lift while loosing weight or after?

Liiiiift! Lift heavy! Lift now!

lift now

Always start strength from the beginning

weightloss_acc wrote: »

Why is lifting necessary from the start?

I wouldn't say it's necessary, but obviously highly recommended.
Lifting while losing weight is going to maintain the muscle you have now and affect your body composition when you get to goal.

Adding muscle will speed up your metabolism him and also your weight loss. Definitely do the weights!

Excellent thread. Been doing some strength with mostly cardio....but I'll probably do more weights in my next exercise program...starting next week. Thanks for all the inputs in this thread.

weightloss_acc wrote: »

Thank you for all the replies! I am really intrested in lifting, but i do not know where to start! All i know is cardio and body weight exercises. I would love to be able to walk in the gym and lift heavy! I love fittness.

Well, here's what I did. Should mention, I used to belong to a gym, which closed. I'm currently unemployed and don't want to deal with regular gym dues being debited, so joining another one isn't happening for me right now. Back when I was working, my place of business gave 'length of service' gifts and after I'd been with them for 10 years, I chose a GazelleEdge Fitness Glider out of their catalog. It's similar to an elliptical, primarily for cardio, but it works the major muscle groups and even if it's not ideal for strength training, it helps a bit.

I got back on the glider about 5 months ago, after I'd been doing MFP for 6 weeks. And then I started hanging out in the forums and getting a crash course in health and fitness (P.S. Thanks everyone!). And one of the recurring themes was, "Calories are for weight. Exercise is for fitness. And while you don't need to exercise to lose weight, it's still good for you. And Cardio and strength are beneficial for different reasons."

I'd done some weight training with machines when I belonged to that gym, but I'd never done free weights before. So, one day when I was walking back home from the bookstore, I took the plunge and walked into a fitness store I was passing on my way. And pretty much told them, "I'm trying to lose weight and I've been learning that I need to preserve muscle. I'm new to strength training and don't know where to start."

The clerk recommended fit tubes or dumbbells. And what it boiled down to was that I'd walked to the store; I was 35 minutes from home, and I wasn't sure if I could carry dumbbells home in a shopping bag (or two) hanging from my arm/wrist/hand. I got the tubes, found a video on YouTube and some more exercises on the Theragear website, and had at it. (If you go this route, get the 'door attachment', too. For some exercises, you're going to need to suspend the tube and this lets you hang it from a door.)

Last month, I decided I wanted to increase the regimen. So, the first thing I did was get a book on strength training. There are a lot of good ones. I happened to be in a bookstore with a limited selection and I went with this one because it had a range of exercises plus a lot of pictures. I do recommend it (and it's got a 5-star rating on Amazon.ca), but it's far from the only resource.

Since then, I've been creating a 'fitness gym on a budget' in my basement. And by budget, I mean "Under $400 CDN* including the retail cost of the glider I got for free and the book."

I now have:

• 3 fit tubes
• 3 resistance bands
• A stability ball
• A Nerf soccer ball (some of the warmup exercises in the book call for using a ball, others for a band.)
• A mat
• 2 3-lb dumbbells, 2 5-lb dumbbells. Also an 8 and a 10, but I'll need to get a second one of each when I'm ready for them
• The book

Eventually, I want to get a raised platform (or a good step-stool) for some of the exercises in the book. My stairs are too narrow and the 'bed' of the treadmill I haven't used since it tried to kill me isn't stable enough. Also, there are a couple of exercises in the book that call for two fit tubes of the same resistance level. Not sure if I'll get another set of those, tbh. I mean, the book also has some exercises with weight machines and I have no plans to buy a leg-press! We shall see.

*A lot of my fitness purchases have been somewhat impulsive. In the sense that at the back of my mind, I knew I wanted a ball for warmups. Found a display bin of them in my local pharmacy and grabbed one on the spot without comparison-shopping. I know for a fact that I paid more for the fit tubes than I could have elsewhere, but the store is close by and I don't drive.

Best advice? Ask someone in the store how to get started. They'll probably be able to assess the right weight-level to start with. Then get a book; visit YouTube and get going!