r/science • u/mvea Professor | Medicine • 1d ago
Health Strength training may start changing your fat before you lose any weight. In obese mice, just 7 days of lifting (climbing stairs with weights on their tails) shrank fat cells, reduced belly fat, toned down fat-making signals and boosted fat-burning ones, all before the scale had moved even a little.
https://www.sciencealert.com/just-7-days-of-strength-training-starts-shrinking-fat-cells-in-mice848
u/AssaultLemming_ 17h ago
Just picturing those buff little mice
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u/abhijitd 17h ago
I was picturing mice lifting tiny dumb bells until it said weights tied to their tails. I was disappointed.
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u/snek-jazz 12h ago
Incorrect reaction, should have just changed to picturing mice lifting tiny dumb bells with their tails
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u/iiiinthecomputer 11h ago
I was really hoping for mice with adorable little weight harnesses strapped on.
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u/porcupine_snout 12h ago
I'm disappointed by the photo... not what I imagine. dragging a heavier tail around somehow doesn't fit what I imagine strength training entails.
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u/MoonOverJupiter 4h ago
Is the reason I have too much body fat, that I DON'T HAVE A TAIL?!
You would not believe all the other things I thought it was. Sad, tailless evolutionary outcome. Monkeys (and rodents, I guess) have all the mammalian luck.
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u/samsaruhhh 18h ago
Do pushups count for "strength training"
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u/randompersonx 17h ago
Yes. Pushups are absolutely a strength training exercise. Just make sure you have good form (much like any other exercise).
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u/Trolloschmabollo 4h ago
Yeah, but real talk: Probably not enough to sink fat cells.
It's good for getting started tho, but i think you need more than just one exercise to achieve this.128
u/hollowman8904 17h ago
Yes, until you can do about 15 of them with good form, then it’s time to progress to something harder if you want to continue building strength
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u/TreLeans 17h ago
If you’re doing home workouts and don’t have equipment, there are different types of pushups you can do that range in difficulty to continue to build strength.
R/bodyweightfitness has some good tips for that.
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u/Nickel_Bottom 17h ago
You Are Your Own Gym by Mark Lauren also has a ton of exercises, set strategies, and nutrition information for bodyweight exercises, in case anyone reading absorbs information from books better than from subreddits (like me).
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u/Bushels_for_All 13h ago
I like diamond push-ups for an added challenge.
For hand placement, make a diamond with your hands, touching the tips of your thumbs and index fingers. It engages the forearms a lot more when your hands are at the center of your chest, as opposed to shoulder-width. I can comfortably do at least 5 more regular push-ups than diamond push-ups.
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u/Raeandray 8h ago
Why? Is there peer-reviewed research that suggests reduced benefits to muscle growth at 15+ pushups? That seems odd to me.
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u/the_wrong_lever 5h ago edited 5h ago
My assumption is that they're suggesting after 15 you start building muscular endurance rather than muscular strength.
If one person can do 50 push-ups in one set and another can do 100, the second guy is not typically able to benchpress 2x the one rep max as the first.
I haven't validated the claim on 15 push-ups specifically, but it has been shown in practice that doing a ton of reps of a low weight has diminishing returns on the max weight able to be lifted.
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u/Raeandray 4h ago
I'd assume someone that can do 100 in one set can bench more than someone that can do 50, though. It's just not a 1-1 ratio. But that's true throughout this scale. Someone that can do 15 pushups in a set isn't benching 15x someone that can do 1. Can someone that does 15 bench double someone that can do 7? I doubt it.
But yeah I'd agree there's diminishing returns, but you're still going to build strength.
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u/danny_ish 3h ago
A common problem with bodybuilding science is that a lot of these terms that are so colloquially used actually have rigid definitions.
I can bench a lot more weight than my sister, but because she has like no upper body mass, she can do a lot of push-ups. Who is stronger well as a percentage of upper body mass, she is. But just upper body strength? I am.
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u/Raeandray 3h ago
You can bench more as a percentage of your total body mass than she can, despite her being able to do more push-ups? That would honestly surprise me. Most women I know that are good at push-ups are also good on bench press. Good is just relative to their body mass.
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u/load_more_comets 16h ago
Like 15 in one go? Or can it be 3 sets of 5?
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u/hollowman8904 16h ago
Build up to 15 in a set, x3 sets. Once you can do that, move on to a harder variation (eg use a weighted vest or move on to decline push-ups)
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u/randompersonx 16h ago
When people say stuff like that in shorthand, they mean in one set, generally.
