Girls ONLY strength training?!

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jab191
jab191 Posts: 2 Member
in Fitness and Exercise
I want to hear from women who are into strength training / Olympic lifting / powerlifting.... how did this affect your weight loss journey? Did it make it more difficult? Assuming it puts gains on a temporary hiatus, but were you still able to strictly strength train while losing weight? Did you add cardio? Tell me what you did! :smile: thanks!

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  • DancingMoosie
    DancingMoosie Posts: 8,615 Member
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    I really got into lifting after my weight loss. It wasn't done purposely that way, I did try to do strength training with dumbbells and machines along the way. But then I got invited to join the powerlifting team's workouts, and learned how to use bars and plates. Been lifting ever since. I've actually been lifting to try to build a better butt, so I have gained a little weight, but only about 6 lbs. I don't think lifting stalls your weight loss except for the water retention when your muscles are recovering.
  • endermako
    endermako Posts: 785 Member
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    sardelsa wrote: »
    I had some water weight gain (2-3lbs) when I started that sticks around so it's a few weeks of what looks like a stall but is basically a new starting point. I do add a bit of cardio but not much, maybe 30-40 min a week. It made it better for me because my body composition looked way better vs just dieting alone (I've done it both ways)

    Same for me, you'll go up a few pounds and it looks like a stall, mine only went away this week because i got sick and couldn't strength train.
  • SonyaCele
    SonyaCele Posts: 2,841 Member
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    Once i started powerlifting, i stopped being concerned with what i weigh. I lift because i love how it makes me feel, not because of any weight loss . and it really doesn't do anything for weight loss, Weight loss is all about being in a calorie deficit. Weight lifting isnt' a high calorie burning activity, so its not gonna add much deficit.
  • kami3006
    kami3006 Posts: 4,978 Member
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    I lost 25 pounds while doing Strong Lifts and then PHUL. My goal was set to .5 pound a week and that's what it averaged out to. Never had an issue, never stalled. The only cardio I did was 10 minutes on the elliptical as part of my warm-up. After several weeks of monitoring my progress, I added back about 100 calories for an hour to 1.5 hours of lifting. I'm small so 100 calories made a difference to me.

    After reaching my goal weight, I decided I didn't care about the scale and was more interested in body composition. Now, I'm heavier but smaller with more muscle.
  • carolsoules
    carolsoules Posts: 34 Member
    edited April 2018
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    Lifting is great for weight loss because muscle burns calories even at rest, so if you build more muscle mass, you'll burn more calories throughout the day than you do right now just sitting on your butt.

    If you're cutting calories, your strength and muscle mass gains are gonna slow, but that doesn't mean you have to lose muscle or get weaker. Pay attention to your macros and continue to strength train. Make sure your'e still getting enough calories that your muscles can recover from your workouts properly.

    Keep an eye on sodium/electrolytes and drink a lot of water consistently to help with the water retention (although if you're supplementing with creatine it's gonna be there no matter what).

    Don't stop lifting :)
  • JaxxieKat
    JaxxieKat Posts: 427 Member
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    sardelsa wrote: »
    I had some water weight gain (2-3lbs) when I started that sticks around so it's a few weeks of what looks like a stall but is basically a new starting point.

