Lifting Weights

[rich0788]

I have been on inductoin for 2 1/2 weeks now and it almost seems like my weight has stayed the same the last couple days. I know i have a hard time realizing that i will not lose weight every day, but what about lifting weights. What kinda weights should i be lifting? And should i focus more on low weight with a lot of reps or heavy weight and less reps. I still got about 100 lbs to lose and i would rather lose the weight first then gain the muscle. PLEASE HELP

[Suzanne_H]

Toned muscles will give you a number of benefits. Even with 100 lbs to lose, toning muscles will improve your overall look, boost self-esteem, attitude and energy levels, and increase your metabolism. Most gyms have trainers willing to give you a free first consultation and will recommend a training regimen that fits your needs.

At the YMCA my trainer recommended that I make 12 reps on each Cybex machine at a weight setting that doesn't cause pain in 12 reps... then complete the same circuit of all muscle groups 3 times. He also had me start with 15 minutes of cardio on the elliptical machine. I couldn't do that at first, and instead did the stationary bike until I could handle the elliptical. Eventually I did work up to 30 mins of cardio before the weights. I know some folks did cardio only every other day switched off with strength training. I preferred a longer workout fewer days a week. He also highly recommended a day off between strength training days to give my muscles time to recover.

[chinadoll]

If you are going to do free weights and have never done them, get a trainer to teach you. It will be worth it so you don't end up injured. I would shoot for 2 sets of 10-12 reps with the last rep being really difficult to finish. You will have to play around to find the right weights. Keep your core in control. You sound hung up on the scale. I have lost 0 pounds in the past month but I am now down about 16+ inches because I restarted my weight routine. I will take 16 inches over the scale loss any day of the week. Those inches make me look better too. When I lost 50 pounds it didn't change my body as much as 15 pounds off and the weights. And the increased muscle means you burn more calories every day.

Don't do light weights and high reps. It's mindless and doesn't really benefit you. Add strength and power. You will also feel much better about yourself AND the workouts will be briefer so you will be more likely to stick with it.

[jcapulet]

I'd say keep up the strength training with weights. You may not be losing pounds right away (from muscle gain), but instead are losing inches of fat! I've just started strength training and I love it. I like the idea of burning more fat due to increased muscles

[gonnaloselots!]

Depending what body shape you want?
Do you want to do weights to be big, or toned? to increase muscle strength, or to increase muscle stamina?

Your training should be dependant on the results you want, if you want to focus purley on fat loss you could do interval training with resistance based cardio, like rowing, swimming or boxing.

This is the most effective fat loss exercise, as interval training and other styles like circuit training, make the body jump from varying intensities keeping workouts interesting, and the metabolism working as hard as possible, this helps not only to burn a large amount of calories during a workout but also helps keep your metabolism burning fat for up to 12hours afterwards.

Even a combination of both cardio and weights if you are willing to put that amount of effort in, could change your body shape completely within 1-2 months.

(If you are going to do this though ensure you do weights before cardio.)

If you want tell me how long per day and how many times per week your willing to train, and what you want to achieve, or what you most want to improve?

And I will write you a program you can follow to gain these results, with some example exercises and quantities, ect.

Cheers

[nimbinpaul]

I used to do just lots of cardio.... running up to an hour a day, I lost weight sure, but when I changed to a combination of interval training and weights then things REALLY sped up.

I now do 20 minutes interval running ( slow jogging for about 2 1/2 minutes then run hard for about 45 seconds) this cycle repeats about 7 times for about 20 minutes.
Then I do an alternating push/pull regimen and I lift each weight to fatigue ( ie cant lift anymore with good form) This is about 25 minutes... so less time than my hour long runs and less chance of injury.

This might not make sense to you, but search around and you'll get clearer advice ( Im not a trainer) but I really found that cardio plus weights was the key to keeping my metabolism going well even in induction.