Cardio vs Cardio/Weight Training for weight loss.

cwolfman13

IMO, both are essential components of general fitness...neither are necessary purely from a weight management perspective. regular exercise makes weight management easier...increasing your body's energy (calorie) requirements is a nice bi-product of regular exercise...but really, it is highly beneficial to wrap your head around fitness for the sake of fitness.

SunshineGirl351

gaelicstorm26 wrote: »

Personally, I do my 30-40 minute cardio session first and then do my strength training. I know a lot of people lift first, but I feel like my muscle strength gets depleted doing it that way while doing cardio first helps me to be more energized. I have two kids though so I have to maximize all of my gym sessions because some weeks I can only get there three days due to their schedules, homework, etc.

Okay, smart!

jemhh

SunshineGirl351 wrote: »

jemhh wrote: »

SunshineGirl351 wrote: »

So can someone please tell me when lifting should be introduced after doing cardio? Right away? 2 weeks after? A month after? I want to lose weight, but I see the point of lifting and don't want to be "skinny fat."

I was completely and totally out of shape when I first started exercising. I started out with cardio (walking) and stretching. I needed that in order to become more flexible, which I feel has helped me with lifting. I started strength training after a month. I did bodyweight strength training at that time but regular weight lifting would have been fine too, looking back. (Not that I regret the bodyweight stuff, I just mean that I could have gone straight to WL without any problem.)

Okay, I'm not going to delete to save room this time, and just maybe my post may come out correctly. So jemhh, if you could go back in time, would you have lifted at the beginning of your journey?

No, when I look back I am happy with how I did things. I started off at the beginning of January 2014 and just focused on what I was eating. I started walking in February. Then starting in March I did walking/running (C25k) 3x/wk and bodyweight training 3x/wk. I did that until late July when I switched out the bodyweight for weights. For me, easing into things worked really well and I don't feel like I lost out on anything by taking baby steps along the way.

SunshineGirl351

cwolfman13 wrote: »

IMO, both are essential components of general fitness...neither are necessary purely from a weight management perspective. regular exercise makes weight management easier...increasing your body's energy (calorie) requirements is a nice bi-product of regular exercise...but really, it is highly beneficial to wrap your head around fitness for the sake of fitness.

Okay, yes, good point!

jeffpettis

SunshineGirl351 wrote: »

preeJAY wrote: »

I do heavy weight lifting 3x a week (stronglift 5x5, a full-body workout program), and started immediately along with changing my diet. I don't do any cardio, and have no problem with becoming stronger plus losing weight, even though I am only 10 lbs from goal weight.

So losing weight is possible without cardio? Does this mean I can slow the cardio down when I get close to my "happy weight" for maintenance?

You can stop doing cardio all together and lose weight just fine as long as you are eating at a deficit.

SunshineGirl351

jemhh wrote: »

SunshineGirl351 wrote: »

jemhh wrote: »

SunshineGirl351 wrote: »

So can someone please tell me when lifting should be introduced after doing cardio? Right away? 2 weeks after? A month after? I want to lose weight, but I see the point of lifting and don't want to be "skinny fat."

I was completely and totally out of shape when I first started exercising. I started out with cardio (walking) and stretching. I needed that in order to become more flexible, which I feel has helped me with lifting. I started strength training after a month. I did bodyweight strength training at that time but regular weight lifting would have been fine too, looking back. (Not that I regret the bodyweight stuff, I just mean that I could have gone straight to WL without any problem.)

Okay, I'm not going to delete to save room this time, and just maybe my post may come out correctly. So jemhh, if you could go back in time, would you have lifted at the beginning of your journey?

No, when I look back I am happy with how I did things. I started off at the beginning of January 2014 and just focused on what I was eating. I started walking in February. Then starting in March I did walking/running (C25k) 3x/wk and bodyweight training 3x/wk. I did that until late July when I switched out the bodyweight for weights. For me, easing into things worked really well and I don't feel like I lost out on anything by taking baby steps along the way.

Makes sense. Thanks for helping.

SunshineGirl351

Wow, you all have been do helpful. Thank you so much!

SunshineGirl351

so*

limitles

Lifting does throw off the scale numbers from day to day. For example, every single time I squat, the scale goes up 2 pounds because of water retention. I usually have my best weigh in day after a rest day or two. But I can tell by the way my clothes fit that I'm losing fat and it does eventually show up on the scale.

After a while, you should notice the trends of when you are retaining water because of the lifting, then the smaller numbers won't bug you as much.

Weight loss is the long game, so have realistic expectations and stay consistent. There are going to be people that lose weight faster and slower than you, it's irrelevant, you will get to the finish line if you keep going.