But with that said, for strength training, you generally want to do multiple sets. If you can do 12-15, probably 3 sets is ideal. If you can only do 5-8, maybe 5 sets is ideal.
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u/ExceedingChunk 15h ago
If you can do 5-8, 3 sets is still more than good enough. Building strength is mainly about doing reps close to failure. If you can only to 8 pushups in one go and then you are completely out of it, doing 3 sets of 5 or 6 pushups is gonna be more than good enough to build strength. Build up the amount of reps as you get stronger, and once you are able to to 3x20 you are gonna start needing more challenging stuff.
Sure, you can do 5 sets if you want, but plenty of full body programs are 3 sets of 5-6 reps for compound movements like bench (which is fairly similar to a pushup muscle recruitment wise).
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u/QueasyWorldliness920 17h ago
Yes, until you can do over 100 in one continuous set. And even then probably still yes
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u/DenverCoder009 15h ago
This was 18 years ago for anyone who remembers it, give yoga a try if your back is starting to hurt.
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u/hollowman8904 17h ago
100 pushups in one set is just a weird way to do cardio. You’re not building any strength with that much volume
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u/semibigpenguins 16h ago
Depends really. I have terrible tennis(golfers?) elbows from 15 years of rock climbing. Doing lots and lots of push ups helps
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u/sixfourtykilo 16h ago
Pushups ignore some small muscle groups which can lead to other issues.
It's important to mix it up.
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u/semibigpenguins 15h ago
Any recommendations from calisthenics outside of gym rings?
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u/yumcake 15h ago
Maybe look into doing some rotational resistance training. I had some elbow problems and looked into what would help recovery. So long as you're out of the acute injury phase, you can start training them to be more injury-resistant. Take a stick with a small weight on one end and then grab the unweighted end and slowly rotate it using your wrist. Change your hand position to raise/lower resistance. Strengthening the tendons around the elbow will help reduce future injury. Tendons will route tension through healthy fibers and avoid engaging damaged tendon fibers. Unfortunately your damage tendon fibers need tension to straighten out and stimulate the growth that reinforces them and prevents re-injury, so slow resistance training focused on eccentric or even isometric movement have been shown to repair injured tendons faster than keeping off of them. It's important to note that the studies indicated a 3-month horizon for seeing results as tendons develop much more slowly than muscles.
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u/stormrunner89 16h ago
For real, you're just wasting your time with that volume. Better to do some variations or add weight with a vest or something to lower possible reps. If it's so easy that you can do 100 in a row, it's not challenging your muscles.
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u/The_Horse_Tornado 11h ago
Not true in my anecdotal experience. I could do 100 straight push ups in basic training. As soon as I got to AIT I could bench 27 reps of 135 after only 8-10 beforehand.
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u/mvea Professor | Medicine 1d ago
Lifting Weights Changes Your Fat Long Before You Lose Weight – at Least in Mice
A lot of biological changes happen in the body once someone starts losing weight.
For researchers looking at the impact of diet, exercise, or any other factor, it can be difficult to untangle these weight loss effects from whatever it is they're trying to measure.
To get some clarity on the effects of strength training on fat cells before weight loss kicks in, researchers from the University of Campinas in Brazil ran experiments with obese mice over the course of a week.
They studied the visceral fat around the organs before the animals had started to shed the pounds.
Compared to sedentary obese mice, the mice on the strength training regimen had less fat around their intestines and smaller fat cells (which typically indicates healthier fat tissue).
There were also signs of positive changes in fat storage and fat breakdown signals.

The study results, published in Life Sciences, suggest that strength training improves metabolic health before any associated weight loss – though the findings still need to be replicated in human trials.
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0024320526003553
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u/danis1973 18h ago
Hey that's cool. I just suggest people adopt it well before their 50's because the benefits of strength training relative to fat loss diminish greatly at this age. I've put on a tremendous amount of muscle this year, but I have not fixed my diet, and I continue to put on pure fat despite the addition of muscle.
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u/turlian 18h ago
I just suggest people adopt it well before their 50's because the benefits of strength training relative to fat loss diminish greatly at this age
Me seeing this at 50: "Sweet, I can keep being lazy."
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u/NecroDolphinn 11h ago
My grandmother just turned 89 and has lost most of her mobility (osteoporosis), so she gets up very slowly and can only walk with a walker.
