Resistance Training to lose weight
Discussion
I used to be around 85kgs but I ballooned to 115, for the past few months I have been on a strict calorie controlled diet of max 1500 a day and coupled it with cycling and walking. I am now down to 105 and its going down slowly.
It's worth mentioning that in the past I have gone down from 110+ down to 85 before using the same combination of calorie control + walking six miles/day.
I have zero experience of anything in a gym. I can use a running and cycling machine but I don't know anything else at all. I looked on youtube and found the following video
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WIHy-ZnSndA
It seems easy to follow, I can do it easily at home would this be the correct way to continue to lose weight? Or should I stick to cycling and walking?
My number one aim is to get down to at least 90kg more than anything else.
It's worth mentioning that in the past I have gone down from 110+ down to 85 before using the same combination of calorie control + walking six miles/day.
I have zero experience of anything in a gym. I can use a running and cycling machine but I don't know anything else at all. I looked on youtube and found the following video
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WIHy-ZnSndA
It seems easy to follow, I can do it easily at home would this be the correct way to continue to lose weight? Or should I stick to cycling and walking?
My number one aim is to get down to at least 90kg more than anything else.
It's calories to lose fat as you've said. The more calories you expend vs consume, the more fat you will lose.
Resistance/weight training is more for body composition so how much lean mass (muscle) you have which will change how you look when you have less body fat.
It's worth doing for general health reasons though, not just for looks or to be strong.
Resistance/weight training is more for body composition so how much lean mass (muscle) you have which will change how you look when you have less body fat.
It's worth doing for general health reasons though, not just for looks or to be strong.
If you're interested in resistance training and losing weight then I'd highly recommend reading Bigger, Leaner, Stronger by Michael Matthews. It contains everything you need to know and will transform your life if you stick with it 
I started out on the 3 day program and used myfitnesspal app to track my calories/macros.
I started out on the 3 day program and used myfitnesspal app to track my calories/macros. Dan130i said:
It's calories to lose fat as you've said. The more calories you expend vs consume, the more fat you will lose.
Resistance/weight training is more for body composition so how much lean mass (muscle) you have which will change how you look when you have less body fat.
It's worth doing for general health reasons though, not just for looks or to be strong.
Resistance training has an important place in weight loss..... after weight training the muscles continue to burn calories. far longer than after aerobic exercise, which tends to burn instant energy rather than converting fat into energy!!!!Resistance/weight training is more for body composition so how much lean mass (muscle) you have which will change how you look when you have less body fat.
It's worth doing for general health reasons though, not just for looks or to be strong.
Dan130i said:
It's calories to lose fat as you've said. The more calories you expend vs consume, the more fat you will lose.
Resistance/weight training is more for body composition so how much lean mass (muscle) you have which will change how you look when you have less body fat.
It's worth doing for general health reasons though, not just for looks or to be strong.
A Calorie deficit equals weight loss, not fat loss, there is a big difference.Resistance/weight training is more for body composition so how much lean mass (muscle) you have which will change how you look when you have less body fat.
It's worth doing for general health reasons though, not just for looks or to be strong.
It ultimately depends on what you want your end goal to be, do you just want that figure on the scales to say 90kg, or do you want to look in the mirror and feel really good about yourself.
You can be 90kg and still have a high body fat percentage which is the dangerous bit, and you could also be 150kg and be less than 10% bodyfat.
If you are doing resistance training, you will need to eat more protein to retain any muscle that you currently have, but over time you might find your body weight increasing due to an increase in Muscle Mass.
You will also find that the more lean muscle you have, the more calories you burn at rest, so you may then need to increase your daily calories to continue with your weight loss.
jamoor said:
My aim is entirely to lose fat as I have too much.
Then you will want to ignore the scales and concentrate on the correct calorie deficit, and a good weight training regime alongside some cardio excercise.Work out how many times you can make it to the gym, and then you can put a good routine together from there, if its 3 days a week, do a push, a pull and a legs session, if you can go more, you can then break it down even more, but dont forget the legs.
If your able to train compound excercises, these areyour bang for buck excercises, i.e. Deadlift, squats, as they work multiple muscle groups.
You might wanna set your rep ranges something like, 2 sets on each excercise, 12 - 15 reps on the first set, and then 10 - 12 on the second set, with the weight being sufficient that you fail somewhere between the 12-15 and the 10-12, the lower reps need to be a heavier weight.
