lose bodyfat w/o lifting heavy? - Exercise & Fitness Message Board

kiwi213 · 09-26-2005, 01:09 AM

Hey I was wondering if its possible to lose bodyfat without lifting heavy. I understand I have to have a good diet and do cardio for at least 20-30 minutes, but due to some circumstances I can't get a membership at a fitness center. I have some free weights at home and I try to maximize my resistance training as much as I can. So yeah, is it necessary to lift heavy? Or will you just see results faster of you lift heavy? Thanks!

StrtnOut · 09-26-2005, 07:23 AM

Hi Kiwi213:

You definately do not have to lift heavy in order to lose bodyfat. You are right that basically all you really need to work on is your diet, cardio, and some resistance training in order to lose fat and see great results. Basically, cleaning up your diet allows you to fuel your body while limiting the excess calories that gets stored as fat. The cardio helps get rid of the fat that you already have (along with many other cardiovascular benefits). Lastly, the restistance training helps tighten and tone your body by strengthening and conditioning your muscles. The more muscle you have the more calories you burn and the higher your metabolism becomes making dieting/wieghtloss easier. Resistance bands, free weights, and your own body wieght is all you need for now. You can't and don't want to go heavy before you are conditioned to do so, otherwise you increase the risk of hurting yourself. Basically, when you find you have reached a plateau and are looking to add some mass, then heavier lifting becomes a necessity.

Hope this helps, and gluck and congrats on getting started.

Regards,

StrtnOut

Sixbells99 · 09-26-2005, 12:23 PM

The best exercise you can do to lose body fat is to push away an extra plate of food from the table. Heavy weights or I prefer to call it positive failure within the 6 reps, is an important part of building mass and muscle. But as StrtnOut pointed out you need to be conditioned and have a very good form before attempting that style of lifting. However for losing bodyfat lifting is not the most effective method, cardio and diet is the best mix if that your only aim.

Also try not to think of the actual weight when you look at weight training. It’s not about lifting heavy or light. It’s about lifting the right amount of weight, with the right form with the right amount of rest. These are the key elements to any good weight training program, get any of those elements wrong and your will severely determent your progress.

kiwi213 · 09-27-2005, 09:22 AM

Thank you for your replies! Hopefully I can finally get started and keep at it. You guys have been a big help.