    This! I got serious about strength training again and started training for a 5k and started taking a preworkout with creatine in it. Imagine my surprise when I stepped on the scale and within a few days I was 6lbs heavier. Funny thing was, my body looked leaner and my clothes still fit. 3lbs of that did go away after the first week, but it was a shocker. That's why they say the scale isn't the only litmus test of success on this journey.
  • kdcatt
    kdcatt Posts: 21 Member
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    I have been debating about this for a few days. I began an almost all strength training program 2 weeks ago (5 days lifting and 1 day cardio, 1 rest), but wondering if I need more cardio for now. I need to lose 30 lbs, so was thinking a little more cardio until I am down to the last 10 and then focus almost entirely on strength? Was thinking 3 days cardio and 3 days strength until I drop about 20. Thoughts?
  • Lesley2603
    Lesley2603 Posts: 119 Member
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    I’ve been strength training for 2.5 years, lost 5 stone, only cardio is 5 min warm up and walking during my normal day
  • quiksylver296
    quiksylver296 Posts: 28,442 Member
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    SonyaCele wrote: »
    Once i started powerlifting, i stopped being concerned with what i weigh. I lift because i love how it makes me feel, not because of any weight loss . and it really doesn't do anything for weight loss, Weight loss is all about being in a calorie deficit. Weight lifting isn't a high calorie burning activity, so its not gonna add much deficit.

    That^^
  • quiksylver296
    quiksylver296 Posts: 28,442 Member
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    carolsoules wrote: »
    Lifting is great for weight loss because muscle burns calories even at rest, so if you build more muscle mass, you'll burn more calories throughout the day than you do right now just sitting on your butt.

    True-ish. 4 to 6 more calories. Not enough to be noticeable.
  • jemhh
    jemhh Posts: 14,261 Member
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    From an aesthetic standpoint, lifting weights helped me look better after my weight loss than I would have if I hadn't been losing. I have no 100% way to state that since I didn't repeat the process without lifting but I firmly believe it. Several people made comments to the effect of I know you've lost weight but you've also been doing something else and I don't know what it is but you look great and really the only thing I did differently than other women I knew who were losing weight was lift. You can see it with a lot of women when they post pictures and state their weights. Their weights may be on the higher side but they look great.
  • candicew70
    candicew70 Posts: 74 Member
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    I lift and do couch to 5K several times a week (2 days on/1 day of rest). Really, I could just lift weights to achieve the results I want, but I like jogging and there's the whole cardiovascular health thing. My goal was never really to lose weight, but rather to recomp, which takes a loooong time. But I knew that going in.

    I have lost about 7lbs but more importantly I've lost 3 inches off my waist and 2 off my hips and most of my clothes fit again. If your goal is to weigh less, then diet and cardio will do that. If you goal is to change how your body looks, then lift weights. Heavy weights.
  • clehman71
    clehman71 Posts: 139 Member
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    I started the weight loss journey by doing c25k. After an injury that set my running to "not happening", I have tendinosis. I got into weight training. From the point of running and HIIT time to now, I am about 20 lbs heavier. I wear the same size clothes, but look better in them :smiley: I quit worrying about my weight so much as the weight I could lift. I started weight training thinking the weights seemed impossible to lift. Now my bs is 235, dl is 255 and bp is 155. Lifting is great because you can be heavier, it just isn't fat anymore!!
  • Amerane
    Amerane Posts: 136 Member
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    I started going to the gym 3x/week last January, and I was a total newb to weight training. Me and my gym buddy started off with a formula of 30 minutes cardio (usually elliptical) and then weight machines according to grouping (lower body, upper body, core) with a few bodyweight exercises thrown in since there were really only 4 core machines. I started with 3 sets of 20 reps for each machine, increasing weight for each set according to my ability. I chose this formula with high reps because I was mainly interested in endurance, not bulking up or maximizing single weight lifts. At first I only increased weight by 5 pounds each set, now I'm at intervals of 10 lbs. I started out at the lowest weight for pretty much everything, but when I peaked during August-September I was in the middle weight ranges for most machines. Due to life stuff, I stopped going regularly and lost a lot of my progress during October-February, but I'm starting back up because I really loved the feeling of weight training. Also my arms and torso were starting to look awesome.

    I noticed that weight training did help my weight loss, although I wasn't technically losing many pounds (~2 lbs/month) I did see changes in my measurements/body composition. My goal is 145 lbs/within a normal BMI range for my height, started at 167 lbs January 2017, was at 155 during Aug-Oct of last year, and am currently at 163 lbs.

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