Do my muscles have to be sore for my exercise to be effective ?

[Hitman911]

Hello anyone reading this.

So let's get straight into it.

I have been obese my whole life, genetics, pretty much everyone in the family has been bulky/fat.

So, 2013, I am 23, I am a 6'1", 130 KGs, broad frame, so at this pont I am more big than I am fat. Anyhow, have been fat my entire life and even though desperately wanting to, not all that motivated to loose weight.

Mid 2013, something snaps, and I say **ahem** it. I do some research online and figure out calories is the key. So I go at it like an obsessed man.

At that weight, I needed close to 3,500 calories just to maintain weight. I cut mine down close to 700 a day. Insane, I know, but I was a 23 year old Kid, who had never dieted before and the results were amazing. In a month, I lost close to 8 KGs. So that just spurred me, added some exercise, increased the caloric uptake a bit and kept at it. By end of 2013, I was close to 108 KGs. Yep, was a fairy tale to me. So, with some further ups and downs, I finally went the home stretch and in 2014, I reached 99 KGs. For the first time in my adult life, I weighed under three digits! Big moment.

So the key takeaway in all that, is I reduced calories to a dangerously low level and achieved my goal. BUT it didn't last.

Was on top of the world. Could only go downhill from there. Let go of the excercise routine. Am an auditor by profession so fast food and late nights was the life I had. Anyhow, since 2015 mid, I have gradually gained back around 20 KGs and need to loose it again.

Now its been a month since I rejoined the gym, I have lost nearly 3 kgs and I feel my stamina has increased as well. I can feel the looseness in certain clothes, but the weight loss so far isn't big enough to be noticeable. Right now, I weight 117Kgs, and I focus mainly on cardio, since the focus is calorie burn. So I am able to run 4 Kms, with an elevation in the treadmill, in something like 33 mins, which I guess is ok, at the very least. And then I move on to stationary bike, and I grind that out for half an hour with a target heart rate of 150.

But here's the thing, with all the exercise I did to loose weight previously, I have developed rather decent calves muscles and a decent stamina even with the added weight I am carrying, so I am able to do a decent amount of exercise and push myself. But I don't feel that soreness in my body as such. Yeah, my knees are sore after the running and I ice myself but other than that its all standard.

I am able to burn around 1500 calories as per the fitbit tracker which would translate to at least 1300 actual calories. I am able to have a total workout session of 70 mins+. And my target calories for consumption are 1500 for a day. Full disclosure though, my intake hasn't been properly maintained otherwise the results would be better, working on that. 

So do I need to do exercises that put stress on my muscles ?

[Dominique]

You said you are focusing on cardio, which means the main muscle that’s working is the heart. Of course, some other muscles will be involved, for instance your lower body if running, your upper body if rowing etc., but nothing like if you were engaging in resistance training (e.g. weight lifting).

You’re asking about soreness of muscles and effectiveness of exercises. It depends on what you consider effective: if your aim is to burn extra calories (in order to facilitate weight loss), then any time spend doing cardio will be effective towards that aim. If your aim is to improve your cardiovascular fitness and health, you’d probably want to make your exercises more challenging over time (e.g. run faster and/or longer distances).

If you were doing resistance training (which is where muscle soreness is more relevant), then it may not be necessary for your muscles to be sore in order for your exercises to be effective. When you haven’t used certain muscles for a long time and all of a sudden make them work hard, they will usually be sore the next day, and even sorer on the day after (it’s called "delayed onset muscle soreness" or DOMS). If/when you start working them on a regular basis, you normally won’t experience DOMS again, except if you choose to work them to failure: you will feel your muscles have been working, but not to the point it’s impossible to work them again for several days. Lifting to failure is one of the mechanism that can be used to trigger muscle hypertrophy, but it’s not the only one. It’s perfectly possible to grow your muscles without going to failure, as long as your training follows the principle of progressive overload.

Not what you asked, but since I mentioned resistance training, it may be something you’d want to include in your workout routines, even though it typically burns less calories per unit of time. Burning calories can’t be the only purpose of working out, even if your main goal is to lose weight. And don’t underestimate the impact of your diet: diet may be 80-90% of weight loss success, and exercising only 10-20%. Doesn’t mean exercising isn’t important, but you should consider its benefits primarily from a health and fitness perspective.

