Lifting Weights to Lose Weight

mytwocents

So i'm 5'4/5 and just under 9 stone. I'm really into the gym at the moment and hoping to lose almost a stone.

My question is should I be lifting the heaviest weights that I can or should I be doing more repetitions of lighter weights.

Bear in mind that I don't want my arms/legs to be big, I want them to be small but very toned.

Glowing

Whatever weights you lift, you WONT end up bulky. That's myth #1 It's the absolute best thing you can do, along with a good diet, to boost your metabolism and start burning fat.

mytwocents

How do weights not make you big though? Nearly every guy I see doing weights is pretty big (as in their arms etc). At the moment I am doing weights, I just want to make sure that I'm not going to end up with huge arms or anything.

Scuba Ste

They're probably training years to get that big and eating enough to do so too.

If you want to lose weight, weight training will help you retain your muscle mass and get that "toned" look, effectively burning mostly fat.

Heavy weight for lower reps will help you do this while making sure you eat less calories than you need to fuel your body. Eating a higher amount of protein will help too.

You won't build muscle if your eating less calories than you need to maintain your weight. If your a woman you don't have enough testosterone to build that much muscle anyway so don't worry about it.

Basically;
Eat lots, do weights, gain weight, mostly muscle (but not for women).
Eat just enough, do weights, stay mostly the same with maybe small changes in appearance and strength.
Eat less, do weights, lose weight and look toned.

mytwocents

Ok thanks a mil. At the moment I seem to be doing things right. I am eating so healthily, doing cardio and weights so the weight should be falling off me soon

Glowing

You can't build muscle when you're on a calorie defect right? So should the op not concentrate on eating enough calories but of the right foods (less carbs, more protein)? Building muscle should be the goal ... the fat loss is a side effect of more muscle plus a good diet.. at least that's what I thought?

The toned look you are referring to is what happens when you have larger muscles, and less fat covering them. If the op reduces her calorie intake, doing weights will prob have little or no effect other than making her tired and slowing down her metabolism.

I *highly* recommend you buy this book btw: bookdepository.co.uk/New-Rules-Lifting-for-Women-Lou-Schuler/9781583332948

OP I've been weight training for nearly 4 months now. The only effects I've experienced are positive. My shoulders are broader but I've lost inches off my waist and my bf had reduced considerably. Most of all I feel fantastic. more energy, I look really 'toned' (I hate that word) and don't underestimate the benefits of being strong to boot!

thehamo

Girls dont have the levels of testosterone to grow to the same size as a man from lifting weights. THe level you would be lifting at OP will just tone wont bulk up. Getting that big takes a particular diet and regime!

jive

Glowing wrote: »

If the op reduces her calorie intake, doing weights will prob have little or no effect other than making her tired and slowing down her metabolism.

OP you won't get big or bulky. How many girls have you seen in your life that are too muscly? Very few, if any, and there's a good reason for it. Women don't build muscle like men do due to hormonal differences. To get too muscly as a woman would take many, many years of lifting weights (similar applies to men but even more so to women).

A good weight loss routine will always include weight lifting. The biggest mistake girls make is that they pick up the pink 1kg dumbbells and do 600 reps with minimal effort and think they have done some good work. Do some research into compound movements and incorporate them into your routine before doing cardio. Do compound movements + cardio = great success.

People who only do cardio and/or don't eat enough tend to look like malnourished streaks of piss. I can guarantee that any toned women you see incorporate some form of weight or resistance training into their routine.

Mellor

mytwocents wrote: »

How do weights not make you big though? Nearly every guy I see doing weights is pretty big (as in their arms etc).

Building significant mass requires excess calories. If you are aiming to lose weight then you need to be eating a calorie deficit before you even think about your excercise plan.

Glowing wrote: »

You can't build muscle when you're on a calorie defect right?

Generally, thats correct, except for newb gains.

So should the op not concentrate on eating enough calories but of the right foods (less carbs, more protein)? Building muscle should be the goal ... the fat loss is a side effect of more muscle plus a good diet.. at least that's what I thought?

That's completely wrong. If they are trying to lose weight then why would building muscle be the goal.

Yes more muscle means you'll burn more calories at rest. But the idea that this is how you burn body fat with weights is wrong. To lose fat you need a deficit, simple as that. Even if your now burning mroe cals, you still need to then eat a deficit to lose the fat.

