Losing weight by using weights.

prodigal_son

I started to work out recently, im new to everything, but i went ahead and just dove right in..

My inital reason for doing weights wasnt to eat loads and bulk up, but to loose weight.

I have lost a stone and a half in about a month and a half, decided i was doing well so came online to get some hints, and i have one big question.

I pretty much jumped right into a schedule of high rep, medium/low weight workout followed by half an hour of stationary bike.

For example, i would do 3 sets of bench press at 30kg for 30 reps with a 60 second pause between sets.

Is that the right approach. I read that doing 6 sets of lower reps would be better, but im not sure if that would be better at losing fat, or bulking up.

with the regime i am on, i have gone from 12 stone 4, to 10 stone 11, but also my muscle mass has increased visibly, although i am by no means "big" and have changed from not being able to do 10 pressups, to them feeling so easy now that i occasionally do a few sets just to change things around..

So, so far the high rep low/medium weights have worked a treat for me, adding muscle and losing fat.. but is it the right way to go?

does higher sets with a lower rep rate work the muscle more and use more calories, burning more fat and building more muscle.. or should i just stick to how its working?

thanks for any advice.

rubadub

What is your age & height?

You lost 21lb in 6-7weeks, so around 3lb a week which is quite a lot, especially as you are fairly light to begin with.

Bear in mind you will be adding muscle and losing fat so keeping track on FAT loss is more important than overall weight. i.e. I have been ~12stone for well over a year now yet getting thinner all the time.

What is your diet like, I expect you are not eating a lot to loose so much.

8-12 reps at 2-3sets is recommended for maximum muscle growth (hypertrophy). If you are not eating enough you will not put on much BUT you will not loose the muscle you have. You often hear on sites where people want a lean look (ala brad pitt fight club) that all you have to do is "not eat", I do not believe that for a second, christian bale is a big bloke yet I presume he just was "not eating" to get into the role for the machinist, where his body is wasted away.

You use calories up when building muscle, so stimulating growth means you burn calories even on your days off. I found it excellent for losing fat and highly recommend it. When the muscle is on you use more calories simply maintaining it. You are now a quite low weight, if you want more muscle then get eating and keep up the weights.

Get your bodyfat % measured in the gym.