StrongLifts and Cardio
giusa
Posts: 577 Member
Found this in my inbox this morning, a few asked questions about cardio, thought it might be of some interest....
Can you lose weight by lifting weights three times a week, without doing cardio? That's the question I received. My answer is below...
### QUESTION ###
"Hello Mehdi I weigh 101kg height 5.6. I have never done gym but I'm embarrassed to take my shirt off due to my man boobs and belly. I want to loose weight especially around my belly and chest. Do you think stronglifts 5x5 without cardio help me to loose weight?"
*** MY ANSWER ***
Well, I lost my belly fat years ago without doing cardio but just by lifting.
Although there's one more thing I did that had a HUGE impact, one thing you didn't ask me about there...
Here's what happened: 15y ago I got so fedup of my belly fat, I decided to join the gym to get rid of it.
The first months I spent doing dozens of situps a week... hoping working my abs every day would eventually make the six pack appear.
Well that didn't happen.
All I achieved was a sore lower back.
Then I met my mentor, who introduced me to the Squat, and one big insight I had from him was to "clean up" my diet.
It was quite "dirty" back then. Lots of frozen pizzas, lasagna, Belgian fries, potato chips, beer, liters of cola, and so on.
But I wanted six pack abs like my mentor. So when I realized how different he was eating, I began to change my diet.
No more junk food. I started to eat better and make my own food.
And guess what? Within months, my belly fat was gone...
... while my strength on all the lifts skyrocketed...
... despite never doing cardio, ever!
All I did was lifting heavy and eating better.
So going back to your question: yes, you can lose weight and burn fat by lifting weights, without doing cardio...
... but ONLY *IF* you eat better.
Here's why: lifting weights (or doing cardio for that matter) won't burn enough calories to make up for a crappy diet.
Best example are those fat powerlifters you might have seen.
They lift heavy but often eat crap. So their muscles are covered with fat.
Another example: the "cardio-bunnies" who spend every night on the treadmill. Zero muscle or strength, and still fat.
Anyway, if you need to lose a lot of weight, adding cardio post-workout would be the best. You'll burn more calories, lose fat faster.
But since you're new to the gym, and since willpower is scarce, best is to start small so you don't get overwhelmed and quit.
So focus on eating better foods. And get used to lifting weighs three times a week no matter what. You can add cardio later, for now lifting and better diet will have a big impact already.
Oh, and make sure you use my apps as they make it super-easy to follow my StrongLifts 5x5 workout.
Click here for iPhone app
Get the Android app here
Don't make excuses.
-Mehdi
P.S. One "mindset" tip. How long did it take you to gain all that excess weight? I'm betting a few months, probably years.
So is it realistic to expect to lose all that weight in a few weeks?
No. In fact, if you follow the recommended goal of aiming for 1lb fat loss per week, it would take 52 weeks to lose 52lb.
A full year, to fix it once and for all.
So you need to think long-term for success. You need to go slow but steady. You need to be "be the turtle", not the hare.
More on that another time.
P.P.S. If you have a question you'd like me to cover in my daily email newsletter, send it by hitting the reply button. Please keep it short and to the point, 2-3 sentences max. Don't send a whole book
P.P.P.S. If you don't want to miss on my daily emails tips to get stronger, add me to your safe sender lists. Here's how:
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Replies
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I like that @guisa. I am into my 4th week of strong lifts and it is really complementing my taekwondo practice. I do that 2x a week for 90 mins a time. I am eating cleaner too and noticing that my arms and legs are shaping up. The belly, I'm sure will fall in line soon. Since doing SL I have gained 2lbs but that doesn't bother me because my clothes don't feel any smaller.0
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Also just starting @Graceious1, and the scale weight doesn’t bother me either, trying to recover from too much HIIT. I was doing HIIT (Insanity) 6 days a week, and the results were disastrous! It has taken 2 yrs (hard head) to realize that cardio is not the key to all.More isn't better. Whether we're talking lifting (too many exercises) or cardio. Here's a "HIIT" example of too much, my comments below...
### QUESTION ###
Hello Mehdi, I'm really excited to start the program! I'm 5'8" and 190lbs. I have a big gut because dieting has always been my struggle. Would it be too much to include HIIT training every day on top of 5x5?
*** MY COMMENTS ***
High intensity interval training five times a week on top of StrongLIfts 5x5 is definitely too much.
