Posted on 09/01/2006 7:18:13 AM PDT by JackDanielsOldNo7
"Remember, fewer reps (up to 10) x3 with heavier weights is better than multiple reps (10~20) x3 with lighter weights."
That is an irresponsible statement. You don't know anything about the person's age, overall health or fitness aims.
What do you mean better? Better for what and in what way?
If I were training someone who was in good health and just beginning to trains with weights I would advise the higher reps and limit each workout to four or five exercises.
How can a scale actually do that? The only way to actually measure %body fat, and even that method actually measure body density, is to be weighed underwater. This allows calculation of the volume of the body, which along with weight measure the regular way, in turn allows density to be calculated.
All a scale could do would be to use some approximation, probably body mass index (BMI), which tends to undervalue muscle mass. Using BMI, most NFL players, and even many NBA players, would be considered overweight and even obese. They aren't.
At this point in your fitness the mirror should become more important than the scales. If you are happy with your percentage of fat to muscle the focus should be on tone -- which is what I am hearing you say. Forget the "less weight for tone" BS. Here's the thing, after the first two weeks or so of lifting -- when ANY weight lifting should make a difference -- it because a question of reaching muscle failure -- the point where your muscle fails to comple the repetition. THAT is where muscle is built. Without going into detail I'm sure you know the basic idea is to complete more reps each work out -- even if it's just one -- and upon reaching a max level of reps -- 12 to 20 depending on a number of variables -- you then increase the weight. You should NEVER have so much weight that you can't do at least 8 reps -- causes muscle strain. The important part is to reach burn out or muscle failure.
Now, this is why light weight -- more reps is BS. You will keep building muscle mass as long as you continue to increase reps or weight. Once you reach the "tone" you want, stop increasing reps/weight. Stay and the routine for as long as want to look that particular way. There is NO way muscle size will continue to increase is you aren't achieving muscle failure. Period.
Think about it. Does a long shoreman look like Mr. Universe? No. He might be buff, yes. But once he is fit enough to lift -- say 50 pound boxes all day long -- he will stop getting bigger muscles because he has reached a level of fitness that his muscles no longer fail. If you kept increasing the weight of the boxes by a half pound every over day he WOULD start getting bigger and bigger. (That's very simplified, but you get the idea.
Muscle weighs more than fat.
Mate, you lost 110 pounds in two months???
While the progress is good, the rate is dangerous. That's like 55 pounds per month, or about 1.5 pounds per day!
Crikey. First step, see a doctor, get your bloods tested and get her to agree to this rapid rate of weight loss.
Cardio training (running on a treadmill, bicycling, cross-training, etc.) is a different thing than weight training. Weight training will put on muscle mass, cardio will take off body fat (and muscle mass if you go "catabolic").
Some people believe that weight lifting will "turn muscle into fat". This is not true. Muscle cells and fat cells are different and do not change from one type of tissue to another.
Weight training will increase the size of your muscle cells. Cardio training will decrease the size of your fat cells.
Unfortunately, doing a lot of situps will not get rid of your gut. Fat comes off from your whole body... you cannot reduce it in "spots" (spot reduction) without surgery - which I don't recommend.
The scale estimates %fat as a function of the electrical resistance of your body to a weak current. The scales have two metal surfaces for your bare feet. You have to program your sex, height and age group. The measured resistance and weight are then matched to an algorithm for the stored demographic information. The calculated %fat may not be absolutely correct, but the relative changes are nevertheless meaningful. My own %fat has oscillated between 21% (out-of-shape) to %12 (in-shape)! I have no idea what my real fat percentage actually is, but the relative change definitely corresponds to my condition.
BTW - How tall are you and how much do you now weigh?
But you are right, for a beginner in weight training, lighter weights are better so as not to injure yourself by over-doing it. But eventually the weight should be increased and reps decreased if the individual wants to "build" more muscle and not just exercise existing muscle.
