Counterproductive lifting?

el27

Hi! For the past five months I've been doing squats, deadlifts and benchpresses on and off in an effort to lose a bit of fat. I ended up at around 8 stone 9 as my typical weight (down from 9 st 1). I'm female and 5 ft 3.

During the past 2 weeks however I had a lot of stress, did no weights or cardio - and my weight dropped to 8 st 4/5 and my stomach was noticeably flatter (though was still eating almost as much as normal) - this is what I was just a few days ago.

Every single day for the past week though, I've been eating normally (if not more), doing a version of squats, lifts and presses with free weights (6kg in each hand) - now I'm back up at 8 st 9, think I look bulkier and am definitely hungrier, so am eating a bit more (often junk).

Basically, I'm wondering if I'm lifting too often/too heavy and if this approach has become counterproductive? I know it's ridiculous to think I could turn into a body builder with what must be puny little weights to you experts here, but I've never seen my arms so big! FWIW, my measurements have stayed constant through the recent fluctuations (except the waist by a little bit obviously when the tummy was flatter) - isn't lifting meant to reduce them?!

I guess I'm just a bit puzzled and looking for advice. I don't have the means to join a gym for at least two months so would really love some advice to make sure I'm on the right track at home alone!

Darragh1981

Hi El,
In my experience the best way to trim down is cardio, walks, runs etc... While the weights you are using are not huge they will build up mussel and this in turn will add weight. (Mussel is heavier than fat). Using smaller weights and frequent repetition of these weights are the best way to tone up. Large weights build mussel where as smaller weights will tone what is already there and not bulk them up significantly. Also things like Yoga and in particular Pilates are great for tightening everything up. (If thats the right phrase)
Any hoo hope that helps, halve your weights and go walking for 30min - 1 hour a day.

el27

Hi Darragh, thanks for that! I used to go running for about 20 minutes 3/4 times a week so maybe i should get back to that.

It's just that the past while I've been reading here, people have said that cardio may help you to lose weight and look smaller but won't really change the fat-muscle ratio - that's why I reached for the weights.

Think I will go back down to lifting lighter weights with more reps from now on and will try to start running again too (though I really hate it sometimes, too much effort...).

rubadub

Darragh1981 wrote: »

Large weights build mussel where as smaller weights will tone what is already there and not bulk them up significantly.

In which case it would be more time and energy efficient to simply not lift the heavier ones as often, if you ever did get "too big" which is very unlikely to happen. Both will build and maintain muscle, "toned" is just muscle and low bodyfat. Most people lifting to lose fat are not overly concerned about how strong they are, just want muscle to boost metabolism, so most aim for hypertrophy, and most are not spending all day in the gym.

el27- it seems you might simply be dehydrated, this would drop your weight and make you hungrier. I would also enhance and define your muscles more. Professional body-builders will try to dehydrate before an even. Being leaner and dehydrated can make you look bulkier simply due to muscle definition.

Maintaining your muscle will keep your metabolism increased, so you can get away with eating more than if you didnt have it- without putting back on fat.

Darragh1981

You are right on some of the final points but back in the day when I was playing rugby et all ... it was always a case of low repetition heavy weights (3 sets of 3 or 6) to build muscle (spot the deliberate mistake in the last post, bloody molluscs), where as when I waslooking to maintain what I had after I finished playing, it was a case of 3 sets of 9 - 15 reps (Significantly Lower weights) to keep the muscle you have and keep it in shape.
By the way I'm no expert as the last 6 years of zero activity and chicken fillet baguettes have left me looking less than the sculpted figure of my youth.

Didn't realise there was a link between metabolism and muscle; good to know. Wondering would it then follow that bulking up in terms of Muscle at the outset of someone trying to get in shape would help with long term weight control. Initial bulkier look, higher metabolism = quicker loss of outstanding weight through cardio afterwards ... Must go googling to find out more!! This is of course already agreeing to cut out the 20 pints a week and 5 take outs!!!

rubadub

Darragh1981 wrote: »

You are right on some of the final points but back in the day when I was playing rugby et all ... it was always a case of low repetition heavy weights (3 sets of 3 or 6) to build muscle (spot the deliberate mistake in the last post, bloody molluscs), where as when I waslooking to maintain what I had after I finished playing, it was a case of 3 sets of 9 - 15 reps (Significantly Lower weights) to keep the muscle you have and keep it in shape.

