Why Doesn't Weightlifting cause Fat Loss?

[Cort]

If you eat a calorie deficit you will eventually lose weight, there's no way around it. You could just have your numbers off. I've had times when I skipped out on cardio altogether and still burned fat due to a strict diet.

[Firehawk]

4 weeks ago i went 2 weeks with out doing cardio, still ate below BMR, and didn't lose one pound. I didnt add more weightlifting, just didn't do cardio. Seems to me I should have lost weight.

The Olympic weightlifting would definitely burn MORE calories, but is that the only way to go if one were to do only weightlifting and eat restricted to burn fat? Does it depend on body type or bf% at the time? All interesting questions.

Mostmuscle, thanks for the article.

[Cort]

Originally Posted by Firehawk

4 weeks ago i went 2 weeks with out doing cardio, still ate below BMR, and didn't lose one pound. I didnt add more weightlifting, just didn't do cardio. Seems to me I should have lost weight.

The Olympic weightlifting would definitely burn MORE calories, but is that the only way to go if one were to do only weightlifting and eat restricted to burn fat? Does it depend on body type or bf% at the time? All interesting questions.

Mostmuscle, thanks for the article.

Could be your metabolism just wasn't as high at the time and your BMR may have been lower than expected. If you are removing work without adding some to compensate then you aren't going to burn as much. 2 weeks is also a hard way to measure the effect something is having, your weight can fluctuate by 5 lbs or more on a daily basis.

Just to give you an example though, when doing regular cardio, I can eat upwards of 3000 calories and still lose weight. When not doing cardio and still lifting 3-4 days a week I can drop it down to 2000 and maintain weight. For me to lose weight while only lifting, I have to eat significantly less (often literally cutting my normal calorie consumption in half) than when I'm doing regular cardio.

[Firehawk]

Well then if you are eating literally "half" , like 1000-1300 calories when just lifting, is that sufficient enough to feed your muscles? Do you see what I mean when it just seems like it's not realistic?

hehe. Thanks for the opinions.

[Tuna Fish]

Hey Hawk- why don't you try circuit training for a few weeks? It's a great way to burn fat on a "weightlifting only" routine, plus the added benefit of being able to work in new rep ranges. Really gets the heart pumping and it's a killer way to burn fat...

[Dan C]

It's funny because my very first post in your journal (which you did not link to) I suggested taking time off the diet. The cycling advice people have given you here is spot on. Check out the "Zig-Zag diet" by Dr. Fred Hatfield (Dr. Squat) at www.drsquat.com The reason people take "cheat days" is to kinda "jump start" their metabolism. When you drastically cut calories, your body is fooled into thinking there is a shortage of food, your metabolism slows and your body hordes every calorie you consume. It's a protective mechanism to keep you alive during times of famine. That's why it took you 6 months to start losing weight, it had nothing to do with carbs, it had to do with your body adapting to such a drastic change.

The 4lbs of "fat" you put on over Thanksgiving was not fat, not all anyway. When you cut calories you deplete your glycogen stores, in your liver and in your muscles. Since you are not taking in the calories, your body gets it's energy from storage, carb storage = glycogen, fat storage = body fat. Unfortunately, the carbs are first to go. When they are replenshed, they will couple with water molecules for storage... most of what you gained was water weight.

Either way, I'm sure you noticed increased energy from the increased calories even if you were downing yourself for your binge thinking you had gained 4lbs of chub. You probably had some good workouts following the holiday though didn't you.

So to your question, why can't you weight train everyday and lose weight without cardio, the answer is, like many people have said, you CAN.

First off, to train everyday you would have to be training at a low intensity or very low volume, especially if you are on restricted calories, otherwise you will overtrain. I'll assume you know the effects of overtraining and leave it at that.

So, lets say you do train everyday. Not the best way to hypertrophy, but you could certainly lose weight, if you're training (and eating) properly. Isolation movements will NOT cut it. They do very little for hypertrophy and expend hardly any calories [besides the "real world" does not isolate muscle groups]. That's why they're so "easy" and that was the basis behind Luke's suggestion. A clean and press uses virtually every muscle in the body, and contrary to the popular notion, you do not have to be a technical guru to perform a power clean. Such an exercise is "hard" because it requires a lot of energy to do. Energy that you don't have on a restricted calorie, no "cheating" diet. If you cycle your calories, you will have the mental fortitude to complete such tasks. The attitude of "deadlifts are bad enough" will not take you to the next level of your fitness pursuits. Deadlifts are GREAT because they are functional, use the entire body and allow for heavy weight to be used. They build muscle and they burn calories. Tricep kickbacks and the like, do NOT.

Again, with the proper training and the proper diet you can lose fat without cardio. Even a diet with no exercise can accomplish this.

[Cort]

Originally Posted by Firehawk

Well then if you are eating literally "half" , like 1000-1300 calories when just lifting, is that sufficient enough to feed your muscles? Do you see what I mean when it just seems like it's not realistic?

hehe. Thanks for the opinions.

1500-2000 when I say half, which for me when not doing cardio, that is enough. When I do regular cardio I eat upwards of 3000-4000 easy

Thats just me though, we're all different. Just pointing out the drastic difference I get in my overall metabolism just from adding in a few extra workouts a week. Imagine a lifestyle where you workout 4 days a week, and sit on your ass 3 days a week. You don't eat the same each day, you eat for what you are going to be doing. What I tend to do is break my eating up into periods of 2-3 hours, then just put a few seconds to think about what I'll be doing in the next few hours, and adjust what I'm going to eat accordingly. I've found that method to be very effective for me.

Have you tried carb cycling? I liked that quite a bit.