I have a question for all you knowledgable people out there...

My sole goal is to lose 15 lbs of fat. I don't care about building muscle, although I am aware that muscle burns calories. I just want to get down to a weight I am most comfortable at.

My question is, should I be spending valuable gym minutes lifting wieghts?
I've been happily doing 30 minutes of cardio 5 days a week and cutting my calories to 1200-1700 a day. I didn't question the routine until I started reading other posts and noticed that the "trainers" on the site seem to be telling people to add resistance training to their routines. Is this truly important for everyone, and why?

Thanks in advance for any insight you can give me!

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Go into the On Topic Section
Open the Stickied thread Words of Wisdom
and you will find a link that answers your question

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I will head over there right now, Thanks!

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Here's a follow up question. How will resistance training transform your body?

I read steve saying (correct me if I'm wrong) that you can not lose weight and build muscle at the same time. So would that mean that weight training is not going to yield results unless I am increasing my calories and stopping the fat loss?

Thanks again for the input!

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Now remember that I am not a certified trainer.

The theory is that by developing muscle tone from resistance training you change the way your body looks by shaping the muscles into that hour glass figure. You do gain weight from the muscle that you build, but the whole goal should be to get your body into the shape that you are looking for. You do not have to lift heavy weights like the body builders do, but low weights with high reps will give you tone, and that is what will define your body's shape. Think of something like circuit training where you are moving rapidly between exercises.

There are also several articles on the internet that will tell you that the fat burning results of resistance training last up to 2-3 days after you work out and cardio only lasts a few hours after you are done.

Also if you weigh 10 lbs more than your "ideal weight" and had a killer body, at a low body fat ratio, would that bum you out very much?

Stretching is also very important!!

Here is a good article to read:

[url="http://www.fantasyfit.com/view.php?page=resistancetraining"]

I've seen the untrained individual lose fat and gain muscle simultaneously.

However, in general it's not going to happen.

Weight training will, however, add in maintaining the muscle you currently have. Where without it there's a chance of losing a good bit of muscle mass (especially if you don't have that much weight to lose).

Also, weight training is a great energy expenditure. Many think cardio is great. They don't factor in the "after-burn" that anaerobic training such as weights provide.

There are a bunch of benefits coming from weight training that go beyond fat loss.

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