The fact you were able lose 30+ kg six years ago means you know it can be done. You can do it again, with the advantage of experience and older age! I’ll also include one of my favorite resources for weight loss: Mike Israetel’s Losing All Your Weight At Once video.

[Hitman911]

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@Dominique wrote:

You said you are focusing on cardio, which means the main muscle that’s working is the heart. Of course, some other muscles will be involved, for instance your lower body if running, your upper body if rowing etc., but nothing like if you were engaging in resistance training (e.g. weight lifting).

You’re asking about soreness of muscles and effectiveness of exercises. It depends on what you consider effective: if your aim is to burn extra calories (in order to facilitate weight loss), then any time spend doing cardio will be effective towards that aim. If your aim is to improve your cardiovascular fitness and health, you’d probably want to make your exercises more challenging over time (e.g. run faster and/or longer distances).

If you were doing resistance training (which is where muscle soreness is more relevant), then it may not be necessary for your muscles to be sore in order for your exercises to be effective. When you haven’t used certain muscles for a long time and all of a sudden make them work hard, they will usually be sore the next day, and even sorer on the day after (it’s called "delayed onset muscle soreness" or DOMS). If/when you start working them on a regular basis, you normally won’t experience DOMS again, except if you choose to work them to failure: you will feel your muscles have been working, but not to the point it’s impossible to work them again for several days. Lifting to failure is one of the mechanism that can be used to trigger muscle hypertrophy, but it’s not the only one. It’s perfectly possible to grow your muscles without going to failure, as long as your training follows the principle of progressive overload.

Not what you asked, but since I mentioned resistance training, it may be something you’d want to include in your workout routines, even though it typically burns less calories per unit of time. Burning calories can’t be the only purpose of working out, even if your main goal is to lose weight. And don’t underestimate the impact of your diet: diet may be 80-90% of weight loss success, and exercising only 10-20%. Doesn’t mean exercising isn’t important, but you should consider its benefits primarily from a health and fitness perspective.

The fact you were able lose 30+ kg six years ago means you know it can be done. You can do it again, with the advantage of experience and older age! I’ll also include one of my favorite resources for weight loss: Mike Israetel’s Losing All Your Weight At Once video.

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Thanks a lot for your inputs. I really do appreciate it and I will consider the advice. There is one other thing though, regarding the diet to exercise ratio that you quoted. While the first time around that I lost the weight, I did feel like this was the case. As I stated, in the beginning it was purely extreme caloric deficit.

I feel like this is not the case anymore. In between my initial weight loss and today, there have been a lot of start stops, like I would start the regiment, diet and exercise, but invariably, work pressure would not let me continue, so somehow I feel like my body is already sort of used to a lower calorie consumption perhaps. Like, I am not losing weight as fast, and nor did I expect to lose it at the same pace as the first time. But I feel as if without continued exercise, dieting does not play a major role for me. And I accept that fact and accept that its a marathon, not a sprint, so slow and steady does it.

[bikerhiker]

@Hitman911 

Great to hear that you managed to lose weight in your initial attempt, but I'll add a few things on top of what Dominique had said.

What I think you had done previously was you lost weight through severe caloric reduction, but you didn't let your body acclimatize to its new body fat set point.  When you start eating normally again, you will gain most of that weight back which you did, because the body will reset back to its former body fat set point.  You can exercise as hard as you can even to exhaustion and eat as little as you can manage, but as long as your body fat setpoint is stuck at a specific point, any attempt to lose weight will be met with a weight gain again as soon as you eat normally balanced meal again.