40 years ago doctors told her she’d be where she is now in 10-20 years. She heard that news and massively increased her mobility and exercise. She only ended up as bad as she is now like 5-10 years ago. That’s almost 3 decades more she could go to the bathroom on her own, and change on her own, and walk on her own.
It’s never too late
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u/cavegrind 17h ago
There’s always Osteoporosis to worry about.
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u/whatdoblindpeoplesee 14h ago
Nothing like a minor fall to put you in a hospital and give you tens or hundreds of thousands of medial debt because your bones and joints are brittle due to decades of a sedentary lifestyle.
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u/victhrowaway12345678 17h ago
It'll just keep going down from here my dude. Never too late to start.
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u/RagefireHype 14h ago
The answer is pretty obvious though, no?
It’s always been true the saying “you can’t outrun a bad diet”
Exercise is better than nothing, but it starts with what you consume.
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u/grundar 3h ago
I just suggest people adopt it well before their 50's because the benefits of strength training relative to fat loss diminish greatly at this age.
I also recommend people adopt strength training earlier rather than later, but barbell training was effective for low-bone-density 65-year-old women in terms of both strength (+35%) and bone density, even at a low dose (30min 2x/wk), so it's not clear the benefits of strength training diminish greatly after one's 50s.
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u/my_cat_eats_catnip 15h ago
Find a local Ultimate Frisbee league and start playing twice a week, and that fat'll melt right off.
TBH any high-cardio sport will do it, the key is to find a sport that you have a lot of fun playing as then it doesn't feel like a workout, it's just playing a game.
As high-cardio sports go, Ultimate is about the safest/least-injury-prone, which is important for our age range.
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u/weregeek 2h ago
Cycling and swimming can offer high cardio exercise without the benefits of running (which improves joints so long as it's not overdone). Ultimate is definitely a good choice, but other high cardio pursuits along might not offer all of the same benefits.
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u/Minimum-Reward3264 15h ago
Well, last time I’ve check you need less food with age, you indulge to hard. Also, how how you measured how much pure fat you’ve put on?
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u/DnA_Singularity 17h ago
So i get 0 movement / day and have been getting fatter and fatter every year. What´s the safest and healthiest strength workout that i can do every day?
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u/SamikaTRH 16h ago
If truly starting fom zero then I always have walking as the first step just to build work capacity, then add in simple body weight movements like squats, push ups, ab work on the ground. If any of these are too difficult there's dozens of beginner regressions you can look up to start at your own level. Consistency is much more important than finding a magic perfect program
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u/vandelay82 16h ago
Walking everyday before dinner until I got super hungry was very effective when I was mildly obese, this is a good recommendation. Start slow, build up over time, the focus should be on changing your lifestyle not temporarily working harder to drop weight.
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u/rancid_squirts 16h ago
Probably walking initially then gradually adding some weight to your walking line a weighted vest
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u/ExceedingChunk 15h ago
Start with just walking.
Once you get a good habit of taking a short walk every day, stuff like air squats are great. If you have a gym membership or plan getting one, doing bench press, deadlifts, barbell presses and barbell rows are your best friend.
Those are compound movements which recruit a lot of muscle, and also allows you do do a full body program relatively quickly. It's also very easy to progress over time, starting with just the bar and gradually adding weight as you get stronger (at the start your strength will improve drastically).
If you plan going to the gym, starting strength (it's a program, search for it) is a good start for a beginner. It only takes like 30 minutes to get through the entire program when you are a beginner since you barely need any rest between sets for the first few weeks if you start with just the bar and add gradually.
Feel free to DM me if you have any questions :)
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u/RagefireHype 14h ago
Biggest thing is just TOF (not top of funnel for the corporate folks, time on feet)
As this poster mentioned, try to be active but don’t make it too short. Try to go for a half hour walk. I find listening to podcasts makes walking very easy. Sometimes it’s nice to just be in your own thoughts though without any noise.
A body in motion stays in motion. But also don’t forget, you can never outrun a bad diet. If you know (which you should be able to know) if your diet is healthy or not, walking is better than not walking, but the biggest opportunity for weight loss is the diet.
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u/ShadonicX7543 6h ago
The biggest thing for me when I started retraining my body was having a simple and cheap walking pad in front of my TV.
Having something in front of you that you actually find interesting makes it so much easier and less mind-numbing, and it gives you an extra piece of motivation to get through your workout. Just put some show or something that you really enjoy, and it'll be a lot easier when you're not focusing on the task at hand.
