To reduce fat and gain lean muscle...

besides eating properly, obviously, what exercises should I be doing? I am at about 31% body fat (NOT okay with me!) and am 150 pounds. I do weight training almost everyday along with an hour of cardio every day of the week. My concern is with the weight training that I do, though. Should I be doing more sets of lighter weight? And if so, how light? or should I be doing what I already do, which is lift whatever amount can get me through one set without burning out. I have noticed that rather than slimming down, my arms are beefing up...i don't want that at all. I want lean muscle. What do I do???

I am not a professional, but the trainer that I have worked with has instructed me to do 2 sets of 8-12 reps each, 3 sets if I feel like it. I do the highest weight I can within those parameters. I have also done Body Pump classes for periods of time where we use lighter weights and lots of reps, and frankly I don't think I noticed much of a difference between the 2 methods. I like the first one better since it takes a lot less time. :)

In addition to the weights and cardio, make sure you are stretching really well afterwards. I believe this helps reduce the "bulk". Pilates and yoga are also really great ways to get strong, and stay lean. I try to do a little of everything.

You mentioned you weight train almost every day. Do you work different muscle groups? Be sure you rest your muscles for at least a day. And congrats on the cardio you're doing!

Thanks for the quick reply, Paula! I had a trainer a while back too, and that's exactly what he had me doing, but he really just sucked in general, so I don't feel like his advice is totally accurate. But, if yours says the same thing, maybe it's ok. Yeah, stretching is a big problem for me. It didn't used to be, but I just moved and this new gym I go to doesn't have a designated stretching area, so I sort of forget about it. Though I always stretch before hand. I really should get into pilates, but the classes at my gym are never offered when I can go... :(  makes me sad, but I will have to figure out how to squeeze it in.

In answer to your question, I do train different muscle groups everday. I alternate between these combinations: triceps and back, biceps and chest, and legs and shoulder. I've found this gives my muscles time to heal before the next session.

your weight and body fat isnt that obsurd to begin with, especially since you are a woman.  Nonetheless you should always do 3 sets 8-12 reps of the heaviest weights you can possibly lift with good form.  In other words if your lifting a weight and can do 14 reps, its not heavy enough.  This is the best way to build muscle which will ultimately act as a furnace for fat and calories in the long run.  Do a consistent cardio and make sure to compensate your calories based on your excercise, if you work out you must eat more!  

If you are disciplined and can maintain proper form, you don't need a class to do Pilates. Try finding a book or DVD at the library to walk you through the basics. I have a ball and Pilates ring at home. You don't really need any equipment at all for many of the moves.

If you are going to ask if you should increase weight/reps/sets you need to say how much weight/reps/sets you are currently doing.  People can't give you advice if we don't know what you are currently doing.

Is there a difference between lean muscle and other muscle? if so what is this other kind of muscle called? Fat muscle?  The truth is that you can change the size of your muscles but not the shape/length/etc of your muscles.

If you want to look more "toned" you can either make your muscles bigger, decrease the fat covering your muscles or a combination of the two. 

Focus on compound movements (squats, deadlifts, rows, lat pull-downs, chest press, shoulder press, etc) and cut back on the isolation exercises (bicep curls, tricep push-downs, etc).

Wow floggingsully.  Feel better somehow?  Good for you for knowing more than adrenabeana. 

We could all have done without about the first 50 words of your post.  People posting here need help - not snide remarks.  Consider the person reading this that may have a question and now thinks, no way am I going to put myself up for that. 

Next time, just stick to the helpful stuff and find other ways to boost that ego.

Also, floggingsully, yes you can have lean muscle and fatty muscle. Think of buying steak and the difference between a lean steak and a "marbled" (ie fatty) steak.

I was just reading an excellent magazine article about this subject. It's a special issue of Oxygen magazine called "Fat Loss". It's all about burning fat and increasing muscle for women. It's still on stands.