If you do that much HIIT cardio anyway, this will happen:
* You'll miss reps on the Squat, Deadlift, Bench, Press, etc
* You'll have to deload sooner than others usually have to do
* You'll get frustrated, lose motivation and feel like quitting it all
Remember the heavy lifting on StrongLifts 5x5 stresses your muscles, bones, joints, nervous system and so on.
This stress stimulates your body to get stronger.
It gives it a "reason" to IMPROVE.
But you'll *only* improve if your body can recover from that stress first.
So let's say you do high intensity interval training five times a week...
... and you make it something "hardcore" like interval sprints...
... and then you Squat for 5x5 three times a week on top...
Then when does your body - especially your LEGS - get to recover?!?
I mean, how will they ever get strong and muscular if you hit them hard with 5x5 Squats 3x/week...
... plus HIIT cardio 5x/week or more?
Right, no break for your legs to recover == no gains.
So one way to make this work is you drop the intensity.
No more "HIIT" but "LISS" - low intensity steady state cardio.
Example: walk 30mins first thing in the morning on an empty stomach (like in Ronnie Coleman's training video if you remember lol...)
This 5x/week on top of StrongLifts 5x5 wouldn't hurt your strength and muscle gains because it's called LOW INTENSITY cardio.
Now if you want to stick with HIIT, you got to drop the frequency.
Instead of 5x/week, do it 1-2x/week max.
I've had success doing cardio Tu/Sa, while lifting Mo/We/Fr.
This gives my body two days to recover, get stronger and build muscle.
BUT BUT BUT...
... it's *NOT* the key to how I got rid of my gut and build six pack abs (I actually did ZERO cardio for that, cardio came much later)
Because if I was eating crap most of the day, I'd have a gut again in no time - regardless of the lifting or cardio I do.
You CANNOT out-train a bad diet. You just can't.
Unless you can spend hours in the gym, you'll never burn enough calories to lose a big gut (where fat usually goes away LAST)
Yet a lot of guys think they can. Often because they've given up trying to eat better. So they try to "solve" that by doing a ton of cardio.
Not gonna work.
You got to EAT RIGHT (that was *the* key for me).
And it's simple - 80% of your results will come from a few small changes (that's Pareto's rule - look it up).
The 80%: no soda/juice/alcohol, no processed foods, no more grains like bread, cereals and all that crap.
Instead, eat real "natural" foods most of the time. Meat, eggs, veggies, fruits, potatoes, yams, etc.
Cook it yourself. Eat it. Lift heavy on top. That fat gut is quickly going to melt like butter in a microwave, making room for "Ze Six Pack".
Remember the order though - abs are "revealed" in the kitchen. But only after you've built them in the gym first.
You do that by lifting heavy. Which is what my apps help you with.
Download them for free here, they're super-easy to use...
Click here for iPhone app
Get the Android app here
Don't make excuses.
-Mehdi
P.S. If you're curious about my "conditioning" work - usually 10mins kettlebell swings. I aim for 200 reps. Sets of 25-50 reps with some rest inbetween. Add weight once easy. Simple and works.
P.P.S. If you have a question you'd like me to cover in my daily email newsletter, send it by hitting the reply button. Please keep it short and to the point, 2-3 sentences max. Don't send a whole book
P.P.P.S. If you don't want to miss on my daily emails tips to get stronger, add me to your safe sender lists. Here's how:0 -
Thank you !!
I do Thai boxing about 4 days a week ( 1 hour class) and even in the short time I've been doing SL I've noticed a difference. . Stronger, balance is a bit better. But I do need to sort out my calories etc.
Question, what ratios do you all use for protein, carbs and fat? And what calorie calculator do you think is closest to accurate? I just want to tone up a bit and get stronger!
Would 1600 cals sound about right, 165 cm at 59 kg? SL 3 x a week, thai boxing 4 x a week, also dog walks 30 mins every 2nd day ( older dogs). I get a bit confused with all the calories side of things. .0 -
Hello @IzzyBooNZ1,
Many people, including myself have used the Scooby workshop calorie calculator. The ratios I use for carbs/protein/fat are 40/30/30 and my calories per day are around 2200. I got this all from Scooby (can be googled). Eating this amount is right for my height, age and activity and it is also a good way to reset your metabolism. You and I are a similar height (I'm 167cm), I'm 46 and as well as strong lifts, do taekwondo 3 hours a week and jog for 30 mins. I also cycle with my son to and from school daily. Food is fuel!
I came back to read this post because I want my deflated water balloon like belly to go. So once again thank you for posting it @guisa0
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