Can strength loosely measure metabolism?

[Frodo]

If I bench 130 lbs now, and increase my strength over the next few months so that I can bench 200 lbs, and while doing this, eat about the same amount, and don't eat sweets or huge amounts of carbs, can I expect to lose fat just by increasing my strength level?

 

I'm especially considering this because I've plateaued and my schedule won't allow me to work out more than an hour a day.

[cdn]

That is a TON of time to devote to working out. Are you strength training an hour per day now? If so, this is the likely cause of your plateau - you are overtraining. Muscle gain occurs during the rest period between workouts. If you workout constantly, it becomes counter-productive. You can experiment to find out what the ideal time between workouts is for you, but 48-72 hours is typical.

 

As for weight loss, the only way to lose weight is to create a deficit of calories, i.e., use more than you take in. While weight training will cause you to lose a few extra calories, and increased muscle mass will "up" your metabolism, it takes 3500 calories to equal one pound. If you cut 500 calories a day from what you are currently eating, you'll lose weight at a rate of 1 pound per week. If you work out three times per week at 200 calories a session, with no change in your eating, it's going to take nearly 6 weeks just to lose a single pound.

 

As for sweets and carbs, these are less of an issue than your overall caloric intake. Obviously, a ton of sweets won't do you any good nutritionally, but carbs are both necessary and nutritious. What's most important to weight loss is that you consume fewer calories than you use. There is no magic in one type of food that, if eliminated, will cause thinness.

[Frodo]

I didn't say I was working the same muscle groups.

 

I rotate so that my muscles get 48 hours rest. The other part of the hour was cardio, which I've reduced. Anyway, that doesn't answer my question. I want to know if I can count on having a higher metabolism if I can get my strength levels up.

[Ryan]

I want to know if I can count on having a higher metabolism if I can get my strength levels up.

 

If it causes an increase in muscle mass, then yes. When training properly and generally (as in not for any specific activity), strength gains will bring about some degree of proportional size gains. However, it is going to be essentially impossible to LOSE bodyfat while doing this. The delicate caloric balance required to achieve this will make both muscle gain and fat loss very minimal.

 

I will also second this notion of training every day, regardless of how you believe you are splitting up your body. I guarantee I can find significant overlap in any training routine built around daily shuffling of parts and groups.

[Frodo]

I'm at a loss here Ryan, because if I take all your statements together, it's impossible to lose bodyfat.

 

1) cardio won't help me lose bodyfat

2) strength training won't help me lose bodyfat.

3) eating less won't help me lose bodyfat.

 

I don't think there's much else besides liposuction, and I can't afford that.

 

I need to lose this weight and genetically, I store fat in the stomach, so it's extra important that I get rid of it before I get old and get lots of nasty diseases. There should be a way. I lost a lot when I stopped with the french fries and candy, but I leveled off and can't eat much less, so I'm looking for an exercise solution.

[moimeme]

I'm sure Ryan will give you the skinny on how to go about this.

 

At the risk of my having my head bitten off one more time, I'll once again suggest you read up on calcium/dairy products and weight loss. There have been several interesting studies which seem to suggest that a certain amount of calcium intake prevents fat being deposited in the abdomen. The studies have been conducted by reputable organizations. Yes, one was funded by a dairy institute and another was reported to it, but that is not the case for all of them.

 

For one bit of anecdotal evidence, I've been a lifelong consumer of lots of dairy and I have never had to battle weight at all. Of course this could be due to genetic influence (though my mom's side had some weight problems) but I find it interesting.

 

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. -- Purdue University researchers have come up with yet another reason to "get" milk.

In a two-year study of 54 women ages 18 to 31, the researchers found that higher calcium intakes may reduce overall levels of body fat and slow weight gain for women in this age group.

 

And women who consume calcium from dairy products, or who consume at least 1,000 milligrams per day, may reap the most benefits.

 

"Our study is the first to show that, when overall calorie consumption is accounted for, calcium not only helps keep weight in check, but can be associated specifically with decreases in body fat," says Dorothy Teegarden, assistant professor of foods and nutrition at Purdue.

for the rest: http://news.uns.purdue.edu/html4ever/990420.Teegarden.calcium.html

 

 

Over the past twenty years, epidemiological and clinical studies have begun to show that there is a relationship between calcium intake and body weight. In the late 1980’s, a study of hypertension in obese Black men showed that men who added two cups of yogurt each day to their diet lost almost 11 pounds of body fat over the course of a year without changing other aspects of their diet or physical activity. Analysis of the Nationwide Food Consumption Survey data of 1987-1988 also showed a significant inverse relationship between calcium intake and body weight.

http://www.fsci.umn.edu/nutrinet/May%2003/relationship.htm

 

Business Wire

 

April 17, 2001

 

The leading protagonists of the benefits of milk in combating obesity include Michael Zemel, Ph.D., director of nutrition in the Nutrition Institute at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville. He has shown that the calcium in milk plays a role in reducing obesity by regulating fat metabolism.

 

An abstract published this past April by the American Journal for Clinical Nutrition documents evidence showing that an increase in dietary calcium significantly contributes to weight and fat loss. The study by Zemel and colleagues also showed that calcium from low-fat milk products were more effective in inducing weight loss than an equivalent amount of calcium from dietary supplements. Participants in the 24-week study were divided into three groups: low-calcium intake, high calcium (primarily supplements) and high dairy (3–4 servings of low-fat milk products). Individuals in the low-calcium group lost 6.4 percent of their body weight; high-calcium participants lost 8.1 percent of body weight; and high-dairy group members lost 10.9 percent of body weight. Thus, high-dairy group participants lost 70 percent more weight than those consuming low levels of calcium.

