New Rules of Lifting for Women (Book)

fromnebraska
fromnebraska Posts: 153 Member
edited October 2024 in Fitness and Exercise
Has anyone read/followed their program? They recommend not cutting back on calorie consumption. Is this correct?

I'm interested in losing weight, but also increasing my strength significantly. Any suggestions?

Replies

  • Lisa_222
    Lisa_222 Posts: 301 Member
    All I can say is, I once worked a few months straight out and didn't eat less ( I think I was actually eating more, but that's another issue) and although I looked a lot better, it wasn't as much as an improvement as it could have been. I guess if you don't have any poundage to lose, it might be ok.
  • fromnebraska
    fromnebraska Posts: 153 Member
    No I definitely have some weight to lose...

    =)
  • 13hirteen
    13hirteen Posts: 94 Member
    I'm doing NROLFW's exercise routine (just starting Stage 2) with my own dietary choices (I'm veggie, so the food programme in the book isn't too well designed for me anyway).

    I've made sure I eat as much protein as possible (which still isn't as much as I'd like... see vegetarianism, above) and ALWAYS try to eat back my exercise calories (tracked via HRM as MFP's "strength training" cardio option vastly underestimates kcal burn).

    I also had to increase my minimum caloric intake to keep up with my training a little a while ago - my weight loss plateaued and I wasn't lifting as much I should have been able to. Routinely eating more appears to have solved that one.

    I'm consistently losing weight and inches, my muscles have visibly developed (their visibility also aided by the fat loss) and I can now squat 80% of my body weight.

    Eating a low calorie diet isn't ideal if you're after pure strength development, but it's possible to strike a balance and the extra muscle you build will in turn increase your BMR. I should note that I'm also doing cardio on non-strength days, as I'm training for triathlon - again, not something you should do if your focus is on pure strength, but not something that's done me any harm.

    Once I've shed a bit more body fat, I'm going to be focussing more on muscle development and eating more calories accordingly.

    The New Rules of Lifting is a great framework for strength training, even if you modify the dietary stuff, but I am keeping a close eye on my nutrition to make sure I'm eating as much as my body needs.

    Apologies for rambling.
  • kathleennf
    kathleennf Posts: 606 Member
    I have read about the book but not read it- would like to. I have been researching this topic though. Bottom line - if your main goal is to lose weight, you probably want to cut calories, If your main goal is to build muscle, you probably DON'T. I'm currently in the muscle building phase.

    BTW - I lived in Nebraska for 3 years!
  • fromnebraska
    fromnebraska Posts: 153 Member
    I'm a vegetarian too!

    I guess my confusion is coming from: more food + strength training = fat loss?
  • tigeratty
    tigeratty Posts: 75 Member
    I agree with them. If your goal is to build muscle, you have to eat enough. The program is hard to do if you restrict too much. What they bascially say is to do a 300 calorie per day deficit on lifting days instead of a 500 calorie deficit, which is the norm (and what MFP has figured in if you use their default). They recommend the 200 calorie a day difference be in the form of a protein shake after your workout.

    I'm a big fan of the protein shake, it really helps my recovery and I am much less sore than without it. I use one that is 110 calories.

    You have to be careful because when you start lifting really heavy you will want to eat more. I work out at night, so for me it's on the day after lifting, not the day of. It's just a matter of picking lean protein and high fiber foods to fill you up, not junk.

    If you do it with the HIIT I think you will see results. You can either do the HIIT after weights or on another day by itself.

    Shari
  • 13hirteen
    13hirteen Posts: 94 Member
    I guess my confusion is coming from: more food + strength training = fat loss?

    Strength training burns calories (and thus fat) just like any other form of physical exertion.

    However, it also stimulates your body to invest the food it gets into repairing and growing your muscles - protein's best for this, so it becomes your priority food group if you're eating for strength.

    Muscle burns more calories even in its resting state than an equivalent weight of fat, so your new muscles help to further reduce fat.

    Of course, there are limits - a lot of powerlifters and Olympic lifters have more than a bit of fat on them, because they're eating loads to stimulate MAJOR muscle growth and don't want to take the performance hit that would result from ditching the fat; losing fat, no matter how carefully planned, always takes some muscle with it.

    Hence the calorie control/strength training/cardio combo I'm balancing my way through. It doesn't achieve any of the goals perfectly and is in some ways the worst of all worlds (well, except for the world in which I sit on my *kitten* eating biscuits), but helps me move steadily towards all of them.

    If you have a lot of weight to lose, pure strength work without cardio or calorie reduction is unlikely to shift it all by itself. But building muscle does help to lose weight, and also means that you look better while in the process of doing it (and better still after it's gone).

    Also, lifting heavy things and putting them back down again is super fun. :laugh:

    Usual caveats apply: I am not an expert and have no pertinent training; always take the opinion of random strangers on the internet - myself included - with a pinch of salt, etc.
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