Looking to bulk up a bit. but am a bit overweight?
Question:
however.. I am about 25 pounds overweight. the question is..will my strength trainging turn my fat into muscle?..or should I lose the weight first and then start training?..
Answers:
Fat and muscle are two completely different kinds of tissue. It will not turn into bone and surely not into muscle eithe!
Strength training will add weight to the scale. However it will tuck in your tummy, even if you were at a healthy weight to begin with, and raise your metabolism. Your best bet would be to weight train 2 or 3 days a week to build muscle and do 45 minutes of good cardio 3 or 4 days a week to burn calories.
No, fat can not turn directly into muscle.
With exercise (or some supplements), fat can be turned into energy, and energy can be used to exercise, which can build muscle. but that's the closest it can come to that.
You can continue to lose the weight as you exercise and train. Most people do that... unless they need to lose over 100 pounds and have trouble moving around, but even then, they still move as well as they can to help burn calories.
some of the muscle will replace the fat so you can start your training when ever you want
I would suggest cardio first because once you begin weight training your muscles will only grow larger under your fat. You will not be as defined as you intend on being. Fat does not turn into muscle. Fat and muscle have nothing to do with each other. If you choose to stop weight training, this does not mean that your muscles will turn to fat. I recommend cardio before weights. Running is the best form of cardio because it is something you can do at the gym or at home or outside. You should not veer completely away from weights but it should not be as intense. Use lower weighing weights.
Hi!
I am a former firefighter, and I had to pass the Atlas Physical Endurance Test every year. Here's what I learned...
1. Forget the low-carb/high protein diet. You're damaging your kidneys and liver, and your making your body insulin resistant. Eat a well balanced diet with lean meats, tasty veggies, plenty of fresh fruit, and knock out as much of the over-processed sugars and wheat stuff as you can. Also, watch your caffeine intake. Too much of the stimulants will make you carry a lot of water, and rob you of precious endurance. Ditto for the sodas, even the diet and caffeine free ones. What you are aiming for is portion and quality control. Most healthy people are overweight because they eat junk and/or they just plain eat too much.
You are right that you are only a bit overweight... Twenty-five lbs. is very easy to shed, and not enough to seriously over-tax your heart. That said, please get a comprehensive physical from a licensed and certified medical professional before you start a weight training program. Many underlying disorders or ailments can remain dormant right up until you are late in the day with the weight training, and that can have avoidable long-term consequences.
If you clear the physical, start with a cardiovascular routine and gradually work in the weights. Begin with light weights and higher repetitions, then as you begin to get comfortable, increase the weights by three to five lbs. and lower the reps. Work to increase the reps. to the number you were at with the lighter weights, then add more weight. The idea is to never "plateau"... Keep on challenging and pushing your body, but do it at a pace your body can manage. Too fast, and you burn out, harm yourself, and you do not build up properly. Too slow, and you will not see or feel results. If you aim more for endurance than bulk, you will trim up beautifully without any special diets. As firefighters have long since learned, training for endurance makes you a lot stronger physically and emotionally than training for bulk. We have to train harder than the police and many military institutions do, and I challenge you to find an active duty firefighter of either gender who is not ripped, lean, fast, and able to outlast most bodybuilders in the most grueling field conditions. The thing I want to stress though is that our training is supervised by a certified health professional, and if you want to do this right, please at least start with your own. See your doctor first, then don't be shy or stingy when choosing a trainer. In both cases, quality, credentials, and qualification count. You will usually only need the trainer to start you off right, and it's likely you will be able to go it alone from there. Best of luck to you!
More Questions & Answers...