Background: I lifted weights for a few months a few years ago before giving up and getting fat again, then having back surgery and getting even fatter. Now I am losing the weight and trying weightlifting again. I know that some people will think that, since I am doing this for myself rather than competition, I should focus on how I feel rather than on the numbers. However, I have always been the type to be motivated by scores.
Here’s what I don’t get: On this website, they have tables showing how much weight you should be able to lift/press/whatever in each exercise based on sex and weight. Is that assuming fit people of all weights, or are fat people expected to lift more? Based on the deadlift chart, I am a novice. If I kept my deadlift the same, and reduced my body weight to where it should be, I would be categorized as Intermediate, or possibly Advanced! Will I lose muscle/strength as I get smaller even if I am lifting weights and eating enough protein?
I thought about asking this on a weightlifting forum, but they seem to be geared toward young fit dudes. I’m forty, fat, and female.
I’m 54. The body weights in that chart are for people who are currently exercising and are not overtly obese. The main problem I see with the charts is that once you start getting into the upper male weight ranges (275+ for the men) there are very few people who will be those high weights and in shape unless they are amateur or professional athletes who train like crazy. The women’s chart of weight ranges is much more compressed.
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No, if you are training with some degree of seriousness you will gain muscle. Eating less carbs and more protein allows you to gain muscle and reduce your fat. 40 is by no means too old to slap on some muscle. A key benefit is that the added muscle will make you look much better and slightly increase your resting metabolic rate so you burn more calories throughout the day. You need to keep your food intake levels at a reasonable lelvel. Starvation dieting is the worse thing you can do if you are trying to improve your physique as your body will go after both your fat and your muscle for nutrients.
One thing to remember however is that people tend to way overestimate the calories they need. If you are past your 30s, overweight and have led a mostly sedentary life your body probably only needs around 10-11 calories per lb of body weight to maintain a a given weight set point. Many caloric requirement estimates you see on the net are much higher at 12-14 calories per lb of body weight. These are not accurate for older, overweight people. People usually don’t need as much food as they think.
So, as a 204 lb woman (down from 260!) who should weigh more like 135-140, do you think I should compare myself to the standard for my current weight, my healthy weight, or something in between?
Slightly off the subject, one thing that bothered me the last time I lost a lot of weight was the loss of practical “strength” when it came to pushing and pulling things.
You need to reference your target weight, not your current weight re expected levels of performance. If you lose weight without substantial exercise through just dieting you will feel weaker because you will often be weaker. Rapid weight loss without exercise and balanced nutrition can chew up both muscle and fat.
Having said all this if you relied on your 260 lbs of leverage in pushing and shifting things around even added muscle isn’t going to make up entirely for this leverage loss. I speak from direct experience in this, however, carrying that all weight around is such a huge negative on so many levels I wouldn’t swap it back for the odd times I need to push a set of dresser drawers or a bed around. That what sliders are for.
Sliders are the best! Even though I’m working on lifting heavy things at the gym, I am still being very conservative in less controlled real-life situations. I had surgery for a very badly ruptured disk in 2011 and have been letting the guys do the heavy stuff ever since. Not for much longer, though! Last week, I couldn’t lift 205 lbs. Yesterday I did six reps. Woooo! I don’t think I’ll increase the weight until I have seen a personal trainer and a physical therapist just to be sure I don’t break myself.
You won’t lose muscle and strength, but your smaller size will have an impact on how much weight you can move. Power-lifters can move more than body-builders because they’re bigger and can put more mass behind their movements. You’ll see a dip in your max lifts as your weight goes down until you add more muscle mass, and adding a lb of muscle takes much longer than losing a lb of fat. (The rule of thumb we were told in high school was 4 times as long.)
Well fat doesn’t help you lift weights. So yes, assuming you lose fat and keep lean muscle mass, you would be in better shape (and thus more “advanced”), even if you are lifting the same weight.
I wouldn’t focus too much on that stuff. It’s probably more important to keep track of your % body fat and your own personal strength gains versus trying to meet some standard.
You need to consider that you aren’t a full time weight lifter, thus you may feel like you’ve lost some power, yet you most likely haven’t - it’s just that your body needs to build it properly, through lean muscle mass.
I find the big misconception is that being ‘lean’ means your gaining lean muscle mass automatically.
See, I knew reasonable people would come in here and tell me not to worry about the numbers :). I’m trying not to focus on them too much, but it it helps sometimes to have an objective standard.
A 200 pound woman should be able to lift more than a 100 pound woman. This is because a 200 pound woman has more experience moving her own weight around. For example, every time a woman stands up, she’s exercising certain muscles, and it takes more effort to stand up with 200 lbs. of resistance than 100 pounds. Pushing yourself from a lying to a sitting position is the same deal: it takes more effort when you’re heavier.
HOWEVER … that chart looks pretty useless for heavy women. While I would imagine a heavy, out-of-shape woman would bench press more than a light, out-of-shape woman, no out-of-shape woman is going to be able to bench press 85 lbs. right off the bat.
I would not go off of your target weight, though, because as you lose fat, I guarantee you that you will lose muscle as well. Guarantee. As a woman who has obsessively measured her body fat in accordance with her fat, lifted weights daily, counted her calories, read countless fitness books and discussed with fitness trainers and fellow gym rats, you can lose a few pounds of fat without losing muscle. But if you lose large amounts of fat, as you intend to lose, you’re going to lose muscle as well.
Oh, and for the record: I come out as an intermediate lifter on those charts. I can do one-armed pushups and one-armed pullups. I am also a woman. Don’t take the term advanced lightly.
Hmm, I actually think the numbers skew low. For example, a 198 pound intermediate man is expected to bench 215 pounds. That translates to doing 8 reps of 155 according to their calculator. Most of the guys at the gym can do that, and I would expect a normal person to reach that after no more than 3-4 months of training.
I don’t think you should put any credence into standard numbers. For one, being 5’8 200 is a lot different than being 6’2 200. There’s no reason to think those two people should be anywhere near each other in strength. For two, a big gut isn’t going to help you very much lifting. So either the standards aren’t going to make sense, or you’re going to have a huge fudge factor in deciding how much you should weigh.
Don’t worry about what other people can do. Focus on your improvement and you’ll get all the motivation you need. Nothing like adding on one more plate to the bar than last week.