One of the little tips that I read that was helpful to me is to do your weightlifting first, then cardio. Contrary to the old myth, by doing weights first, you will burn off the sugar, then when you go to do your cardio, you will be burning fat. Makes sense to me. You may already be doing that, but I thought I'd pass that on.

Maybe check out the magazine, it's pretty helpful.

You shd lift  for 2-3 sets of 10-12 reps.Also,dont just do what you can on that day.Make sure you keep a diary where you log what wt you did/how many reps and if u could finish the whole set or do you need to increase next time.Some muscles you can easily inc wts while some are hard. For me my back muscles are pretty weak so havent been able to progress as fast

Also,Please stretch even if for 10 mins.And same thing get a video or print some exercises out and do some pilates or yoga moves 1 day of wk 

Original Post by tracyaudette:

Wow floggingsully.  Feel better somehow?  Good for you for knowing more than adrenabeana. 

We could all have done without about the first 50 words of your post.  People posting here need help - not snide remarks.  Consider the person reading this that may have a question and now thinks, no way am I going to put myself up for that. 

Next time, just stick to the helpful stuff and find other ways to boost that ego.

Was the beginning of my post snide? I thought it was pretty reasonable, the original poster asked a question but didn't provide enough information for anyone to answer.  Hopefully people who have questions and are reading this will realize that they can't just ask questions like "should I do more sets?" "Am I eating enough?", and "why aren't I losing?" without including the background information needed for anyone to give them a reasonable answer.

Original Post by flowerbud:

Also, floggingsully, yes you can have lean muscle and fatty muscle. Think of buying steak and the difference between a lean steak and a "marbled" (ie fatty) steak.

Fat and muscle are two totally seperate tissues.  A "marbles" steak is lean muscle tissue and fat tissue, the muscle tissue is not "fatty" it is lean tissue surrounded by fat.

I always thought the fattiness of the steak had to do with the cut of the meat - as in where it came from on the cow's body.  It's not like the cow is out of shape.

Anyway, I have gone through 3 or 4 periods in my life where I have been doing very different activities.  No matter what the activity (only cardio, yoga, light weights many reps, heavy weights low reps), I always put on my muscle in the same exact way.  The only thing that is different is how much of it I have, and how much fat is hanging out on top of it.  I agree that the best way to lift is the 8-12 reps of higher weights, on an alternating day schedule to allow for muscle recovery if you are choosing to lift most days of the week.

Adrenabeana, my advice to you is to continue with your weight training and let the calorie defecit and the training take care of the fat percentage.  It will definitely happen in time!

There is a fine line between gaining muscle and losing fat while training. 45 mins to 60 minutes training with weights then a maximum of 30 minutes on the cross trainer. If your diet isn't right you could be building muscle by using weights but because of the one hours cardio you could be effectively burning too many calories that your body doesn't have in its immediate supply, so your body could eating its own muscle.

Monday: Abs, Chest, Shoulders and a spot of 30 mins on cross trainer to burn around 300 to 400 calories

Tuesday: Rear of shoulder/upper back and 30 on mins cross trainer to burn around 300 to 400 calories

Wednesday: Abs, Triceps, Biceps, Forearms and 30 on the cross trainer.

Thursday: Back/lower back,  45 to 60 mins Cardio.

Saturday and Sunday, perhaps a good run in the great outdoor, ideal distance is around 4.5 miles or 45 minutes duration in my experience. One day should be a complete day off either Sat or Sun.

Friday: Abs, Legs, 30 mins on the cross trainer, then following week swap it about a bit (see www.bodybuilding.com for exercises and programs).

With abs I do 3 different exercises, 3 sets and around 12 reps, other exercises I do, 3 different exercises for each body part with 4 sets of 10 reps. Weight starts of low and increases with each set. Exercises will change each week (see Bodybuilding.com for ideas).

This is the most important thing to remember...

TECHNIQUE OVER WEIGHT; meaning forget how much weight you lift, technique is the most important factor ie 10 perfect reps with a light weight is better than 10 heavy reps with very poor technique. 

