What is more effective?

loro9159

Should someone that is trying to lose 20 pounds and eventually be toned be doing strength training or a lot of cardio? Both? Please explain.
Thanks in advance!!

The0dora07

I would recommend a bit of both. Strength training will help your muscles grow which in the end will increase your metabolic rate and you will burn more calories. ***Make sure your form is correct and you challenge yourself to increase your weights little by little. That's the only way your muscles will grow. Cardio is good for burning the fat tissue you already have and making room for muscles to show (or as you called it "toning"). I normally lift first and then do cardio (sprinting, HIIT, etc) after my weight training. Most importantly, though, is what you eat Abs are truly made in the kitchen. 80% of the work when trying to loose weight is your diet. You have to be very disciplined about your food, and the key is to not starve yourself. Eat lots of protein, good fats, and moderate amount of carbs.

Let me know if you have any questions!

cwolfman13

A good, well rounded and balanced fitness regimen is going to include elements of both in approximately equal levels. It doesn't really matter what your weight control goals are. More specific fitness goals would dictate otherwise...but again, your weight control goals are largely irrelevant here.

Weight control is all about energy balance. A calorie is a unit of energy. When you consume less energy than your body requires to maintain the status quot, your body must make up the difference by dipping into your energy reserves...aka your fat stores. As it relates to weight control, regular exercise of any kind if beneficial because it increases your energy requirements which makes it easier to maintain a reasonable energy deficit that doesn't leave you feeling deprived and starving and whatnot.

Example...If I didn't do any exercise, I would maintain on roughly 2300 calories...which means to lose about 1 Lb per week I could only eat around 1,800 calories...which is eating like a birdie for me.

With regular exercise I maintain on roughly 2800ish calories....which means that to lose about 1 Lb per week I can eat 2,300 calories or so...which is much better...basically my non-exercise maintenance calories.

LaurenCheek

In order to be toned you need to:

1. Increase muscle mass. The ONLY way to accomplish this is to continually add more stress to your muscles. This can be accomplished through a progressive resistance training program. (Progressive meaning, when you get stronger, you lift heavier weights/add resistance). Cardiovascular exercise will NOT be of assistance in this plight.

2. Be lean enough to see the muscles you have. The way to accomplish this is by a calorie deficit. You can either increase caloric output (say, burn an extra 500 calories a day doing cardiovascular exercise), decrease caloric input (cut 500 calories a day from your maintenance) or do a combination of both (cut 250 calories and burn 250 calories through cardiovascular exercise).