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u/Memory_Less 11h ago
Even using the elliptical machine if you’re overweight or have joint problems can help too. Baby steps. I used the elliptical to recover from a knee injury and started with 5 -10 min durations at like level 2. Eight months later, and not pushing myself as I stopped as soon as I felt a twinge taking a break of a day or two then restarting, I had returned to mostly normal functioning and was working at a higher level for my ability. Patience and baby steps. Man baby steps in my case. ; )
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u/DnA_Singularity 15h ago
aren't a bunch of these risky on the knee joints? That includes the walking. I was planning on biking to work every day instead of walking because that is very gentle on the joints. For the same reason i'd like to avoid squatting or deadlifts, I have a feeling these can be harmful for my knee joints because of the heavy weight they already get to slug around every day.
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u/Expert-Diver7144 14h ago
They’re risky in very large quantities that you probably won’t be doing if you’re going from 0 movement. The risks are also mitigated some by stretching, but humans were designed to walk (really run long distance).
If it’s an issue with the weight then try walking or exercise in the pool!
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u/windowtosh 12h ago
Strengthening your legs will help protect your knees! Squats and deadlifts are great exercises for knee health provided your form is good and you don’t push your body too hard. Calf raises too.
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u/ExceedingChunk 13h ago
I don't know about your weight, so I can't tell you. But generally speaking, it's not risky to do it light weight, and gentle load will strengthen your knees. If they start hurting from walking or doing air squats, then yeah you should probably avoid it.
If you are concerned because of your weight, I would consult with a professional and not people on Reddit, because I can't give you specific advice for your situation.
Biking is a good start anyway if you are inactive now. Just starting to move is already better than not moving, and just do it gradually. Nothing has to be perfect from day 1
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u/Automatic_Taste_7242 7h ago
If you're that worried about your knees you should be talking to your doctor and a physical therapist. In general starting with just bodyweight squats is going to activate lots of muscles that can strengthen relative quickly. I know its anecdotal but id been dealing with a weak knee from an injury and squats helped in strengthening and stabilizing.
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u/SurfinSocks 4h ago
Squatting and deadlifts literally fixed my disfunctional knees as a former very fat person.
I was around 160kgs, started powerlifting at that weight, from completely sedentary. I started with lower weights, but over time, all of my knee and back pain disappeared. When I started I couldn't even do a bodyweight squat, just took some mobility work at home and a little dedication.
Almost every single person, unless you're in a category of obese where you don't have independence, will benefit from weight training.
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u/BoiledFrogs 14h ago
Yeah depending on someone's weight, it seems much better to go to a gym and use machines at first, or benches/seated lifts where you're not putting pressure on your knees.
The amount of extra pressure overweight/obese people put on their knees just from walking is a lot.
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u/brandont1223 5h ago
The short answer is yes, but much less so if you are not lifting a lot of weight. Starting with just a barbell (45 lbs) is more than enough to keep you busy for at least a month and is very minimal risk (less risky than not exercising at all).
The long answer is form is important and with the correct form, injury is very unlikely until you get really high up in weight with proper rest and recovery windows between workouts.
If you’re worried about injury, just don’t lift heavy weights or work with a trainer to teach you proper form. If people can squat 800+ lbs regularly without blowing their knees out, then anyone can squat 100-200 as long as they learned the correct way to do it.
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u/itijara 14h ago
As a fat person who lost some weight and started strength training. Start with modified bodyweight exercises. If you can't do a full squat, do a chair sit or wall sit. If you can't do a full pish up, start against an incline or on your knees. Focus on good form, which will prevent injury. Once you can consistently do 3-4 sets of 15 modified, do a harder modification until you are doing it for real. Once you can do can unmodified bodyweight exercise for 3-4 sets of 15 consistently, start adding dumbbells or add reps. You should always feel like you are close to failure at the end of each rep, while still able to maintain form. Good luck.
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u/terracottatilefish 15h ago
Walking and body weight exercise to start. The NYT 7 minute workout (free app) is a great intro that only requires enough floor space to lie down, a wall, and a chair, and takes 7 minutes. I used to do it at work at lunch. It worked for me because it’s hard to argue that you can’t find 7 minutes in a day. Then I graduated to Apple Fitness for a year because I could do the workouts in my pajamas and didn’t have to wake all the way up till I was already moving, and now I actually just go to the gym 5 days a week.
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u/Slatemanforlife 16h ago
Basic compound lifts. Bench, squat, shoulder press, dead lift variations, hip thrust, barbell row, pull ups, and lunges.
