(Hat tip to How Stuff Works for this photo.)
But brothers and sisters, you have to be careful not to trust the scale too much. Here’s why.
When you lift weights, you build strength, muscle and bone.
When you build muscle and bone, you become denser and heavier.
When you become denser and heavier, you weigh more. But your body composition, meaning, the ratio of lean mass to fat mass changes for the better. So just because your body mass index goes up, you are better off. (See the above pic.) In other words, if your fat mass doesn’t change, it’s always better to have more muscle and bone.
If you manage to add five pounds of muscle and bone to your person (which is a fairly easy thing to achieve after a few months or even less of weight lifting), all without losing fat, the scale will rise. But it is my experience after many years of training people that even though you might not alter your diet to maximize fat loss, you will still shed a few unwanted pounds by weight lifting.
The reasons are pretty clear – more muscle increases metabolic rate a bit and it also allows your body to regulate blood sugar better. A lot better in fact. And the better you regulate blood sugar, the more fat will be used for fuel.
Now, the combo of weight lifting and low sugar/carb eating is the very best way to lose fat and build a physique/figure. If you don’t think so, than you had better get thee to Amazon and pick up a copy of Dr. Jeff Volek and Dr. Stephen Phinney’s new book The Art and Science of Low Carbohydrate Performance
As I see it, private personal training conducted by a qualified personal trainer, is well worth the money spent. Training three times a week in your own home will not equal a single session with a good personal trainer on professional equipment. Spend the money you normally wood on junk and such on one weekly private personal training session. That’s what money is for – for making you a better you. Here is a list of quality gyms that I will vouch for. (I get absolutely NADA for referring you to any of these facilities so you know.)
So nope, there’s no devil living in your scale if it goes up after a few weeks of weight lifting. I have armed you with knowledge. Go forth and use it to your advantage!
