Cardio cardio cardio.. Basics in losing weight is activity, and eating less.

Low calorie isn't the only way to go unless you want to look like Jared from Subway. Sure he's skinnier, but he has no shape.

You will need to work with some weight. This whole debate between high reps w/ no weight, and low reps w/ high weight gets a bit tiresome. I actually lost my weight, and gained the right amount of muscle I wanted to w/o going overboard by not overdoing it on the heavy lifting. But I didn't do 50 reps w/ 5lbs either. Unless you are strapping those 5lbs to your ankles than they probably wouldn't do much for you.

I have my 6 pack back, and I am not bulked up at the same time... I found a happy median.

Hey there. I am pretty much in the same boat as you (5'3, 114 lbs and trying to lose a little bit of weight) so I definitely understand what you're talking about! Good luck reaching your goals. You're going to look great!

You were dieting.

Nobody bulks up while dieting.

To add, your n=1 experience means very little, especially when comparing across sexes.

I think people think they bulk up because they become "more defined" by losing body fat, so it looks more impressive and assume its added muscle (although it was either there or maintained from weight training).

Not to thread crap, but I had a trainer here for the football team yesterday make a comment to me about how long my gym workouts were. I didn't want to get into it with him but basically I am doing the basic lifts (that Steve talks about) in the school gym (my weights are fairly up there with 5 reps each set), I am attempting to lose fat while maintaining muscle so that when I drop off the fat my body won't burn off the muscle for energy as well. Also as an added bonus the muscle will be there to shine through when the fat isn't covering it. But I realize I am not trying to get BIGGER in the sense of muscle at all, but I will appear more cut and defined due to the fat loss, which is what I explained to the trainer who actually then commended me for having a sound plan (Thanks Steve). Oh yeah, I realize I don't take in near enough calories (DUH, I am creating a deficit on purpose!) to bulk up.

-Keith

When someone says they want to 'tone' their muscles, it's simply a lack of knowledge about the body. Certainly not their fault.

Let's talk a bit about muscle tone.

If when I ask someone what they mean by it when they say, "I want to tone my muscles," they explain that they want to increase the myogenic tone of their muscles..... than I'd respond by saying, "that makes sense."

Unfortunately though, most think there's some magical benefit to weight training that *reshapes* their muscles and gives them that ripped look, which as anyone who knows anything about the body understands that being ripped is about carrying very little body fat.

FYI to anyone who doesn't know, you can actually increase the myogenic tone of a muscle. This is merely a measure of a muscle's density. Here's the kicker though..... if you really want to 'tone' the muscle in the literal sense (i.e., increase myogenic tone), you have to lift heavy weights, haha. In the classical, mythical sense that most associate with toning, you need to lift light weights for high reps. They are completely wrong in the context of toning a muscle.

And, I forget his screenname above, but the gentleman eluded to being tired of hearing this stupid debate about high rep or low rep and heavy or light. I was kind of taken back by his statement.... I mean there are very *real* differences in the parameters that play out in the development of one's physique.

For starters, and especially for women who aren't as fortunate as men in that they don't have the natural tendency to pack on or maintain muscle, especially while dieting, lifting heavy weights sends the strongest neuro-chemical signaling for muscle maintenance.

Secondly, different loading parameters (heavy vs. light) call on different *characteristics* of the muscle, namely different motor units/muscle fibers. This will play out in performance and physique.

Thirdly, and in general, there are multiple types of muscle growth. You've got the myofibrillar and the sarcoplasmic hypertrophy. Each is primarily triggered by a different training stimulus.... so when saying you're tired of this 'debate' you darn well better caveat what you mean b/c this isn't something that can be written off so easily by simply saying something like, "it doesn't really matter."

Myofibrillar hypertrophy essentially is the growth of the contractile proteins comprising our muscle. This ties into the myogenic tone topic discussed previously. Larger contractile proteins and fibers in the muscle (myofibrillar hypertrophy) = a denser muscle = increased myogenic tone. Having dense muscles go an extremely long way in regards to looking firm and 'ripped' at low body fat levels.

Myofibrillar hypertrophy is stimulated primarily by heavy loads, which naturally dictates lower reps.

Sarcoplasmic hypertrophy essentially is the growth of the fluid component of the muscle; sacroplasm, glycogen, etc. While this still contributes to overall hypertrophy, it's stimulated primarily by lighter loads, which naturally dictates higher reps.

If I had to organize a training regime for a woman who had to lose 10 lbs or so, you better believe that heavy training is going to dictate the majority of it. This will help her retain the majority of her muscle (assuming proper diet as well) and give her the most mileage in terms of the physique she is most likely looking for.

When you start getting into different categories, goals, and situations..... certainly recommendations change. For instance, an obese person isn't going to need a routine comprised primarily of heavy training. More 'pumping and toning' crap will be better suited for said individual since caloric expenditure is of primary importance in this case.

It all has to be given in context, and that's why I'm not a fan of saying, "do whatever."

Truthfully, most just aren't educated on the subject. Their source of information is fitness magazines and infomercials which are as misleading as they come. They when they say they want to tone their muscles, they really don't know what they're saying.