Start with low weights and focus on form. By low weight I mean it should be easy at first. You can use just the bar to start. Heck, you could buy a piece of 1/2 or 3/4 inch PVC, cap one end, fill it with sand, and cap the other end if the bar is too much.
Form is more important than weight. You will add weight as you get stronger and used to it.
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u/TalkOfSexualPleasure 16h ago
Ive been out of commission for almost two years. Recently I just started focusing on trying to get housework done.
The first week or two hurt pretty bad but I’m starting to get some strength back. I just do as much as I can until the neck injury acts up, lay down, and repeat when it calms down.
Initially I just started because I was tired of everything being cluttered and nasty, but now about three weeks later I’m noticing I can go almost twice as long as when I started.
Once I get up to an hour at a time pretty reliably I’m going to start trying to work in a walk to the park once a day, and I’ll have insurance for the first time in two years in January thanks to my wonderfully amazing wife, and plan on getting into physical therapy asap.
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u/zephyrseija2 14h ago
Walking for sure. Increase your steps over time. Once you're comfortable you can add a weighted vest. A lot of models are adjustable so you can start small and then increase the weight over time.
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u/fattymcfatfatalso 13h ago
When I started, at first I was just walking a mile because it's only 15-20 mins and I didn't have more time. Then I moved to speed walking. Then, because I still didn't have more time, I bought a weighted vest to make my workout count more in the same time. Now I do speed walking with the weighted vest. I think my step will be increasing the weight on the vest.
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u/MrMarcusRocks 8h ago
The big thing is to start really small, but commit to a routine.
Ie commit to resistance exercise three days per week and cardio three days per week.
It sounds like a lot, but it can literally be 20 min sessions.
For resistance: start with compound exercises (ones that use large groups of muscles) and begin with just body weight. Eg - squats and lunges, pushups (assisted by using knees and being in an incline) and plank holds. Go easy. For the first few weeks you are just getting your body used to the movements. You shouldn’t get sore.
For cardio: just go on a light walk. Then build up to a brisk walk (the walk you do when you are late for a bus, but don’t want to break out into a run).
Seriously, for the first few months the most important thing is BUILDING THE ROUTINE. once exercise is a part of your life, you can then start investigating ways to increase the intensity
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u/watzimagiga 52m ago
I agree with all of this except that 6 sessions a week from nothing is way too big of a jump. I started with 2 a week and did very light weights so I could progress easily. Now do 3x a week, but I built the habit and learned how to lift on 2x.
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u/ty_fighter84 12h ago
I changed exactly two things to start:
- Walked 30-45 min a day (I got a walking treadmill so I could do it from my work desk)
- Changed my breakfast to a 6 ingredient smoothie (kale, spinach, frozen banana, peanut butter, chia seeds and almond milk)
I lost 15 pounds in about 2 months. Now, I'm walking about an hour on that pad at a faster speed and then doing some very light weight lifting.
The real trick is to start with small changes and get them integrated into your daily life. As each activity becomes easier, just keep adding to it or modifying the difficulty. The small successes will keep you motivated.
You got this!
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u/Overall-Plastic-9263 9h ago
The safest depending on your actual physical condition and abilities , general health , and overall body mass is to find a good personal trainer for a month or so . No one wants to pay a professional for things they feel they can find online but the reality is many fail because they need an expert at least in the beginning for several reasons from understanding your baseline to helping craft a appropriate plan and realistic goals and expectations , to teach and provide real time feedback on technique or form for safety and even for emotional support and accountability that is critically important in the first 6 months of establishing a new pattern that requires consistent higher intensity physical effort that your body and mind is not acclimated to. Can some people get self motivated and just go at it alone sure but many more fail especially if they suffer from chronic deconditioning.. meaning at no point in your life you have been consistently physically active in an intentional way like exercising or sports . I've been in the gym for most of my childhood and adult life and Ive seen so many people fail because they have too much pride or find ways to justify not prioritizing paying for a good trainer . I know it's pricey but there are many pricey things we pay for to support our health and people need to make this more normal in my opinion. And no I'm not a personal trainer although I do hold a degree on exercise science and was once NASM certified . Im now a white collar exec and have had to go through my own set of challenges transitioning to desk work. I've gained much empathy for some of my former clients in a past life .
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u/aflyingsquanch 15h ago
Walking.
