Which is Better For Weigh Loss In Weight Lifting?

[shari_dawn]

more weight or more reps???

[chinadoll]

Well. for each pound of muscle you gain, your metabolism rises. You will see a slower loss on scale because muscle weighs more than fat but will get leaner faster by building muscle. So in spite of the slow down on the scale, the better metabolism and loss of inches makes me vote for more weight. I lift to failure at 8 to 10 reps (3 sets) at the moment and am seeing it help me break my stall along with an intense cardio step up.

[shari_dawn]

well I'm not using the scale this time. I'm just going by clothing size. I figure I didn't use the scale while I was gaining the weight so why use it when I'm losing it. If I were not to lose any weight and I was following the scale I would get discouraged. This way I go to the gym do my workout and once I'm done with the induction i'll work the rungs and keep plugging away. I think only being on day 10 that I've already lost a pants size but I'm not sure because they are stretch pants and I want to fit loosly into a size 18 non stretchy pants before I claim that goal mark. Anyway I see a difference already and I feel good so thats what matters.

[chinadoll]

Good for you Shari. I think the scale tends to influence most of us way too much (myself included). One thing- I found that lifting heavy did much more to sculpt my body than toning (low weight long on reps) levels of resistance did. So that's another plus for the heavy side. But if you haven't lifted before, get a good training manual that teaches proper form and only go as heavy as you can while still maintaining perfect form so you don't injure yourself.