general lifting questions..

[alexplantman]

Hmm, I wasn't sure what heading to put up... anyway, I have been focusing on weight loss for about six months, and want to tip toe back into weight training this month.

I have avoided weight training as I have not wanted to gain a lb of muscle, as my main goal was reach a certain weight, period...and didn't want my results tainted by "muscle weight"... I still have to loose some weight, but being that it's only ...I "estimate"... another 8-10 lbs, I think I can start not worrying soo much about lbs vs muscle weight..

I won't have access to a gym (it will be only universal, not even sure if there will be an incline bench :( ) for another 2 wks, but have been using some dumbells at home.

So enough of the background..now my questions..

Being that I am going to be doing limited lifting for the next few weeks (remember, just have dumbells) should I bother with protein after working out? I don't want that protein turning into fat , since I am not really working out 100%.

OR, should I just focus my lifting on weight loss (ie low weight and high reps) or start working on a routine and do that?

Remember, I still need to loose the 8-10...at which point I'll start working abs... I don't think ab work out will do anything visually noticable now with the remaining fat :( ...

thoughts?

thanks

[Sportsmedjosh]

Alex the first thing I'm sure the rest of us will want to know is why you want to reach a specific weight and not be concerned with muscle mass or any weight training for a period of time. I think once i figure that out we would be better inclined to help you reach your goal.

[fodive]

you can do just about everything you need with a good set of dumbbells, anyways dude.

[Sportsmedjosh]

The reason why I asked is because you state that your really wanted to hit a specific numerical goal but not doing any weight training will decrease your metabolism though you would cause hypertrophy. If you really want to lose 8 lbs you could do that in a single work out session but it would only be temp.

[alexplantman]

The specific weight target? B/c I still have fat in my stomach and on the sides; there is a small belly you could say... I guess that's the only way to put it....

Yeah, i have been doing a lot of differnet routines with the dumbells on occasion, except anything to do with chest, as I don't have a bench...guess if I really wanted to, I could use a couple chairs or something, LOL.

As for the remaining fat, i am still doing my running just about every day (5 min walk, 32 min jog, 20 min walk). I did a Hiit session Sat and will be doing that 2-3 times a week, plus increasing my jogs to 35-36 minutes)....So need to blend in the lifting around this.

[Sportsmedjosh]

Alex if you want to incorp bench into your workout you could always get a stability ball and black it behind your back, nice cheap portable solution, although i wouldn't go super heavy with the weight you decide to press. I also see no proble using body weight pushups feet on a chair with push ups etc.

Your biggest thing you should look out is your nutrition, you might want to change it around some there are some sample of what different caloric meal plans look like. If you are going to do weights and running and want to do them both on the same day this is what i would look into.
Try our weight loss tracker and also copy and paste what you would normally eat for 2 days in here. Also try starting a photo journal if you already haven't. I hope all this help but if you were to buy another piece of equipment I think the best value for your money at this point would be a stability ball.

some of the upperbody exercise you can do are bench press incline , decline, flys, pull overs, the up position of the push up in a plank like position with the ball.

[The League Champ]

It is easier to gain muscle mass with fat, then burn off the fat after you have gained muscle.

[alexplantman]

I am not loosing focus on the weight loss , but just want to add lifting.

I will have to start doing some reading again on protein / nutrition, etc.

Now, I basically eat 5 meals per day, not focusing on protein, but once I start lifting, then I'll focus on carbs/protein on each meal.

The way I did it before, which worked for me (will be open to changing that if it means packing more muscle later) is following BFL guidelines - 1 serving carb and 1 serving protein 5 times a day. I try to cut down or eliminate carb on my last meal of the day.

For now, I am eating far less calories / protein than I would want when I start lifting. So that is why I am concerned about going back to focusing on protein, etc as I start lifting. Maybe I'll transition into more calories / protein as I progress into a regular lifting routine.