And then some walking in water if you have access to a pool (YMCA, local rec center, gym, etc) as it will help avoid any joint issues due to the weight.
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u/ScratchLatch 14h ago
Real answer: The one you can tolerate doing every day. Start with 5–10 minutes of bodyweight squats, wall push-ups if you can’t do push-ups, and standing calf raises. Do 1–2 easy sets, and gradually increase as you get stronger.
That said, you don’t need to strength train every day. Two or three days a week is enough to build strength. Walking 5-10 minutes every day is better than nothing.
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u/cork_the_forks 13h ago
There are plenty of fitness channels on YouTube that specialize in beginners and seniors. Don’t let the senior descriptor throw you off. There are wonderful dumbbell vids that are perfect if you’ve never done any strength building before. No other special equipment needed.
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u/TheMadManiac 10h ago
An important part to strength training is progressive overload. What this means is that you can start at whatever level you can manage and then slowly progress day by day. Increasing difficulty by a small percent, week by week, will allow your body time to adapt and strengthen.
My point in all this, you can pick any pre-made program and just start with lighter weights. Ideally pick a weight that starts to feel difficulty to keep form around the 8 rep mark. What program you pick is most dependent on how many days you can go to a gym.
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u/ObiFlanKenobi 4h ago
Don't repeat the same excercise every day, give the muscles and joints time to recover.
I would say a simple chest/legs/back split would be fine. On different days leaving a rest day in between.
Start reaaaally light, focus on the form and gradually increase weight/reps/sets.
On rest days you can walk, it works as active recovery.
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u/MCbrodie 1h ago
Walk. You have built in weight. Go walk on a treadmill mill and keep your heart rate at about 115bpm. You'll melt. I am doing this right now.
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u/Straight-Explorer844 14h ago
Yes.Strength training prevents bone loss , builds bone density and builds muscle apart from reducing fat.So one must focus on strength training more for weight loss and not just burn calories.
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u/Niaaal 14h ago
Also, muscles weigh more than fat. So if you're building muscles and getting fit, your weight might actually increase. Relying on weight for level of fitness is not the way to go
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u/DeadestTitan 9h ago
While this sounds nice, in practicality it's not exactly that simple. It takes a long time for new muscle tissue to actually develop on the body. Much of the weight gain during the time of training is the muscles filling with water so that they can repair themselves. A new lifter did not gain 4 pounds of muscle tissue in 2 weeks because the scale went up by 4 pounds. Compound this with supplements like creatine and you will notice an increase in weight and even muscle appearance, but it is almost entirely just extra water in the muscles in that short amount of time.
Even with "newbie gains" it takes months to gain the same new muscle tissue that you would lose in fat loss in weeks.
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u/sootbrownies 15h ago
You're telling me metabolic processes in the body have to immediately shift to respond to a change in energy requirements? And that those metabolic changes preceed actual weight loss? Gee who couldve predicted that would be the case...
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u/robsbob18 1d ago
Wouldn't the fat loss simply be the physical result of your body making chemical changes? Not sure why this would be groundbreakin, but if someone smarter than me can explain, that'd be nice.
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u/PlanktonInitial7945 1d ago
Wouldn't the fat loss simply be the physical result of your body making chemical changes?
Everything that happens in your body is a chemical change. I don't follow. Why does that make the finding not interesting?
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u/The_Real_Mr_F 23h ago
My lay person’s very basic and unscientific understanding is something like: if you are talking in fewer calories than you’re burning, you’ll lose weight by “burning” body mass for energy. Your body doesn’t particularly care whether that energy comes from fat or muscle. But if you are doing some kind of activity that requires heavy muscle exertion, your body will prioritize preserving muscle, and will burn fat instead. I’d love for a real science person to tell me how wrong I’ve gotten it.
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u/Phatz907 23h ago
This is the I understand it also. Your body responds to stress and adapts. It does this constantly. Weight lifting is stressing your body out.
CICO aside, muscle is much more metabolically active than fat, and if you’re not using it your body will tend to burn it first. Fat is very important for survival, so it’s often the last to go.
When you lift weights, you are signaling to your body that you really need to retain muscle, so in a deficit, your body is more likely to burn fat. This is why weight training of any kind is recommended with most weight lost programs as it helps you retain good mass (muscle) and target the burning of bad mass (fat).
This is why obese people could be tricked into thinking they aren’t “losing” weight even when they follow a strict deficit with a good exercise routine that includes weight training. The fat is literally being used to convert into muscle which is heavier, more metabolically active. The opposite is also true. People who do not incorporate weight training and follow a strict deficit could see the scale move the right way but have more body fat than expected. Their muscle is being used for fuel.
