Should I still continue to do exercise classes that ‘tone’ the body?

[Sailinguptosea123]

Im near my goal weight but still want to keep losing I’m 5 11 and 10 stone 9. I lost most of my weight through walking 10,000 steps and some cardio classes. Ive now started incorporating strength/toning classes and doing weighted squats/lunges etc. i find the classes hard and I like doing them but have recently seen I’m not burning as many calories.

Usually I burn about 300 when I walk but in the strength ones its 150/200 even though I feel like I’m working harder.

Should I continue the toning classes/ will strength based classes still allow me to lose weight?

Build more muscle.

Muscle takes calories to maintain so your BMR increases.

Over time you burn more calories by virtue of having more muscle.

Also, ditch the scales. Judge by the mirror and progress pics.

Muscle is heavier than fat so you wont lose weight.

Definitely keep going with them. They're so beneficial for your overall healthy especially as you get older. As PP says, muscles burn more calories so by having more muscle, you'll burn more calorie doing every day things.

Yeah Ive noticed by weight stalling since joining the gym so I assume its shock of me exercising hard/ muscle growth but I still have in my head that I’d like to be 10 stone.

I didn’t know muscle increases your BMR thats useful to know thankyou

A lb of muscle weighs the same as a lb of fat.
If you're in a calorie deficit you will lose weight whether you are building muscle or not.

I would disregard what you are told you are burning. It is wildly inaccurate. If you want to continue losing I'd look at diet first. You can't outrun a bad diet. If that's in line I'd try and do a combo of both. I do pump followed by step so toning and cardio. Or swap one gym visit for a run or something.

@whosaidtha Im always in a calorie deficit. I eat 1700-1800 each day.

That would probably lead to a weight loss of .5lbs. That's great because it's maintainable. You might have been losing quicker when you were heavier because your calorie needs decrease as your weight goes down.

You don't have to be perfect. No one is, other than Jesus. Praise the Lord and you will be forgiven, amen.

You won't be gaining significant amounts of muscle unless you lift weights and lift heavy. (Tone is another word for building muscle btw....)

Ignore how many calories whichever tracker it is says you're burning, they're notoriously inaccurate

I’d always go for lifting weights tbh, but accept that if you do that to build muscle the number on the scale might go up

@ShirleyPhallus but, for women, it takes a loooooong time and a huge amount of weight for that to be significant

Well yeah, but what’s the point otherwise? Who is looking for a quick fix?

Pretty much every one? otherwise why would all the faddy Boll*s work on people....

You're already at a good weight for your height, I think you might find doing strength workouts do more for your body shape than just dropping lbs of fat, and so I'd try to forget about the very specific number on the scale and see if you're happy with the way you're looking/feeling/how clothes are fitting for a while.

You can always tweak your diet or up the cardio in the future if you're still not quite where you want to be but I wouldn't ditch the weight training now just because you're worried about the scale

At 5ft 11 and 10st 9lb you're at the lower end of a healthy BMI. I can understand wanting to be 10 stone, but is it realistic or healthy to do so? I got down to 10 stone in my 20's and looking back at the pictures, I'm skin and bone, (I'm 5ft 8).

I'm currently 13 stone 5lb and would be happy to be under 12 stone. Tone up by all means, but don't let the weight loss go too far. I don't know how old you are, but once we get a bit older, having a little extra weight than when in our teens and 20's is healthier, and more attractive than being skin and bone.

faddy diets do not work, that’s the point!

Like others have said, concentrate on building muscle as it's more dense than fat, so you will look leaner - the scales might not move but you will continue to lose inches as you tone up.

I would also recommend ditching the cardio classes and concentrate purely on weight & resistance training. It will raise your heart rate in exactly the same way as more traditional cardio does, but will build muscle and continue to burn calories long after you have finished working out - just be sure to eat enough protein.

Ummm I'm agreeing with you???

Strength and toning become incredibly important as women reach their 40s onwards. All to do with bone health. Great to get into good habits now