Hahaha, nah, you're fine. I was trying to make a point and I was going to get to it one way or another. What I've said in this post is my point, so I'm happy.

This is most often the case.

Don't get me wrong, there are certainly instances where muscle mass increases concurrently with losses in fat stores. This is most common in obese individuals and/or people who have never done any sort of resistance training.

But a vast majority of the time when someone says, "I've gained so much muscle on my diet," they're simply confused about the exposure of existing muscle now that they've lost a fair amount of fat.

And that confusion is fine.... as long as they're happy with their end appearance.

Was he saying the workout was too long or too short?

Anytime.

Way too short he said, almost made a joke about how I won't achieve anything doing it that way (80 lbs later he is obviously mistaken). I spend about 20-25 minutes doing basic lifts (and it has helped me tremendously in maintaining muscle mass while losing the fat). However, yesterday was about 20 minutes because I was doing abs only (TUES / THURS is ab days where I let the body recover from M/W/F basic lift day). Then I headed over to the cardio vascular lab where I did about 45 minutes on the row, elliptical and treadmill for interval training.

Haha, it's nice when you let your actions and results shut people up, isn't it.

You are splitting hairs on the definition of dieting. Working out was in CONJUNCTION w/ my diet. A lot of people use the term "diet" as a lifestyle change which includes both working out, an eating better.. If thats what you are getting at than

My routine when starting again was;

Run 20 mins starting at 6mph (moved up .1 mph per week until toppnig out at about 8mph which is where I am currently)

After running I would lift, and alternate chest/back/shoulders/arms/legs, but would do abs 2 days in a row, and one day off than two days and so on.

I would up the weight in my lifting by 5lbs each week on each body part until I got to the size I wanted to. Now I still work out but I only progress if the weight does nothing after 10 reps (meaning I don't feel a burn at all).

So call what I did what you will. If I was wrong in what I called it than whatever lol.. I got my desired result, and I gained muscle mass, and I did it in conjunction w/ eating less.

I could go into threads where people say "I could care less" and say "Don't you mean I COULDN'T care less?" Why should I? I know what they mean when they say it.

Oh, thanks for telling me what I'm doing.

And FYI, I was not splitting hairs.

If your goal was to lose weight, and you did lose weight, that means you were in a net energy deficit. When I say diet, that's what I mean. I don't care if you want to call it a lifestyle modification, a temporary thing.... whatever.

Haha, ya, I kind of figured this.

I have no idea where any of this is coming from, sorry.

Were you tracking body fat % and if so, how?

And were you taking measurements? If so, how?

Just my advice, which you probably don't want.... but I wouldn't let the 'burn' be the metric used to determine when you should increase weight.

Here's the crux of my confusion.

I simply told you that it's stupid to compare your experience to that of a dieting woman.

I never contested the idea that you went about things incorrectly. Great for you that you reached your goals. But that has nothing to do with what I said to you.

So,

And again, how do you know you gained all this muscle?

I was just pointing out that a lot of people come here for advice, and what works for one person might not work for another. You were telling a lot of people they were wrong when they were giving their opinion on what they think works, or what workd for them.

My best friend (who is female) worked out with me and has lost approx 30lbs while doing the same thing I am doing since we both started in September. Not sure on her measurements outside her waist. She is a Physical Therapist, and I am a Pharmacist (we work in the same hosp). She has been helping me, and monitoring me since my rotator cuff surg I had a couple years back. She's not be any means a nutritionist, and we used pretty much judgement in our eating, but from the start we have been changing our lifestyle (i.e. dieting/working out/running) since the beginning. We both were eating lunch one day together and just decided to make a plan for both of us that we could both stick to.

But fat% wasn't tracking that. Measurements we were.

Basically was trying to say if it was too easy for me than I knew I should "up" the weight a bit. This is after I had lost the weight I wanted to (although I am still about 4lbs off my goal. But I do have the definition I want at this point) This was the whole issue which I agreed with you when you don't want to do a ton of reps w/ low weight. I did want to gain mass as well as lose weight. I was on a program which worked for me weight wise where I wouldn't re-injure my shoulder.

She's the PT so maybe I should tell her to come to the forum so she can explain things. I am no expert on any of this. But wokout wise we did the same type of workout w/ the exception of myself increasing in weight more so than she did. She works with a lot of people that haveweight issues who want to strengthen specific areas of their body following surgeries. She was the one to give me the info on weight loss, and strength training.


Measurments. Not hat I had gained a ton of mass, but I have gained to the point where I was back in College when I played BBall.

What were your pre and post measurement?

You seem to be thinking I'm contesting something I'm not... and I don't have the time, nor patience to explain myself. Nothing against you.

Sent you a PM..

In kind response to Darth Pooh's comment, I was simply sharing about my experience with Pilates. I do not understand how this became an accusation of quote "Clever Spam", unquote.

I thought this forum was all about sharing, supporting and encouraging. I am sorry if I offended you and in no way meant for my thread to be what you perceived it to be.

ShareeC

You're right, it was an accusation, because with two posts into this forum I had only seen you talk about Pilates and I've seen that type of clever spam before.

This forum is about all that... very true. I wasn't offended though and neither should you. It isn't all that serious in life to be worrying about what someone on the internet thinks about you... Just sayin'.