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u/individual_throwaway 18h ago
Minor nitpick: Muscles aren't heavier, they're denser. Similar to the effect seen in this study here, people can sometimes focus too much on the scale, because it is much easier to measure your weight than your body composition.
If you lose 2 kilograms of fat in a month, and you build up 2 kilograms of muscle, the number on the scale won't be different, but your body volume will have gone down slightly. Many people give up too soon trying to lose body fat, all while actually doing everything correctly to reach their goals. They get discouraged because the number many influential people have been focusing on almost exclusively for decades doesn't move, which they interpret as no progress.
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u/blazerMFT 21h ago edited 21h ago
So wait, I have a question to this. If you are already relatively lean and just trying to shed off some excess (abdominal) fat, then is there also a chance that a recomp MIGHT happen before you see any changes on the scale?
This is providing you are eating at a deficit and training hard (full body) like 3X a week.
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u/Phatz907 21h ago
I honestly have no idea. I have a very basic and very anecdotal knowledge on this, mostly from my own experience with weight loss.
So to answer this with only my own experience as a source. Yes, your body is already doing the recomp as we speak.
Everyone’s body is different, and we don’t lost fat, muscle in a specific area but in ALL areas when we start any program. Your body just gets to do what it does.
That being said, losing belly fat is notoriously hard. There’s diet, workout and even genetics to take into consideration. I have never seen my abs, nor do I expect to in my life even if I get my diet/exercise plan completely dialed in. It’s possible sure but the amount of work/discipline I would need it put in is something I’m really not willing to do. I have seen my collarbone though so that’s exciting for me, and veins in my arms.
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u/blazerMFT 21h ago
No, thank you for taking the time to reply, I really appreciate it.
The reason I ask is because that's exactly where I am. I see veins in my arms and across my delts/chest area, however there's this stubborn ring of fat (probably a 1 - 1.5 inch pinch) across my bellybutton that WILL NOT DISAPPEAR.
I lift heavy 3X a week at a deficit, and I have seen the shirts/pants go loose and scale go down however that ring is still there.
Now I'm at a point where I've had no loss of weight on the scale for a week now and I'm not sure what to do, continue or just clean bulk for the sake of it. I just don't want to risk that I'm only a few weeks away but I just can't see what's happening and stop my progress and reverse everything I've done.
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u/individual_throwaway 18h ago
I think belly fat is the last thing the body wants to burn, because it helps keep the torso warm (and maybe also protect it from blunt force trauma), which is a high priority for obvious reasons if you evolve in environments with unstable food supply.
I bet if you could gain fat around your skull easily, we would have evolved to get it there too, and it would be just as stubborn.
If you really want to get rid of that last bit of fat, it's going to be a grind, and I fear that it will also be very hard to keep it that way. Some people need to get down to below 10-15% body fat for their abs to show, and staying there is hard. I think professional bodybuilders hunger themselves down to single digits, but it's a PITA to do and they only keep that form for a few days at most.
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u/DireEvolution 20h ago
Yeah that's just genetic, there's not a damn thing you can do besides keep grinding.
If you were very very overweight at some point, it could be loose skin: when I know what you try to pinch it, is there like... Substance to it? Or does the tissue just collapse and flatten from your pinch?
If the latter, that's just skin. Fat will have some resistance to being pinched and compressed. Either way, there's not a whole lot you can do about it. Just keep grinding for the sake of your health
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u/temp4adhd 2h ago edited 2h ago
I read this article earlier in the day. Didn't it say the mice specifically lost visceral fat? (Or am I confusing it with a different article I read today). ETA: I am not confusing things.
I'll add my own anecdote: my waist is notoriously stubborn (apple/rectangle shape here) so the inches have barely budged, but if you punched me in the gut, it's pretty firm - under a layer of subcutaneous fat. I.e., my core is pretty strong, there is definitely muscle there. Just can't see it. If I had the will to do a cut, maybe then, but I'm fine where I'm at and hate dieting.
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u/HanSolo_Cup 18h ago
Only speaking from my experience. I basically fit that description and started full body about 4 months ago. I'm still exactly the same weight as before, but I've slimmed up a noticeable amount. I wouldn't say I've bulked up, but I have started filling out some and there's more definition than I had before.