When you find that you can do 15 reps with the weight, then increase the weight, and so on and so forth.
jamoor said:
My aim is entirely to lose fat as I have too much.
Bigger, Leaner, Stronger has everything you need to know to achieve your goal You can do what you want through cardio and calorie deficit but you will be 'skinny fat' with little strength; you'll lose muscle in the process of a calorie deficit/cardio if you don't maintain the correct volume of protein intake and resistance training.Smurfsarepeopletoo said:
Then you will want to ignore the scales and concentrate on the correct calorie deficit, and a good weight training regime alongside some cardio excercise.
Work out how many times you can make it to the gym, and then you can put a good routine together from there, if its 3 days a week, do a push, a pull and a legs session, if you can go more, you can then break it down even more, but dont forget the legs.
If your able to train compound excercises, these areyour bang for buck excercises, i.e. Deadlift, squats, as they work multiple muscle groups.
You might wanna set your rep ranges something like, 2 sets on each excercise, 12 - 15 reps on the first set, and then 10 - 12 on the second set, with the weight being sufficient that you fail somewhere between the 12-15 and the 10-12, the lower reps need to be a heavier weight.
When you find that you can do 15 reps with the weight, then increase the weight, and so on and so forth.
At the moment I can make it 7 days a week (I have a gym a few floors up), Work out how many times you can make it to the gym, and then you can put a good routine together from there, if its 3 days a week, do a push, a pull and a legs session, if you can go more, you can then break it down even more, but dont forget the legs.
If your able to train compound excercises, these areyour bang for buck excercises, i.e. Deadlift, squats, as they work multiple muscle groups.
You might wanna set your rep ranges something like, 2 sets on each excercise, 12 - 15 reps on the first set, and then 10 - 12 on the second set, with the weight being sufficient that you fail somewhere between the 12-15 and the 10-12, the lower reps need to be a heavier weight.
When you find that you can do 15 reps with the weight, then increase the weight, and so on and so forth.
I really don't know what any the stuff you said means. I dont know what a rep set is. Or a compound exercise.
I have had a look on youtube for rep set and it all looks daunting for someone who knows nothing. Annoyingly I can't book a PT where I am either due to covid.
jamoor said:
At the moment I can make it 7 days a week (I have a gym a few floors up),
I really don't know what any the stuff you said means. I dont know what a rep set is. Or a compound exercise.
I have had a look on youtube for rep set and it all looks daunting for someone who knows nothing. Annoyingly I can't book a PT where I am either due to covid.
You dont want to do 7 days, you need rest days, 3 or 4 should be sufficient to start with.I really don't know what any the stuff you said means. I dont know what a rep set is. Or a compound exercise.
I have had a look on youtube for rep set and it all looks daunting for someone who knows nothing. Annoyingly I can't book a PT where I am either due to covid.
A Rep is a movement of the weight, so if you did 1 push up, that is 1 rep, if you are doing 2 lots of 12 push ups, then 12 push ups is a set.
A compound excercise is an excercise that uses multiple muscle groups, and an isolation excercise uses 1 muscle group.
So a Deadlift is a compound excercise, it uses the legs, back, arms, shoulders, and pretty much every other muscle in your body.
A bicep curl is an isolation excercise as it pretty much just uses the biceps.
Everyone will tell you to do something different.
I agree with the poster above that suggested doing stronglifts - it’s a good progressive program, and the app is excellent so it’s easy to follow along.
There are others - starting strength is one I can’t remember the other ones. They all use the same basic principles.
If you do one of those programs and stick with it for say 12 weeks you will have a much better idea of what you like and can come up with goals to suit.
I agree with the poster above that suggested doing stronglifts - it’s a good progressive program, and the app is excellent so it’s easy to follow along.
There are others - starting strength is one I can’t remember the other ones. They all use the same basic principles.
If you do one of those programs and stick with it for say 12 weeks you will have a much better idea of what you like and can come up with goals to suit.
gregs656 said:
Everyone will tell you to do something different.
I agree with the poster above that suggested doing stronglifts - it’s a good progressive program, and the app is excellent so it’s easy to follow along.
There are others - starting strength is one I can’t remember the other ones. They all use the same basic principles.
