Strength & Muscle Building 💪

[SpartanMaker 1,406]

2 hours ago, NeonRaven8919 said:

My doctor said weight training will help me lose me more weight long term than cardio...

I wanted to address this because it's just not correct.

I'm not trying to discourage anyone from doing resistance training since there are a lot of benefits, but this idea that it helps you burn more calories is based on outdated science.

We used to think that adding a pound of muscle mass would on average burn an additional 50 or so calories in a day. More recent research shows it to be closer to just 6 calories per day. Considering that the average woman that strength trains might do well to add 10-12 pounds of muscle in a year, Strength training consistently for a year is only going to get you to a place where you burn maybe an additional 60-70 calories a day. For comparison, this is roughly the equivalent of 1/2 a scoop of your typical Protein Powder.

Yes, you do burn some calories as you do resistance training, but it's not even close to the amount you can burn doing moderate to heavy cardio such as running, spinning, etc. Resistance training does contribute to a higher level of something we call EPOC, or Excess Post-exercise Oxygen Consumption, but the contribution there is also minimal. Even with the increased EPOC amount, resistance training simply can't touch the amount of calories burned in moderate to intense cardio.

Once again, I'm not trying to discourage anyone from doing resistance training. There are some tremendous benefits, from increased health and longevity, to being more capable (and bad a$$), to making you look seriously hot, but as a way to burn more calories? Eh, not so much.

[NeonRaven8919 594]

1 hour ago, SpartanMaker said:

I wanted to address this because it's just not correct.

I'm not trying to discourage anyone from doing resistance training since there are a lot of benefits, but this idea that it helps you burn more calories is based on outdated science.

We used to think that adding a pound of muscle mass would on average burn an additional 50 or so calories in a day. More recent research shows it to be closer to just 6 calories per day. Considering that the average woman that strength trains might do well to add 10-12 pounds of muscle in a year, Strength training consistently for a year is only going to get you to a place where you burn maybe an additional 60-70 calories a day. For comparison, this is roughly the equivalent of 1/2 a scoop of your typical Protein Powder.

Yes, you do burn some calories as you do resistance training, but it's not even close to the amount you can burn doing moderate to heavy cardio such as running, spinning, etc. Resistance training does contribute to a higher level of something we call EPOC, or Excess Post-exercise Oxygen Consumption, but the contribution there is also minimal. Even with the increased EPOC amount, resistance training simply can't touch the amount of calories burned in moderate to intense cardio.

Once again, I'm not trying to discourage anyone from doing resistance training. There are some tremendous benefits, from increased health and longevity, to being more capable (and bad a$$), to making you look seriously hot, but as a way to burn more calories? Eh, not so much.

Interesting. I always thought cardio burned more fat anyway, so when the doctor said this, I was a bit surprised.

[ms.sss 15,835]

1 hour ago, NeonRaven8919 said:

Interesting. I always thought cardio burned more fat anyway, so when the doctor said this, I was a bit surprised.

the reasoning behind the advocacy of muscle building is that just the fact of having muscle mass allows you to burn calories by just EXISTING.

meaning: someone with 85% muscle mass will burn way more calories just BREATHING ON THE COUCH vs. someone who has only 50% muscle mass.

the flip side of this is that someone with higher muscle mass tends to be "hungrier" than someone who does not (and im talking REAL hunger, not head hunger), so it takes a bit more effort to not pork out.

in the end, as always, it all boils down to how far and how hard you are willing to go. further, some may have to work even harder than others just to overcome genetics and medical issues they are saddled with.

in short: cardio burns more calories IN THE MOMENT; but weight lifting/muscle building is more LONG TERM. both are hard and require consistent effort. choose your hard.

good luck! ❤️

[SpartanMaker 1,406]

17 minutes ago, ms.sss said:

the reasoning behind the advocacy of muscle building is that just the fact of having muscle mass allows you to burn calories by just EXISTING.

But that's kinda my point.

We used to think that extra muscle mass burned a lot more calories per day than it actually does. Keep in mind too that fat is not completely metabolically inert. So on average, one pound of fat burns about two calories per day just existing, whereas one pound of muscle burns about 6 calories per day at rest. You're just not going to lose much weight from resistance training alone.

Weight loss happens in the kitchen. Sculpting beautiful bodies happens in the gym.

Edited 18 hours ago by SpartanMaker

[AmberFL 1,093]

1 hour ago, ms.sss said:

so it takes a bit more effort to not pork out.

hahaha! the struggle for me 😂🤣

[AmberFL 1,093]

54 minutes ago, SpartanMaker said:

You're just not going to lose much weight from resistance training alone.

Agreed we need both! BTW I did not do cardio after my leg days this week! Hoping for a bigger peach 🤣