Cardio should be done after weight lifting because it exhausts your muscles and makes you more prone to injury because of fatigue. It won't give you as much muscle stimulation. Cardio is about burning calories and gaining endurance, which can be done even with tired muscles.

preeJAY

SunshineGirl351 wrote: »

preeJAY wrote: »

I do heavy weight lifting 3x a week (stronglift 5x5, a full-body workout program), and started immediately along with changing my diet. I don't do any cardio, and have no problem with becoming stronger plus losing weight, even though I am only 10 lbs from goal weight.

So losing weight is possible without cardio? Does this mean I can slow the cardio down when I get close to my "happy weight" for maintenance?

YES, you can lose weight by calorie deficit alone. In fact, you can stop now if you'd like, lol. Not eating excessively is more important than anything. Exercise is for overall health. Weightlifting gives us muscles for sexay-ness Cardio gives lung/heart/endurance, and a cushion to eat more and/or lose faster, but I. Am. Lazy as all heck, and know if I have to rely on regular cardio to lose and maintain weight, I'll give up in a couple of weeks

Check out this thread:

http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/977538/halp-heavy-lifting-made-me-supah-bulky/p1

A good number of people in it seemed to have done it without much cardio~

DeguelloTex

limitles wrote: »

Lifting does throw off the scale numbers from day to day. For example, every single time I squat, the scale goes up 2 pounds because of water retention. I usually have my best weigh in day after a rest day or two. But I can tell by the way my clothes fit that I'm losing fat and it does eventually show up on the scale.

After a while, you should notice the trends of when you are retaining water because of the lifting, then the smaller numbers won't bug you as much.

Weight loss is the long game, so have realistic expectations and stay consistent. There are going to be people that lose weight faster and slower than you, it's irrelevant, you will get to the finish line if you keep going.

Cardio should be done after weight lifting because it exhausts your muscles and makes you more prone to injury because of fatigue. It won't give you as much muscle stimulation. Cardio is about burning calories and gaining endurance, which can be done even with tired muscles.

I like these four paragraphs. Other than that cardio after leg day makes me so very sad, but it is what it is.

SunshineGirl351

limitles wrote: »

Lifting does throw off the scale numbers from day to day. For example, every single time I squat, the scale goes up 2 pounds because of water retention. I usually have my best weigh in day after a rest day or two. But I can tell by the way my clothes fit that I'm losing fat and it does eventually show up on the scale.

After a while, you should notice the trends of when you are retaining water because of the lifting, then the smaller numbers won't bug you as much.

Weight loss is the long game, so have realistic expectations and stay consistent. There are going to be people that lose weight faster and slower than you, it's irrelevant, you will get to the finish line if you keep going.

Cardio should be done after weight lifting because it exhausts your muscles and makes you more prone to injury because of fatigue. It won't give you as much muscle stimulation. Cardio is about burning calories and gaining endurance, which can be done even with tired muscles.

Wow, thanks!

tiffkittyw

This is a very informative post. I currently work out 7 days a week with 4 days of weight training (2 upper body and 2 lower body) with 20-30 minutes light cardio (total workout 1 hour) and then 3 days of just light cardio (elliptical) 45 minutes. Plus I walk as much as I can to reach 10,000 steps. I've lost 4.4 lbs in 2 weeks, but now I might rethink weight training before my weigh in day. I didn't realize I'd be retaining water. Is there any way to prevent that? Maybe drink extra water or tea for a diuretic?

Weight lifting is important to me in addition to cardio since I've lost SO much muscle over the years from yo yo dieting I'm now 40% body fat and little muscle. I need to preserve whatever little muscle I've got left LOL.

jemhh

tiffkittyw wrote: »

This is a very informative post. I currently work out 7 days a week with 4 days of weight training (2 upper body and 2 lower body) with 20-30 minutes light cardio (total workout 1 hour) and then 3 days of just light cardio (elliptical) 45 minutes. Plus I walk as much as I can to reach 10,000 steps. I've lost 4.4 lbs in 2 weeks, but now I might rethink weight training before my weigh in day. I didn't realize I'd be retaining water. Is there any way to prevent that? Maybe drink extra water or tea for a diuretic?

If you are consistently weight training before your weigh-in day, it shouldn't really make a difference. Example:

Day 1: 150 lbs, do weight training
Day 2: 152 lbs, official weigh in day
Day 8: 149.5 lbs, do weight training
Day 9: 151.5 lbs, official weigh in day
Day 8 - Day 1 = .5 lbs lost
Day 9 - Day 2 = .5 lbs lost

And everybody is a bit different but what matters is the downward trend.

999tigger

Its just basic cico if you really grasp it, then you can see that as long as the result is that you are at a deficit, then you will lose weight. Its the deficit that matters not where it comes from.

