lifting weights and losing weight

Hey there,

I've been doing my weight lifting in hypertrophy for 10 weeks now (3 sets of 6-10 reps, 3 times a week). I also do cardio workout 4-5 times a week. My little (mental of physical...not sure) problem is that I actually weight 130 lbs and would really like to drop to 120. I've been 126 during summer, but i gained back a few pounds and really can't tell if any of those 4 pounds are muscle mass (hard to tell because I'm not lean).

So, to achieve my goal (or a part of it), I would like to start losing a little weight so I decided maybe I should change my weight lifting program. My question is: Should I do 3 sets of 12-15 reps or will I lose my muscle? I am a little afraid of endurance because I never got any results doing that and it's BORING. I would really prefer continue with 8-10 reps but I'm afraid I'll continue gain weight and not lose any.

Thanks and good luck to understand this message...I think in french so it's difficult to write in english...clearly!

What is your BF%? weight is fairly arbitrary, and if that % is already fairly low then dropping lean mass may be the only way to get it down.

Of course, dropping the last couple lbs can be tough too...

How tall are you?

sounds like your doing the wrong cardio...keep wts the same, do intervals/sprints and eat better

Thx for reply.

Lesplease, I really don't know about by BF% but I think it must be high because I have a fat belly.

Swanso, you tell me what I want and what I don't want to hear. I should make my cardio much difficult and eat clean. This last part kills me all the way. University brings a lot of stress and I feel confortable when I don't starve myself too much. BTW I made a huge change, I stopped eating ice cream in the pot during exam sessions which is what I used to do at my 2 first years of University.

Thanks for the advice about weights, I'll try to kill myself on cardio. Good night xx

Jen

Jesav - Just something to consider...

Several months back I wanted to lose weight, but my only option was cardio because I had several ripped tendons in my shoulders and my radius/ulna joints were pretty thrashed from an accident. Like you, I hated being limited to just cardio exercises. To be honest, I wasn't really losing weight in the so-called 'problem areas' and my muscles were actually shrinking. Luckily, when I started doing physical therapy, my therapist got me onto a TotalGym machine. You know, the Chuck Norris machines. The idea was to slowly get my arms back into a state of hypertrophy while limiting stress on my joints and tendons. An unexpected benefit of this, was that I was losing fat in my stomach and neck/chin at a much more increased rate than while just doing sprints and jogs. Since then, I've been a firm believer that strength training, along with cardio, is the best way to see results when trying to lose fatty weight or to tone up. Machines that utilize your own weight, like the Total Gym, aren't going to bulk you up but they will stimulate several muscle groups and that is what you want. As for diet, try to limit carb intake as much as possible (but not too much) and make sure they are from good sources (whole grains/oats/fruits/etc.). I personally get the majority of my carbs in the morning from bread, fruits, and oatmeal/cereal while the rest of my meals are mostly protein and healthy fats. Oh, and if you're not already, WATER WATER WATER all day. At least a gallon.

Again, this is just a suggestion but it worked wonders for me.