Another thing to do is about 3 sets per exercise with a low, medium, high weight, (30lb., 35lb., and 40lb. as an example) were it's pretty easy to pump out 10 reps with 30lb., a little harder with 35lb., and you're pretty much pushing yourself on the 10th rep with 40lb. After 3~4 weeks when it's easier to do the 10th rep with 40lb, it's time to increase that entire low/medium/high set by about 5 pounds: 35, 40, 45. After about 6 months you'll be doing the same set with 50, 55, 60lb (perhaps) and think back to how hard it used to be to end with 40lb.!
I'm not a doctor however, this is just how I've always lifted weights over the years, and it works for me.
I'm not a big fan of treadmills however for two reasons: (1) you can't get aerobically fit by walking and (2) running bangs the h$ll out of the old legs. Biking on the other hand, whether outside or on a trainer inside, is a "no impact" exercise (unless you fall off) and there is no limit to how fit you can become.
A friend of mine down the street recently bought a bike (a couple of months ago) and rides for an hour a day three days a week at a pace that is comfortable...and he tells me he is astonished at the transformation in terms of fitness. He is 45 and never exercised previously and weights around 280. He says he has only lost 10 lbs, but he has lost inches and feels terrific.
With regard to weight training, I keep 20 lb handweights and a bench in my office (I work at home) and, whenever I get tired of sitting and working, I do a quick set of whatever comes next. I find this kind of workout gives me a much higher level of tone because I don't compress it into a specific period. Also, I have found that if your goal is muscle tone instead of bigness, you can work out every day instead of every other day. I only give myself a rest day if I feel soreness or if I feel a little tired. Otherwise, pump away.
Aerobic fitness on my bike is my real love. I had a trainer many years ago that told me to seek the sweet spot when biking. He described that as that level of exertion that is just hard enough to leave you feeling strong enough for a push or a hill and not so easy as to be boring. I always save enough energy back for a kick in the last 15 minutes of a ride.
For anyone just starting out biking, I would suggest that you take it easy and enjoy it. Slowly but surely you'll find you body will want to push it as you sock on the miles. There was an adage years ago about running that suggested the best way to run was "long slow distance." That worked for me when I was a runner and it works even better in the bike saddle.
It's probably because you're adding muscle mass- which weighs more.
6 Ft. weigh 182. according to the chart with my frame size i should weigh between 177 and 198 so i am on the low end. Have a resting heart rate of 60 and 110/68 blood pressure.
As many have said, it is probably because you are putting on muscle. Don't go by what the scale says. How do your clothes fit, it they aren't getting tighter then try not to worry about the numbers?
Muscle does weigh more than fat, but you have to seriously weight train to put on major weight from muscle... a weight lifter TRYING INTENTIONALLY to gain weight may only put on 10-20lbs a year of muscle.
If you have only gained a few lbs I wouldn't sweat it... could be a combination of slightly more muscle, combined with the changing demand on your body has changed how your body handles your input. IE its storing more calories than before because it anticipates you needing more than you did before.
Go have a personal trainer run a BMI on you (little caliper measurements) and see where you are in terms of yoru Body mass Index... if you aren't seeing your body fat increase in any measurable way, I won't worry about what your weight is.
Depends. The goal is to work the muscle to failure. Using a heavy weight a few times doesn't engage all the muscle fibers before the initial ones tire out.
Since I'm not interested in building mass, but basic strength and endurance, I like to use a weight that is about 1/2 of my goal weight to warm up with a couple of sets of 15-30, then one set of the goal weight.
Since it is good to mix things up, I also like to sometimes go low weights, high repetitions (20-50/set) for a few weeks, or a few weeks of high weight/low reps (5-8).
Increasingly, I find myself using body weight type exercises, with a step ladder of repetitions to work to failure. If I do that with push-ups until it becomes a strain to do 15 push-ups, then the next day I'll feel like a whipped puppy.
Now for the real question - why do I work to feel like a whipped puppy?
I can't help it - muscle and fat weight the same.
A pound of fat weights the same as a pound of muscle. It just takes more room.
Muscle weighs more than fat.
bump
No pain, no gain!
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