Is Cardio or Weight Lifting better for losing weight?

LisaWilson2012

That **** is way too long to read, so I didn't!

This argument will go on forever, and there is no "better"

Do BOTH...

THIS!

RGv2

I follow a 2 week cycle: cardio/abs 3 days, weight training 2 days, next week 3 days weight training, 2 days cardio/abs. I follow a strict eating regimen also, with one planned cheat meal per week. The cardio burns calories, the weight training puts on lean muscle. Both help to ramp up the metabolism, along with eating a minimum of 1200 calories/day. Higher protein intake helps to burn calories also (digesting protein uses about 30% of the calories contained in the protein eaten). Eating on a higher protein diet requires more intake of water to help keep the kidneys flushed, though!

I lost about 110 lbs in 11 months following this plan.

Unless you were eating a surplus, I guarantee you didn't "put on lean muscle" after the noob gains. You maintained it.

55in13

Pretty good article until you get down to this:

The key to weight loss is to change your metabolism.

Unless you bulk up substantially, making a meaningful change in metabolism is very unlikely. Yes, it can be changed but when they do studies on how much it usually changes it isn't very much and a lot of people are not successful at ever changing it. The key to weight loss is consuming less than you burn, period. Anyone that lies about that will lie about other things, so my BS detection went into high gear after reading that.

Completely agree, I've read numerous studies that suggest the same thing. meal frequency or training routine will have negligible effects on base metabolism. As you say the only thing that will change this is gaining significant lean mass

Most people don't realize how hard that is - to gain a truly significant amount of muscle. It also gets me how HIIT is discussed like anyone can just go do it because there are exercise routines and classes that claim to be HIIT. True high intensity training crushes me and most other people. We mostly do MIIT (medium) or Sorta High (you can work out that abbreviation yourself :bigsmile: )...

nick1109

Pretty good article until you get down to this:

The key to weight loss is to change your metabolism.

Unless you bulk up substantially, making a meaningful change in metabolism is very unlikely. Yes, it can be changed but when they do studies on how much it usually changes it isn't very much and a lot of people are not successful at ever changing it. The key to weight loss is consuming less than you burn, period. Anyone that lies about that will lie about other things, so my BS detection went into high gear after reading that.

Completely agree, I've read numerous studies that suggest the same thing. meal frequency or training routine will have negligible effects on base metabolism. As you say the only thing that will change this is gaining significant lean mass

Most people don't realize how hard that is - to gain a truly significant amount of muscle. It also gets me how HIIT is discussed like anyone can just go do it because there are exercise routines and classes that claim to be HIIT. True high intensity training crushes me and most other people. We mostly do MIIT (medium) or Sorta High (you can work out that abbreviation yourself :bigsmile: )...

Agree which is why it makes me laugh hearing women say "I don't want lift weights, they'll make me bulky"- People really don't appreciate how hard it is for a man to produce large muscles with 10x more test.

True HIT such as tabata done properly should kill you

55in13

One story I read about a "discovery" of HIIT (I think numerous people figured it out and there is no single inventor) was at a large college with a very competitive track team. They tracked diets carefully to keep the athletes in top form. The cross country runners started cross training with the sprinters to try to get better at "turning on the afterburners" for close finishes. They started losing weight and after some various testing they found it had to do with oxygen and increased metabolism and all the science that goes with that. Anyway, these were guys who were running miles in times that weren't far off world record pace sprinting with guys who were running short distances close to record paces. I know people who claim to do HIIT while running by "sprinting" every now and then but in reality they are just going from a slow long distance pace to an okay one. I am a slow runner, BTW - I have been guilty of this myself.

gretchenynguanzo

I agree with the other posts that you need both cardio and weight training for a balanced routine. But if you have time for only one or the other on one of your training days, I recommend going for the weight training. While you may burn more calories during cardio, you'll burn even more calories in the 24 hours after you weight train, plus weight training helps you build lean muscle--you risk losing muscle if you do only cardio and too much of it.

http://www.womenshealthmag.com/weight-loss/weight-training-tips

Cherry_T

Obviously both.

55in13

One other thing to consider is what you personally are more likely to be successful at. When I first started getting serious about this early this year, I started a C25K program. I got to the point where I was running enough of it to burn some decent calorie amounts pretty quickly and all I had to do was take a few extra minutes at whatever time I was planning to shower anyway, so I actually did it very regularly. Fast forward two or three months and I am running 5+ miles at a time with no stops or walking and still doing it regularly. My point is that I didn't just plan to or try to - I did it. A big part of that was how simple it was - change into running attire and step out the door; no extra stop during the day, figuring out what weights or machines to use at what settings in what order for how long, etc, etc. All that is worth doing, but I think starting with cardio is more likely to be successful not because cardio is better but because some forms of it (running, biking, sweating to the oldies) are so simple to do and require so little equipment (shoes or a bike or a DVD player) that people will actually do them. Then, like me, they will get to a point where a lot of fat has melted away and you want to build/tone a bit. If you make it this far, you now have more motivation to get past the added complexity weight training brings.

Matt_Wild

Neither. Diet. Neither of the above two will lose weight if you diet is not in place. Then having higher lean body mass. Cardio bottom of the pile unless HIIT as its so low in the calorie burning stakes..

joele54

I follow a 2 week cycle: cardio/abs 3 days, weight training 2 days, next week 3 days weight training, 2 days cardio/abs. I follow a strict eating regimen also, with one planned cheat meal per week. The cardio burns calories, the weight training puts on lean muscle. Both help to ramp up the metabolism, along with eating a minimum of 1200 calories/day. Higher protein intake helps to burn calories also (digesting protein uses about 30% of the calories contained in the protein eaten). Eating on a higher protein diet requires more intake of water to help keep the kidneys flushed, though!

I lost about 110 lbs in 11 months following this plan.

Unless you were eating a surplus, I guarantee you didn't "put on lean muscle" after the noob gains. You maintained it.

DEXA scan tells me I _have_ put on lean mass.

yogayug

Assuming that they're consuming at a setback, then it doesn't make a difference in the event that they do cardio or not (talking strictly on weight reduction). In spite of the fact that, I'm not disregarding that there are health profits that accompany doing cardio. http://www.yogayug.com/