Yes, we may have lied to you. But we swear it was for your own good (Honestly, how many times did your parents tell you that?).
Initially, you will NOT lose weight with resistance training. In fact, if you’re brand new to lifting, you’re more likely to gain weight during the first 3 months. Why? Because you’re building muscle. Muscle is heavy. It’s dense.
Two months ago I had a minor back injury that kept me from lifting. Even though my diet didn’t change at all and I obviously wasn’t exercising, I lost weight. In fact, I lost a little over 10lbs. However, when I looked in the mirror, it looked like I had gained 10 lbs. Even my clothes were tighter.
A similar incident happened to one of our female members at the gym recently. She had just started resistance training January 1st to lose weight. She was a “cardio queen” before, and wanted to change things up this year. She started lifting 4 days per week. When she weighed herself at the end of the month she was shocked to see the scale hadn’t changed one bit. In fact, she gained a pound. Why was she so shocked? Because she had actually lost a pant size, and all of her clothing was loose on her. Even the mirror told her she looked better.
So we may have told you a white lie, but the scale is FAR worse. It will consistently tell you big, fat juicy lies. It will confuse you. It will cause you to doubt yourself. It will depress you. It is not your friend. Stay away from it. Stick to your plan. Lift, run, and eat healthy. Use the mirror and your clothes as measuring sticks.
Why you need muscle:
- Unlike fat, it actually burns calories. The more muscle you have, the higher your metabolism will be. The higher your metabolism, the easier it is to burn calories when you splurge on pizza, beer, and pretzels.
- Fill up a sock with 3 pounds of muscle and fill up another sock with 3lbs of fat. You’ll notice 3lbs of muscle takes up much, much less space. That’s why you’ll drop 1-2 pant sizes even though the scale hasn’t budged.
- Fat is nasty. It sends out all kinds of chemicals that cause havoc in the body. Obesity, aka fat, has been linked to various types of cancers, heart disease, and diabetes. Muscle, on the other hand, soaks up nutrients. It actually increases insulin sensitivity.
Bottom line: Don’t be afraid of lifting weights. As the milk slogan says, “It does a body good.”
