Weight training on Atkins

[deltamike]

About two weeks ago I started doing the atkins diet. So far I have been feeling great and doing well. The question I have is that I used to lift a lot and last Monday started again. I am starting light as it has been 3 month since I have hit the gym but at that time my diet was very different.
Dose any one have any experience with a low carb diet and heavy lifting? Any suggestions or things I should look out for?
Any help would be good, thanks :cool:

[lisaf]

Hi Mike -

You may want to check out TrainerDan's stuff - I bet he lifts heavy!!!

Lisa

[TerrieP]

Check out the Body for Life (BFL) threads. It is a lot of lifting. Most of us just up our carbs some.

[fern2340]

Definitely check out Dan's gym log (if you can find it :)). Being his lifting partner, I know for a fact he lifts heavy. I lift heavy too "for a girl," at least I have been told.

[Trainerdan]

Hey Delta,

It is possible to lift heavy while maintaining a Low-Carb lifestyle ...

Either up your carbs to like 50 per day like many people that are using the Body-For-Life (BFL) program are, with a modified version of Protein Power. (see the forum for BFL ...)

OR, you can use a CKD (also has it's own forum) ... which is what I choose to do. It allows carb ups on weekends, which will replenish your glycogen stores to allow intense workouts during the week (well, early in the week anyway ... Friday's kinda suck)

Yes, I lift heavy. LOL. And (FERN!), my gym log is in the gym log forum ... I just never seem to update it. :( But, I assure you, I am still lifting.

Fern does some of her lifts with more weight than some of my male clients ... She's one strong cookie. ;)

[deltamike]

Thanks a lot for the help. I will definitely check out both forums and see which one looks good for me.
So far, well last week, it was not to bad. I am starting really light tough, seeing as I have not lifted for over 3 months.
Thanks again for the help. I am finding that there is TONS of info here not to mention people that really know what they are talking about. :)
Thanks again
Dave

[allisonm]

Hi Mike,

I can't improve on TrainerDan's advice. Like Dave Bing, who answered you in the Atkins forum, I'm not having a problem with low carbs and heavy resistance.

But I just wanted to add a suggestion from my own personal experience. Before you start lifting, MEASURE yourself. I lost weight steadily from the end of June to the end of January (87 pounds) while completely inactive. Then I started both cardio and resistance training. Some six weeks later I weighed in again and just about went crazy when I saw that I had gained 6 - 9 pounds in the time that I had been exercising.

It's almost certainly muscle (and water). I can tell because my jeans fit about the same. But I was extremely upset when I saw the scale move in the wrong direction. Actually, I cried.

So in order to be able to interpret your results from lifting : MEASURE, MEASURE, MEASURE. If your lifting is sucessful you will gain weight while losing fat. Believe me, you'll want the measurements to be able to convince yourself of that fact.

Wa'il has had the same results from weight lifting: he is gaining weight while losing fat. Check out his recent journal entries.

Allison

[deltamike]

This is all very good and extremely helpful :) most of the LC diet will have to be short lived though. My goal is to be back in shape enough to rejoin the army with in 3 to 4 months. In order to do that I need to drop at least 30 pounds (the more the merrier) while at the same time getting myself in better shape. Since it has been so long I will have to attend basic training again. The first time I went I was 17 and indestructible. Being 31 I am taking a bit of a different stance on it. :cool:
Thanks for the replies they have, and will continue to help a ton :daze:
Dave

[allisonm]

When you say that you have to lose thirty pounds -- do you mean because you know how much work they're going to put you through? Or do you mean they require you to lose 30 pounds on the scale? Because if it's a matter of reaching a certain weight, you might go a bit heavier on the cardio and lighter on the lifting. I've read every post in this subforum, and can't remember quickly where it was, but even TrainerDan who is a big advocate of lifting, breaks down fat loss this way: 70% diet, 20% cardio, 10% resistance training.

(Sigh) I should be more accurate and find that post for you. I'll go hunting for it now.

Allison

[allisonm]

I can't believe I found it. Here it is:

http://forum.lowcarber.org/showthread.php?s=&threadid=5971

But in looking for it I found another in which he says lifting is more important:

http://forum.lowcarber.org/showthread.php?s=&threadid=29956

But anyway, the point I was trying to make is that if you are trying to get down to a specific scale weight in order to get this job, I think you'll do better with cardio. Lifting adds more muscle; adding muscle shows up as scale weight.

Let us know how it goes! :)

Allison

[deltamike]

OK wow thanks for putting in the time to find that, had a lot of good information in it.
What I need to do is not as much drop 30 pounds but get down to 24% body fat by Army standards. The tricky part is the Army standards part (go figure something in the Army being difficult.) They call it taping. They tap your stomach, and neck then using your weight do some funky form of Army math. My main goal is going to have to be getting my stomach down. Not to mention the first time I went through Basic Training I was 17, now I am 31, makes a bit of difference. So I am going to have to get in as much prep time as I can. :cool:
Again thanks a lot for the info, and putting in the time to get it.
Dave

[FatArse]

I went on Atkins about 4 or 5 years ago and was hitting the iron as hard as I could for the 3.5 months I was on Atkins.

I started at a 47 inch chest with a 42 inch waist. When I was done, I went to a 35 inch waist but went up to a 50 inch chest. I also gained an inch and a half on my arms. I went to an 18.5" arm.