While the diet comprise about 80-90% of your weight loss success, it is a change in lifestyle and what you really are that makes the most lasting change.  The reason is simple.  You came from a family with a history of weight gain and bulkiness and that family lifestyle is what you were raised in.  I have seen so many people who go on a diet or on a specific diet and exercise regimen and yet are sometimes are unwilling to make a lifestyle change that actually promote lasting weight loss.  Like being in a stressful and toxic relationship with friends, family and work and yet, while I see it as toxic and a main cause for weight gain, these people I had observed do not see it that way and in fact find the stress peaceful and harmonious!  I work in health care and it is fascinating to see some of the weight challenged patients act the way they do. So many of these people have to be on some specific fad diet and exercise regimen to basically control their weight rather than making their own healthy lifestyle change that promotes permanent weight loss.

Exercising is a healthy way of maintaining your fitness and health and while exercise does burn calories, your body will always want to burn calories in a form of carbohydrates.  So if you exercise a lot, you need to eat a lot too to replenish the lost calories you spent exercising a few hours ago.  

The only way to lose weight is to lose body fat and while exercise does help, a good long deep sleep will actually help you burn more fat than you exercise, because when you sleep you are fasting and when you are fasting, the body relies mostly on your body fat (since you won't be eating when you sleep) to sustain energy usage keeping you alive breathing and the vital organs working.  The problem with a lot of people nowadays is that, they don't get enough long deep sleep.  Ideal deep sleep should be around 7-8 hrs.  Focus on that.

Secondly, stress has a major stake in keeping that body fat as when your mind is in stress, there is the hormone Cortisol and when it is released, it will not allow your body to burn body fat.  Again, to reduce stress is to make a new lifestyle change.

Lastly, exercising can create soreness, but then again soreness or extreme exercise regimes are not indicative of major weight loss either.  Take me for instance.  I used to run many marathons and ultramarathons, plus ran 10km in 35min and swam 3000meters plus bike ride 100km sometimes all in a day when I was younger.  And all I did was to maintain my pre-diabetes and my weight of 142 lbs.  Just 3 years ago, I made a complete lifestyle change and today, I weight 135 lbs and only exercise "LIGHTLY" for 30mins max.  Just recently I got injured while at work in nursing and so far just doing very light resistance weights and the only cardio is doing a lot of walking.  And yet despite all this very light exercise routine, my weight stayed relatively stable @ 135lbs.  And I don't eat a special diet either.  I eat what many people considered sometimes to be unhealthy and weight causing agents like MSG (I like Chinese food), bread, wheat, ice cream, honey spare ribs like 20% of the time and 80% I eat healthy, but I eat to satiety.  I even went on a cruise and didn't gain a lot of weight either as well as went into a health conference eating food that you would consider weight causing agents.  And yet if you look at my trendweight, it might bounce up or down, but it "ALWAYS" settles @ 135lbs.  So even now, I didn't have to frantically worry about not getting enough runs, swims and bike rides like I used to before because, I did not, then change my lifestyle.  So my body fat set point was much higher and I had to work hard and eat extra extra careful to not gain weight.  Today, my body fat set point is much lower and I tested it many many times with many kinds of food and yet, my body knows when to stop eating and I don't get a lot of cravings like I did before my lifestyle change.  Even if I ate a lot and gain a few pounds after, somehow my body weight will revert back to its body fat setpoint, which is 135 lbs.  This is cool because I don't need to count calories at all, stress free that I can eat but no longer worry that I have to run a marathon to burn those extra lb of weight either.

Most people aren't willing to make a lifestyle change.  They are willing to make a lifestyle alterations, and that is what is currently selling.  Eat a special diet, do a set of special exercises and weight training to "maintain weight".  Stop doing those, then you gain weight.  Whereas a lifestyle change means you can eat whatever you need to eat, exercise based on what you feel you need and have a great life.  If you feel pressured to exercise to lose weight, then that's just a lifestyle alteration.

Hope this helps.

[emili]

@Hitman911 .. I think each time an attempt is made at diet, exercise, change of life, whatever you want to call it, this attempt is different from every previous one. I think, at least for me, it was a matter of making a life change. I changed the food I eat, my relationship with food, my outlook on what I need vs what I want.. all those things led me to lose weight, lower cholesterol, come off blood pressure meds and look better at almost 50 to when I was 30. I think if one makes a commitment to food their body wants vs what their brain wants the results are always positive. I am glad you are back on the wagon for a better lifestyle, no matter what it will lead to an improved you