IMPORTANT: After your workout or run/jog have a supplement like Met-rx Supreme Whey Protein Powder or similar with around 300 ml reduced fat milk, this will aid recovery.

What you will find if you stick at it, is that you will lose fat but gain muscle mass, so effectively you may gain weight. What I would do is weight myself with fat scales that monitor that weight, fat mass, muscle mass etc and then make a log of all your readings.

Diet wise, it boils down to this, watch portion sizes, eat good quality protein (bars/supplements etc can be useful), watch for food with hidden sugar contain, eat small amounts more often and drink plenty of water.

MOST IMPORTANT: This is a long term commitment and ENJOY what you are doing.

Best of Luck

Ian 

 

PS Forgot to mention, breakfast is the most important meal of the day. My favourite breakfast is one banana, four large strawberries, 300 ml reduced fat milk, one scoop Met-rx Supreme Whey (chocolate) and ice. Throw into a blender and mix for 90 secs and enjoy. 

45 to 60 minutes weight training?? hmmm I guess I have to add alot of verstility to my routine because on days when I do arms and abs it only takes 20 to 30 minutes tops! I had no idea that it should be longer.

The above program is what I have done with my 13 years or so of training, obviously I am a man but there is nothing for a woman to follow this type of program and to be honest it would be rather cool. Forgot to mention arms should involve 2 exercises with 4 sets and 10 reps for each, so biceps 2x exercises; 4 sets of 10 and same goes for triceps. Forearms should only be 1x excercise again 4 sets with 10 reps. Remember to rest for around 60 to 90 seconds between sets and a good controlled set should take around 45 to 60 seconds if done correctly.

Finally checkout

http://bodybuilding.com/fun/exercises.htm

There is a huge resource of programs for beginners to pros to follow. 

Floggingsully is right, his critics are wrong.  You cannot have "lean muscle" and "fat muscle."  The steak analogy doesn't work.  If you look at a peice of fat with a little bit of steak attached, do you call that a muscular piece of fat?  No, for the same reason you cannot call muscle fat or lean.

If you are overwieght and start lifting weights, your arms will bulk up a little.  But they will decrease in size as you lose fat.  Women store a lot of fat in their outer limbs, moreso than men.  Overweight women often have comparably huge arms compared to men because men store most of their fat near their vital organs (it's why men don't live as long as women and why men often have "the beer gut" even if the rest of their body is very thin).  Calves are another typical example where overweight women will have huge calves compared to overweight men.

His description of "toning" and muscle size is correct too, and it's why "toning" is a complete myth.  The location of muscle attachments are determined by genetics...you can't lengthen or shorten muscles because of this, unless you go through some sort of major muscle tear or surgery.  The attachments are on the bones themselves (you can see them of meat bones because they look like linear ridges). 

Thanks so much for the article mrwibble. I learned alot of new techniques/moves from the Women's lean training section. But I have been wondering, is it highly beneficial for a me to drink protein shakes while incorporating weights into my routine? Or will protein from my fish and chicken be enough?

Original Post by xosugarbabie05ox:

Thanks so much for the article mrwibble. I learned alot of new techniques/moves from the Women's lean training section. But I have been wondering, is it highly beneficial for a me to drink protein shakes while incorporating weights into my routine? Or will protein from my fish and chicken be enough?

It depends on how much protein you need and how much is in your fish and chicken.

chocolate protein shakes especially the met-rx taste great, uhmmm chocolate!

Original Post by marooda:


One of the little tips that I read that was helpful to me is to do your weightlifting first, then cardio. Contrary to the old myth, by doing weights first, you will burn off the sugar, then when you go to do your cardio, you will be burning fat. Makes sense to me. You may already be doing that, but I thought I'd pass that on.

 hmm... I had always heard that if you do cardio after weight training, all you are doing is burning up the lactic acid in your muscle, and it's counter productive. Now I'm not sure what to think.

 

and to the OP: your workout regime sounds really good. have you lost a lot of weight already? how many cals a day are you eating? just stick with it and i'm sure your bf% will go down, you seem to be doing everything right.