When to start resistance or even a lifting prog? It depends where you are, do what you can manage but dont be afraid of lifting, even the lightest weights. Id start as soon as you can and combine it with your cardio.

3x a week all body imo but what you can manage at first.

Weights before cardio imo as thats the time when you need to give max effort.

If you wnat to do cardio then realise it takes a lot, but it cna come in quite handy. Plenty of people never go near a gym but complement their food deficit with just walking a lot using a fitbit, 5-15,000 steps a day. Even though its a slow pace it adds up.

tiffkittyw

jemhh wrote: »

If you are consistently weight training before your weigh-in day, it shouldn't really make a difference. Example:

Day 1: 150 lbs, do weight training
Day 2: 152 lbs, official weigh in day
Day 8: 149.5 lbs, do weight training
Day 9: 151.5 lbs, official weigh in day
Day 8 - Day 1 = .5 lbs lost
Day 9 - Day 2 = .5 lbs lost

And everybody is a bit different but what matters is the downward trend.

Thanks!

lindsey1979

hproctor02 wrote: »

Question: I work out in the gym about 5 days a week doing weight training followed by HITTS and then I have 2 days just for cardio. I haven't been loosing near as fast as I thought I would. I also see women my weight loosing weight like crazy just doing cardio such as walking or biking.

I have been documenting/ measuring my food pretty religiously and drinking plenty of water so I can confidently say I don't think it is my diet.

Is it normal that weightlifting slows the weight loss process? I have always seen the combo of weightloss and cardio as "optimal for weight loss."

Yes. And there are a few different reasons for this. One is that weightlifting often burns less overall calories than cardio so unless you're making up for it either in diet or other activity (like lots of walking), it's harder to create as big of deficit with lifting only. Many will adjust their diets to compensate or do a lot of low impact exercise like hiking or walking. But it does take more time.

Another factor is that weightlifting (and hitting protein goals) has been shown to preserve LBM/muscle in a caloric deficit. This means that you'll hold onto more of your muscle when you lose weight. The downside of this (though it really isn't a downside) is that it takes longer to lose the same amount of weight given the differences in muscle versus fat. Fat releases about 3500 calories per pound. Muscle releases somewhere between 900-1700. So for the exact same deficit, if you're losing more muscle, you'll drop weight quicker. This is why generally people who just do cardio will drop weight quicker because they're losing a higher percentage of muscle. You can end up with the dreaded skinny fat (i.e. good weight but high fat percentage).

So, it looks good on the scale but isn't very good for your body composition. It's better to lose more slowly and preserve as much muscle as possible (by lifting heavy and hitting protein goals) than lose quickly and lose more muscle.

limitles

[/quote]I like these four paragraphs. Other than that cardio after leg day makes me so very sad, but it is what it is.

[/quote]

Thanks! I train legs 2-3x a week and cardio afterward sucks. Your body will adapt to it though and it will get less sucky over time, especially as you get lighter. I can say that switching to cardio afterward has helped me get better and stronger in squats.

SunshineGirl351

Since recently coming back to MFP, my current plan for cardio is to jog/fast walk on trails about 5 days a week. I have been trying to log 4 miles each time, so far so good. But after reading the comments here, I'm not as concerned with the scale as I was prior to finding this thread (knowing it will all work out in the end). My concern for the scale is why I stayed away from lifting.

Anyhow, I'm going to keep my form of cardio (jog/fast walk) and add lifting (total body) on my off days, plus one other day (total of 3 days). I think my body could use the lifting anyway to help prevent injuries while I'm on the trails.

I love being outdoors, but when it gets cold, I'll have to bring my cardio inside. I suppose I'll cross that bridge when I get there.

In the meantime, thanks to you all, I have a better plan.

limitles

tiffkittyw wrote: »

This is a very informative post. I currently work out 7 days a week with 4 days of weight training (2 upper body and 2 lower body) with 20-30 minutes light cardio (total workout 1 hour) and then 3 days of just light cardio (elliptical) 45 minutes. Plus I walk as much as I can to reach 10,000 steps. I've lost 4.4 lbs in 2 weeks, but now I might rethink weight training before my weigh in day. I didn't realize I'd be retaining water. Is there any way to prevent that? Maybe drink extra water or tea for a diuretic?

Weight lifting is important to me in addition to cardio since I've lost SO much muscle over the years from yo yo dieting I'm now 40% body fat and little muscle. I need to preserve whatever little muscle I've got left LOL.

I wouldn't worry about it, you are really looking for a downward trend. When you get to your goal weight, it's really going to be a range as you cannot be the same weight everyday. There are a couple apps for measuring this, like happy scale, where you put your weight in everyday and it charts a trend line so you know you are going down despite the flux.