The toned look you are referring to is what happens when you have larger muscles, and less fat covering them. If the op reduces her calorie intake, doing weights will prob have little or no effect other than making her tired and slowing down her metabolism.

That's not true. What are you basing this on.
Lifting weights, would actually increase her metabolic rate, consuming enough protein would be conducive to retaining muscle and dropping fat.

Lifting weights uses energy, just like any activity.
If the OP burns 1800 through normal activity, comsumes 1500 calories, and also 200 calories worth of resistance training, then have created a c.500 cal deficit.

Glowing

I'm not explaining myself very well. I'm just trying to say that if the op cuts her daily calorie intake by too much, then she'll not have the energy for it, and won't be able to adequately repair her muscles. Also its a fact that if u cut your calories too much it does reduce your metabolism!

Mellor

i don't dispute that massive deficits slow your metabolism. But thats not what you said.

You never specified too large a deficit, you implied any deficit.
You said that weights will slow her metabolism. They won't.
You said that weights will have no effect on a deficit, also not true.

It's a simple fact. To lose weight there has to be a deficit.

coco_lola

Do you mind if I ask why you want to lose a stone? I am a female, 5'5", and almost 9.5 stone, and I thought I was the right weight for my height?? Should I aim to lose a stone too?

Mellor

coco_lola wrote: »

Do you mind if I ask why you want to lose a stone? I am a female, 5'5", and almost 9.5 stone, and I thought I was the right weight for my height?? Should I aim to lose a stone too?

There is no such thing as a correct weight for height. Any lists that exists are guides based on averages, ans as such have no exact application for an individual.

Two guys could be the same height and weight, yet one could be great shape and the other overweight.
Similarly for women, it can vary a lot.

cmyk

mytwocents wrote: »

So i'm 5'4/5 and just under 9 stone. I'm really into the gym at the moment and hoping to lose almost a stone.

OP, you'll need to run a calorie deficit to achieve this. Here's some homework, sign up to fitday.com or myfitnesspal, or any of the others, log your daily food/fluids, come back and tell us how many cals and the macros (protein/fat/cho) you're eating.

The weights question just simply depends.

huskerdu

mytwocents wrote: »

So i'm 5'4/5 and just under 9 stone. I'm really into the gym at the moment and hoping to lose almost a stone.

My question is should I be lifting the heaviest weights that I can or should I be doing more repetitions of lighter weights.

Bear in mind that I don't want my arms/legs to be big, I want them to be small but very toned.

If you are 5'5 and 9 stone, your BMI is 21, which is would suggest that you are slim.
If you loss 12lbs, your BMI will be 19, which is borderline underweight.

IMHO, you can only acheive this by permanently undereating, which is not healthy.

Why not go to the gym, do some exercise that you enjoy and dont worry about the scales.

coco_lola

Mellor wrote: »

There is no such thing as a correct weight for height. Any lists that exists are guides based on averages, ans as such have no exact application for an individual.

Two guys could be the same height and weight, yet one could be great shape and the other overweight.
Similarly for women, it can vary a lot.

OK, phew, cause I was finally happy with my weight, I always felt underweight at 8.5 stone, I put on a stone to look and feel healthier

Paigne

coco_lola wrote: »

OK, phew, cause I was finally happy with my weight, I always felt underweight at 8.5 stone, I put on a stone to look and feel healthier

Bolded the aspects I feel you should listen too over other peoples weight
I cant bold your smiley, but if i could, he would be!!

coco_lola

Paigne wrote: »

Bolded the aspects I feel you should listen too over other peoples weight
I cant bold your smiley, but if i could, he would be!!

Thanks yeah definitely, I was 8 stone at the start of last year, and 8.5 coming into October 2010, I looked frail, and like I would break in half at any moment! I combined eating well with exercise and I am now at a healthy weight and look stronger and healthier

banshee_bones

jive wrote: »

A good weight loss routine will always include weight lifting. The biggest mistake girls make is that they pick up the pink 1kg dumbbells and do 600 reps with minimal effort and think they have done some good work. Do some research into compound movements and incorporate them into your routine before doing cardio. Do compound movements + cardio = great success.

If you can afford it OP I would strongly suggest you get a Personal Trainer (who trains using these lifts themselves) to show you how to do these correctly with good form and make up a program with them in it for you.