Well for rugby you will want functional strength, bulk might give you momentum for a strong tackle etc But you also want power in that bulk. So in that case I would see you going for low rep sets to gain strength along with size. This is what I meant by people wanting to lose fat not being too concerned with strength,(enough will come with muscle growth anyway for most people). Powerlifters will train at lower reps too, to get max strength, size also come with this but they would try and keep size low if competing in a weight division. While a bodybuilder will just want size, not give a damn about strength. 9-15 is still in usually quoted 8-12 hypertrophy range, more will lead to endurance which a rugby player will also want I guess.

Darragh1981 wrote: »

By the way I'm no expert

I am no expert either just reiterating what I have seen posted many times here, and on other sites, and what certainly worked for me.

Darragh1981 wrote: »

Didn't realise there was a link between metabolism and muscle; good to know. Wondering would it then follow that bulking up in terms of Muscle at the outset of someone trying to get in shape would help with long term weight control. Initial bulkier look, higher metabolism = quicker loss of outstanding weight through cardio afterwards ... Must go googling to find out more!!

Yep, a strong link. A 15 stone rugby player needs more food to stay alive at rest than a 15 stone fat bloke, muscle needs more calories just to be maintained. A lot of people exercising have looking better as a goal, many equate this with losing weight. Many also equate losing weight with losing fat. If I looked like this
I would not give a damn if the scale read 30stone, and my BMI was 40!

Many people aiming to lose fat will drop calories, which leads to a loss in muscle mass as well as fat. You get weaker, drop metabolism, get thinner and put it all on again easily. If you want to look good, do not look at a dial on a scales, look in the mirror. I have been the same weight for well over a year, but am thinner and stronger than ever.

Darragh1981 wrote: »

This is of course already agreeing to cut out the 20 pints a week and 5 take outs!!!

This is the thing, I am only 12stone, most lifters here would call me skinny, but I have put on enough muscle so I can eat and drink pretty much what I want, which actually averages 25+pints a week, and last week I had 4 burgers and 30 mini chicken nuggets in one sitting after a feed of pints! If I did not lift I could not get away with that.

kevpants

Hi OP, please don't change from what you are doing. Fair play to you, you are on the right track. Please don't get sucked into the mindless cardio myth.

The squat, bench and deadlift are staples as far as getting in shape go. YOU WILL NOT GET BIG AND MUSCLEBOUND. The amount of women who won't pick up a barbell because they are scared they'll wake up in the morning musclebound. Two words...I wish.

It's been said by much better informed individuals than me that women who want to get in shape should train like powerlifters, you won't end up like musclebound.

Please also don't fall into the muscle weighs more tha fat trick, yes it does weigh more but for every kg of muscle you put on you'll lose more in fat.

Colm_OReilly

El,

What progression have you made on the weights? What weights did you start lifting? What are you lifting now? What is your exact routine?

Can you post your diet please?

el27

I started squatting, lifting and pressing in Jan/Feb using just the bar and no weight (but some of the gym's bars are heavier than others). When I was last at the gym (over a month ago) I could deadlift with 10 kg plates at either end of the lighter bar, do 7.5 as a squat, but only manage less than 5 for the benchpress! With each exercise I aimed for 3-4 sets of 8 - 10 reps each, but often I could only manage 7 with the squat, so sometimes I reduced the weight a bit.

I'm now without a gym and lifting 7kg weights in each hand in the comfort of my home, trying to recreate those three exercises, with 10-12 reps per set and doing 3-5 sets, depending on how I feel.

Went through good phases of going to gym 3-4 times a week and during this time I ate well - porridge with water for breakfast, prawn salad and fruit for lunch, lean meat and lots of veg for dinner, snacked on nuts in the afternoon, but a habit of biscuits/sweets in the evening too often.

Diet's not great now:
Breakfast - sugary muesli (no added sugar from me) with skimmed milk
tea and biscuit at 11ish
Lunch - often homemade chunky veg soup with some cheese, often bag of crisps if I've no willpower
tea and biscuit again in afternoon (bad I know)
Dinner - meat and veg stirfry, with tortilla wraps or rice (need to lose the carbs i think)
Little bit of chocolate after dinner, maybe a glass of wine

From writing my diet down I think it's obvious where I'm going wrong. Need to get rid of the refined carbs but I've gotten into a bit of an addictive spiral and it's hard to stop!

Btw, weight down to 8 st 7 today and had no carbs for dinner last night - think that's telling me something...