Group: General Fitness & Exercise

Created: 2011/12/31, Members: 379, Messages: 54577

Various general exercise related discussions. Find out what it takes to reach your fitness goals through daily effective exercise. With so many options we try to find out what works best.

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Fact or Fiction?

erin4ever1990
erin4ever1990
Posts: 266
Joined: 2001/06/25
United States
2001/06/29, 09:31 AM
I heard two things yesterday that I was curious about and wondered wich was fact and which was fiction. If someone with a hefty % of body fat starts lifting, does the fat remain and the muscle grow over and around it, or does it burn the fat?
kibbz
kibbz
Posts: 57
Joined: 2001/06/24
United States
2001/06/29, 11:22 AM
the more muscle you have the faster your resting metabloism is. therefore you burn more calories when you are doing nothing. so when someone starts a weight training program they can expect to see some of the fat melt away once they start building muscle.
BillK
BillK
Posts: 361
Joined: 2000/12/26
United States
2001/06/29, 01:24 PM
Well said, Kibbz.


~billk~
erin4ever1990
erin4ever1990
Posts: 266
Joined: 2001/06/25
United States
2001/06/29, 04:16 PM
So why is it so important then for one to do cardio as a form of weight loss inconjuntion with lifting, if lifting in fact burns calories? Sorry for the ignorance, I am new at this and don't know how it all really works.
archan
archan
Posts: 135
Joined: 2001/04/14
India
2001/06/30, 01:18 AM
For me i always lifted heavy whe i was fat.I melted most of them.The theory is u burn calories if u work hard on ur muscles.
mongrel2012
mongrel2012
Posts: 125
Joined: 2001/05/04
Australia
2001/06/30, 01:20 AM
you also do cardio to get fit. If your diet is geared towards gaining muscle mass, then you're still going to put on a little fat. Cardio burns some of this fat
skylar
skylar
Posts: 156
Joined: 2001/01/29
United States
2001/06/30, 10:42 PM
If you remember that fat lies between the muscle and the skin as a seperate layer then it is easier to picture. Muscle grows and demands more nutrients. Calories are just units measured to get rid of something. Fat requires more cenergy to get rid of it. If your build muscle and it needs more energy then if you don"t increase your calories then the body has to find other sources of energy i.e fat stores. But it takes time for the body to get used to using this source of energy efficiently so we lose it slowly. Sort of like a runner "hitting the wall" when they run lout of lgucose in the cell for energy the body uses other sources for energy to keep running but this produces a lot of lactic acid which causes muscle cramps, but lessens as the body "learns" to use the other fuel source.
erin4ever1990
erin4ever1990
Posts: 266
Joined: 2001/06/25
United States
2001/07/01, 12:13 AM
Thank you skylar, your answer was informative and much appreciated.