If you do one of those programs and stick with it for say 12 weeks you will have a much better idea of what you like and can come up with goals to suit.
Starting Strength by Mark Rippetoe is another good one to try. I read both Starting Strength (SS) and Bigger, Leaner, Stronger (BLS) which were fantastic and simple to follow.I agree with the poster above that suggested doing stronglifts - it’s a good progressive program, and the app is excellent so it’s easy to follow along.
There are others - starting strength is one I can’t remember the other ones. They all use the same basic principles.
If you do one of those programs and stick with it for say 12 weeks you will have a much better idea of what you like and can come up with goals to suit.
BLS focused on an overall body atheistic and came with fantastic nutrition information and advice.
SS was a powerlifting program which was fantastic for learning the Form of the compound lifts, the big 4, but had no nutritional information or advice other than drink lots of milk.
I used the BLS for my programme and nutrition and SS for guidance on compound lifts and ancillary exercises.
I never investigated stronglifts but I'm assuming it's a power lifting programme?
frisbee said:
I would avoid free weights if you don't have someone to show you the correct form, its too easy to injure yourself.
By free weights I mean heavy weights on a long bar. Dumbells and kettlebells are ok.
I disagree. There are plenty of videos on youtube, in particular Mark Rippetoes, which will show you have to safely lift using a barbell. By free weights I mean heavy weights on a long bar. Dumbells and kettlebells are ok.
Edited by anonymous-user on Monday 7th September 16:28
Yes it will take some practice and time to learn good form, but as long as you aren't reckless and try and overload the barbell you will be fine; seek medical advice if you have outstanding serious injuries or medical conditions.
PrinceRupert said:
Stronglifts 5x5 is a good straightforward programme focused on compound exercises (i.e. ones that exercise lots of different muscle groups at once - squats, deadlifts etc).
Another vote for Stronglifts. Definitely look at Mark Rippetoe's videos for good form and video yourself for comparison.Smurfsarepeopletoo said:
You dont want to do 7 days, you need rest days, 3 or 4 should be sufficient to start with.
A Rep is a movement of the weight, so if you did 1 push up, that is 1 rep, if you are doing 2 lots of 12 push ups, then 12 push ups is a set.
A compound excercise is an excercise that uses multiple muscle groups, and an isolation excercise uses 1 muscle group.
So a Deadlift is a compound excercise, it uses the legs, back, arms, shoulders, and pretty much every other muscle in your body.
A bicep curl is an isolation excercise as it pretty much just uses the biceps.
Should I do my cycling and walking seven days? as that’s what I’ve been doing so farA Rep is a movement of the weight, so if you did 1 push up, that is 1 rep, if you are doing 2 lots of 12 push ups, then 12 push ups is a set.
A compound excercise is an excercise that uses multiple muscle groups, and an isolation excercise uses 1 muscle group.
So a Deadlift is a compound excercise, it uses the legs, back, arms, shoulders, and pretty much every other muscle in your body.
A bicep curl is an isolation excercise as it pretty much just uses the biceps.
I’m doing exactly the same thing
Trying to get back down to 85kg from 110kg blow out.
Walking 14km, 6days a week. Counting cals., keto worked for me (before)
That said I’m very bored (walking) and motivation is low due to a painful breakup with long term GF
I’ve done it before (weight loss) so know it’s possible.
Very interested in the weight/resistance training part
Trying to get back down to 85kg from 110kg blow out.
Walking 14km, 6days a week. Counting cals., keto worked for me (before)
That said I’m very bored (walking) and motivation is low due to a painful breakup with long term GF
I’ve done it before (weight loss) so know it’s possible.
Very interested in the weight/resistance training part
Edited by craig_m67 on Tuesday 8th September 12:19
Go for the main compound exercises, if you're not specifically looking to build a particular set of muscles. Squats, deadlifts, chest press, shoulder press, and some form of pull down.
I think the key is, as someone mentioned above, the more muscle you build, the more it increases your metabolism which is how it will help you lose fat. It doesn't directly burn the fat like cardio. At least that's how I understand it.
I think the key is, as someone mentioned above, the more muscle you build, the more it increases your metabolism which is how it will help you lose fat. It doesn't directly burn the fat like cardio. At least that's how I understand it.
Gassing Station | Health Matters | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff