in muscle mass or the maintenance of muscle as you diet, you should probably do this.
  • cerise_noir
    cerise_noir Posts: 5,468 Member
    kshama2001 wrote: »
    I can't recall a single poster here mention regretting lifting when they started their weight loss journey, and conversely many do regret they did not start lifting earlier.

    Indeed. I did bodyweight circuits all throughout losing 80lbs, then started lifting from there. I wish I had started lifting sooner, though! The only circuits I do these days are glute circuits.
  • AFGP11
    AFGP11 Posts: 142 Member
    No. Waiting means you will go through a needless phase of being skinny-fat. I lost 60 pounds without any exercise and I wish I had started lifting a lot earlier because in 2 months I had more actual changes to my body shape than in a year of losing before it. Without exercise I got smaller, but my body fat percentage remained about the same because I lost muscle along with fat. If you weight train you will lose less muscle but still burn fat. That means you will reach your goals sooner.

    Take a look at the success stories section of the forums. The most impressive body transformations involve weight training while losing weight. This is not a coincidence.
  • sardelsa
    sardelsa Posts: 9,812 Member
    I'm trying to figure out what you are asking.
    Do you mean lower your BF% before starting a bulk? Well.. there are mixed reviews on that, but typically you want to be 20% or below as a female for more optimal nutrient partitioning. This is the general guideline, I have seen woman bulk successfully at higher BF% but the fat gain becomes more noticeable at that point and can mentally be very difficult. I personally like to get down around 18-19% (estimated) before starting my bulks.

    If you are asking about lifting/resistance training, definitely continue lifting as you lose... you may not build muscle but you will retain the muscle you have and your body composition will be a lot different compared if you didn't lift at all.
  • ercarroll311
    ercarroll311 Posts: 295 Member
    I lost 30 lbs before I started lifting. I lost another 30 after that. I lifted while on a deficit of about 500 calories/day, and loved the results. I look much better now at 117 than I did without lifting at 117. I'd recommend doing both lifting and eating at a deficit to help minimize your muscle loss.
  • rybo
    rybo Posts: 5,424 Member
    nessdeal7 wrote: »
    I've read conflicting information and just wanted some insight.

    There is a HUGE difference between losing weight and then building muscle....and strength training as you lose weight. The former is mostly how it has to physiologically except in some cases. The latter is what 99% of the people trying to lose weight should be doing. If your end goal is to look lean, have muscle etc...strength training from the start will be extremely beneficial. If your goal is 100% weight based and you don't want any muscle or lean look when you reach your goal weight, then just diet.
  • fbchick51
    fbchick51 Posts: 240 Member
    malibu927 wrote: »
    It's not just should, it's almost impossible to gain muscle as you lose weight. That isn't saying you shouldn't be doing something to retain the muscles you already have. Lifting is important even now.

    Not true. More difficult to gain muscle at a deficit, but only impossible at a major deficit.

    Here's a great article about gaining muscle while losing weight (primarily for relatively newbies to weightlifting). It explains the science behind building muscles and why calorie deficits make muscle building more difficult. The trick to the process is eating a high protein diet, limit your calorie deficit to no more then 700cals a day (for me, it worked best at 500 cals a day deficit as well) and lift heavy at least 3x per week. Of course, you'll also need a heavy dose of patience, as results take longer to notice. The last time I implored this method, I didn't see any weightloss on the scale for about a month, though I lost a whole pant size in that time.

    https://www.muscleforlife.com/build-muscle-lose-fat/

  • scottdeleeuw
    scottdeleeuw Posts: 10 Member
    It's absolutely possible to gain muscle while in a deficit if you lift weights to stress your body enough to make it happen, and keep protein high. Read up on Protein-sparing modified fasts for an extreme of example of how that is used.
  • BlueSkyShoal
    BlueSkyShoal Posts: 325 Member
    I started lifting weights because I want to have nice abs and triceps to show off once the fat comes off, lol. I don't like "the underarm jiggle" that I, like a lot of ladies, have.

    So far I've been losing weight faster than before I started lifting. Of course part of that is probably that I do cardio at the gym too. But in any case, lifting weights has not caused me to be unable to lose. And I am definitely building muscle--I am beginning to feel / see it in the areas that have the least fat padding.
  • joemac1988
    joemac1988 Posts: 1,021 Member
    nessdeal7 wrote: »
    I've read conflicting information and just wanted some insight.

    @nessdeal7 It depends on your starting bf%. Muscle and fat are two different things; people talk about "converting muscle to fat"...impossible. In order to lose fat, you need to be in a calorie deficit and in order to build muscle you need to be in a calorie surplus. What that means is when you are in a surplus, you will add muscle but you will also add some fat. That is why I said it depends on your starting bf%; if you are already carrying a lot, you should start by cutting. That being said, don't avoid weights while cutting; you won't ADD muscle but it will help you RETAIN it.

    Hope that helps.
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