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Originally Posted by philana
- Can you see results while you are eating at a calorie deficit?
Heck yeah! As mentioned above, resistance training is one of the only tools in our toolbox that helps with muscle preservation while dieting. A lot of people wind up reaching their "goal weigh" dissatisfied with the reflection staring back at them in the mirror, and one of the primary reasons this tends to happen is focusing on weight over body composition.
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- How long did it take for you to see results?
As a novice to resistance training, you're very lucky. Lucky because you'll be able to experience the fastest rate of progress. One way of thinking about it is - the less adapted your body is to resistance training, the higher the rate of progress will be.
I train people for a living and without fail, all of my clients realize "strength gains" within the first two weeks. I put strength in quotations because the actual gain in strength is triggered from a lot of variables... improved coordination of exercises, improved nervous system output which essentially triggers muscle contraction, etc.
In terms of visible improvements, it really depends. People carrying less fat tend to see the results faster, which makes sense given the fact that subcutaneous fat resides below the skin and on top of the muscles. So the more of it you have, the less you're going to notice changes in muscle volume.
My relatively thin clients will often see results in the first month. Just keep in mind that muscle growth happens much slower than fat loss. Given the fact that you're eating a calorie deficit, that merely compounds this fact.
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- How much did you lift in the beginning and how much did you progress?
Just my two cents here, but I would err on the side of overly conservative. How much you're lifting in the beginning isn't anywhere near as important as how you're lifting. Quality vs. quantity.
Many of the exercises will be new to you, so using solely your body weight or very light loads that allow for 15-20 reps is important. Movement quality is like the foundation of a house. If you go throwing lots of weight at a foundation that lacks movement quality... it'll eventually crumble.
Learn the movements. And when you're 100% comfortable with them, start increasing the load by small increments (5-10 lbs) until you find weights that keep you in the rep range you're shooting for.
Most people's goals will put them in the 5-12 rep range, but in all honesty, it depends.
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- Brzycki says you should lift at a weight where you only barely can reach the end of each rep. Did you do this?
Working hard is definitely important. But I wouldn't make that recommendation to a beginner ever for a variety of reasons - some of which I mentioned above.
Let's put it this way...
In the research we'll see where people who have been sedentary for a long time actually gain muscle in their legs in response to a structured walking program. Most wouldn't think of walking as an exercise that elicits muscle growth. But the point is, novel stresses can do all sorts of neat things.
So again, be conservative and worry more about form than you do about load in the beginning. When the time is right, maybe a month or so down the road, you can emphasize the loads you're using. And don't get me wrong, load will eventually be very important... arguably the most important variable.