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u/BooksandBiceps 23h ago
This is essentially correct at a high level. Any criticism would just be pedantic given the discussion and people involved.
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u/GreatBigBagOfNope 22h ago
The entire point of the study is that changes associated with fat loss were induced after starting the weight training, but before any actual fat loss had happened - essentially, the weight lifting was already having tangible health benefits, even if the number on the scale was static. It's like the body is preparing for fat loss even in the absence of a calorie deficit. A speculation from this might be that it could have health benefits even if the number of the DEXA scan is static, but the paper doesn't make the claim.
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u/temp4adhd 2h ago
Back in the day, Susan Powter talked about building a "lean, mean, fat burning machine." These changes are just that.
You burn more calories the more muscle/lean mass you have, just doing nothing, just existing. Which is why men can eat a ton more calories than women.
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u/Noname_acc 17h ago edited 17h ago
Essentially, it is saying that:
1: Strength Training increases activity in pathways associated with elimination of fat cells and decreases activity in pathways associated with creation of new fatty tissues.
2: Because this activity occurs before fat loss is actually observed it serves as evidence that Strength Training facilitates weight loss (meaning, reducing the mass of fatty tissues specifically) independent of caloric deficit.
Edit: 3: Strength Training is associated with a change in characteristics of adipose tissues before elimination/reduction of mass occurs.
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u/CheckOutUserNamesLad 15h ago
Disagree with #2. Their weight hadn't changed, but they were losing fat. This just means that if you gained muscle and stayed the same weight, you lost fat.
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u/robsbob18 17h ago
True I appreciate that. It was the second part that I was missing and not seeing the importance of.
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u/GoblinObscura 17h ago
Wonder what the routine for strength training mice is? Do they have tiny little free weights? Mice size boflex?
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u/MadroxKran MS | Public Administration 17h ago
My guess is that it's from the testosterone spike that happens when lifting.
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u/CheckOutUserNamesLad 15h ago
This is just "if you gained muscle and stayed the same weight, you must have lost some fat as part of that equation"
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u/Curious-Still 10h ago
Maybe it's more the stair climbing than the weights? I'm sure they must've corrected for that fact though, but it only says they compared to sedentary obese mice
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u/VaguelyArtistic 6h ago
I just completed three months of cardiac rehab. I eat really well but did gentle cardio and strength training for an hour, twice a week. They did a body comp thing when I started and when I left I had lost around three pounds but gained five pounds of muscle. (Some of the weight retention was due to medication that I no longer take.)
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u/gitstonky 2h ago
Definitely experiencing this myself, the scale didn't move at all for the first couple months but I went down nearly a whole size and feel noticeably stronger and have built up some visible muscle!
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u/DansTesReves 15h ago
I agree with this. I climb the stairs every evening (11 floors) and my belly fat has visibly gone down.
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u/frosted1030 21h ago
Shady. No sample size listed and this ran for a week.. seems like a supplement supported ad more than a scientific research work.
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u/Serengeti1234 20h ago
No sample size listed
The journal article lists all the sample sizes.
this ran for a week
The journal article makes clear this study ran for multiple months.
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u/SinoSoul 1d ago
Genuinely asking , is this “new” science at all?
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u/SupaDiogenes 1d ago
Like most things, we tend to know the result in things like this. Lift heavy weights, body makes changes, lose weight. But we don't tend to know what happens in detail in between and at what stages.
This sort of study uncovers the process to a greater degree.
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u/ComusPaine 1d ago
Studies don't have to be groundbreaking to be insightful. This study focuses on looking at visceral fat near rodent organs, and observing how the fat cells respond to excercise. They do this by documenting the chemical signalling happening at a few test sites. We have known for some time that you will lose fat long before the scales show it, but it still is good to know the exact mechanism in how that is achieved.
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u/PlanktonInitial7945 1d ago
Replication is a crucial part of the scientific process, and without it, science as a whole wouldn't be even the slightest bit trustworthy.
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u/AllYouNeedIsATV 23h ago
Basically you get healthier almost immediately just by doing strength training, whether or not you have actually lost weight yet or not. Also could be extrapolated to lend credence to the fact that any exercise is good, even if you don’t lose weight. Probably not great if you’re obese but if you’re just overweight, but still exercise, less visceral fat means you’ll be less at risk for cardiac issues, liver issues etc. It’ll be good enough so you don’t have to stress about losing weight. Plus the body fat will help as you get old. Might explain why studies have found overweight BMI have lower mortality than healthy BMI.
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