 

“The average participant weighing 180 pounds lost 11 pounds on the low-calcium control diet, 15 pounds on the high-calcium diet and 20 pounds on the high-dairy diet,” said Zemel. “We also found the weight loss was reflective of fat loss around the torso.”

 

In a prior analysis presented in November 1999 for the North American Association for the Study of Obesity, Zemel determined that low-fat dairy products curtail production of fat within fat cells and stimulate the mechanism to break down fat, thereby reducing potential for obesity. The effect was most pronounced among women in a study who consumed at least three servings of low-fat dairy foods. They were only 20 percent as likely to develop obesity than women who consumed fewer dairy products.

 

Zemel’s recent studies were prompted by unexpected weight loss that occurred among participants in a hypertension study he conducted a decade ago. In that study, a group of African American men who added two cups of yogurt to their daily diet lost on average about 11 pounds during the course of a year.

http://www.cdrf.org/newsletter/dbsum02/dbeat1.htm

 

LYNNWOOD, Wash., Apr 17, 2001 (BUSINESS WIRE) -- Women counting fat grams and cutting calories in anticipation of "bathing suit season" may be cutting dairy products, which are perceived as high in fat, from their diets -- to their detriment.

 

According to a study in the December 2000 Journal of the American College of Nutrition, women with the highest intake of calcium from dairy foods -- relative to the number of calories they consumed each day -- lost the most weight and body fat over two years, regardless of exercise.

 

Both calcium and vitamin A have a major impact on body weight and body fat, according to the report. The study's researchers recommend that young women of average body weight who want to lose weight, should consume about 1,950 calories a day, 5,000 international units (IU) of vitamin A, and 1,000 milligrams (mg) of calcium. Although the recommended calcium level for young women is 1,000 mg daily, the study found that the average woman's daily intake of calcium was only 781 mg per day. Dairy calcium accounted for 69 percent of total calcium intake.

 

"This study adds to a growing body of work supporting the concept that increased calcium intake is associated with weight loss," said Eileen Paul, nutritionist and educator with Group Health Cooperative in Seattle. "Low fat dairy products are high in calcium, and can be incorporated into a weight management program."

 

This new study supports previous research from The Nutrition Institute at the University of Tennessee that indicated a diet high in low-fat dairy foods causes fat cells to break down fat and produce less fat. That study also found that women who consumed at least three servings of low-fat dairy foods per day were at the lowest risk of becoming obese.

 

CONTACT: Washington Dairy Products Commission

http://www.google.ca/search?q=cache:weE4MrCObKoJ:www.lef.org/newsarchive/

 

MONTREAL (CP) - Weight-conscious adolescent girls have a better chance of losing their flabby midriffs if they ditch soft drinks in favour of milk, suggests a preliminary U.S. study presented at an obesity conference Tuesday.

A Quebec study released in July said women who avoid calcium have bigger waist sizes than those who consume moderate or elevated amounts of calcium.

 

Quebec researchers found that women who consumed 600 milligrams of calcium a day had a significantly different body mass, fat percentage and waist size than women who consumed less.

both from:

http://mediresource.sympatico.ca/health_news_detail.asp?channel_id=9&news_id=2348

[cdn]

I'm at a loss here Ryan, because if I take all your statements together, it's impossible to lose bodyfat.

 

1) cardio won't help me lose bodyfat

2) strength training won't help me lose bodyfat.

3) eating less won't help me lose bodyfat.

 

 

I don't recall seeing Ryan suggest that #3 won't help. In fact, #3 is what you need to focus on most. #2 will help you to raise your metabolic rate, although not enough to function as a weight-loss program on its own. #1 can play a supporting role in a weight-loss program, but will be slow going as the only element.

 

If you can't eat less, try to at least reduce your fat intake (particularly saturated fats), and increase fruits, veggies, and high fiber foods (which create a sense of fullness).

[Ryan]

I'm at a loss here Ryan, because if I take all your statements together, it's impossible to lose bodyfat.

 

Take them in context.

 

You asked about losing bodyfat while gaining strength and increasing your metabolism. Gaining strength typically involves gaining size. Increasing metabolic needs typically involves gaining size. You're asking how to lose bodyfat and gain size. THAT is damn near impossible.

 

1) cardio won't help me lose bodyfat

2) strength training won't help me lose bodyfat.

3) eating less won't help me lose bodyfat.

 

3 will cause your body to enter a caloric deficit, making it burn bodily tissues for fuel. 2 will reduce the amount of non-bodyfat tissue that is burned. 1.....is generally a waste of time, as it contributes minimally to either aspect.

 

There have been several interesting studies which seem to suggest that a certain amount of calcium intake prevents fat being deposited in the abdomen.

 

Aside from some calcium deficiency that inhibits normal bodily function, it will not alter the genetic distribution of bodyfat. It will also not cause unused calories to somehow be expended. Thermodynamics must be obeyed before anything else.

[Frodo]

Ok, I'm going to takeit that lifting weights and eating less is going to give me the fastest fat loss. You said that it's almost impossible to improve strength, which involves gaining size, while eating less. Okay, fine, my goal is fat loss anyway.

 

I think the main thing you've said is that lifting weights is a more effective weight loss exercise than cardio. I'm taking it that if I lift weights and eat slightly less, then I'll lose weight at a faster clip than if I ate less alone. and If I ate more and pumped iron, then I'd gain muscle weight.