Should I stick to just cardio or should I lift weights aswell. Obese

pearce8888

Hi I am 6 foot 5 and 363 pounds. Morbidly obese with probably atleast 35% body fat. I've lost 9 pounds in the last four weeks doing cardio and eating healthy and logging all foods. I have no strength and no muscle underneath the fat and I've never done weights in my life. Should I stick with cardio till I get down to a reasonable weight or should I lift weights to get stronger and still lose weight and do cardio in my off days. What should I do? Thankyou.

christinecoffeebean

Do both, as cardio and weights are equally important. But at the end of the day it comes to calories in vs calories out. Make sure you're eating in a calorie deficit and focus on preparing nutritious and filling meals. Personally, I lost 12kgs doing cardio only and have just started doing weights now. Since starting weights, the scale hasn't gone down but I'm noticing a big change in the way my clothes feel and I look slimmer.

christinecoffeebean

Also don't underestimate your strength. I'm doing a progressive lifting program called stronglifts. Three months ago I could barely lift the bar, I'm now deadlifting 65kg

Merkavar

do both. doing both will probably help you stick to it, so you don't get bored.

you might find your stronger than you think, carrying around fat all day, every day takes a lot of strength. Like wearing massive ankle weights.

koreangurl

Weight lift. Doing both will definitely give you the best of both worlds. You might not notice the changes immediately from weight lifting but they are there.

RodaRose

You have do have muscles. The best thing you could do for yourself is to begin a progressive weight lifting regime -- even if it is twice a week. (Three times is better of course.)
That way, you will preserve the muscles that you do have. You will feel great and getting positive reinforcement from your body will help you continue on this weight loss journey.
Also take some "before" pictures today so that two or three months from now you can compare pictures and see your progress. Some people also take measurements but that might be too much hassle-- it is up to you.

FeelsLikeAwesome

pearce8888 wrote: »

Hi I am 6 foot 5 and 363 pounds. Morbidly obese with probably atleast 35% body fat. I've lost 9 pounds in the last four weeks doing cardio and eating healthy and logging all foods. I have no strength and no muscle underneath the fat and I've never done weights in my life. Should I stick with cardio till I get down to a reasonable weight or should I lift weights to get stronger and still lose weight and do cardio in my off days. What should I do? Thankyou.

As someone who has taken this journey twice, once with some cardio and diet and once with strength training, cardio, and diet, I vote strength training.

It is intimidating at first, but stick it out. The payoff is so worth it. It will preserve lean muscle as you lose.

Compared to the previous cardio & diet time, I am a size smaller (top & pants) at the same weight by having lifted from the beginning. Also, my overall shape has changed and cellulite has largely disappeared from my thighs. At the cardio & diet weight, the cellulite never budged and I looked just like I did when I started the diet & cardio - smaller, yes - but flubby in all the same spots. This is just my experience but the difference to me has been remarkable.

MelaniaTrump

Opinion: Eating right is 90% of the weight loss battle.
Walk a little, but give your diet ***.

mespreeman

Lift too. It's a great workout and really fun.

http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/1308750/so-you-want-to-start-lifting-great/p1

Some good starter programs here. Strong lifts 5x5 mentioned above is a good one.

I'm partial to Starting Strength (Rippetoe). It's actually right next to me now at work.

mespreeman

King_Spicy

I love SL5x5, but I feel it best used as a base for the workout instead of solely relying on it. I like to mix in sets of high rep workouts in between to help tone the body. So I'll do my 5x5 for all the Starting Lift workouts, but do something like 3x8 of exercises in between and after my workout.

trigden1991

If you weigh 363 with 35% bodyfat, that puts your fat free mass at 230lbs which is a massive amount of muscle to have. Start working out, do cardio, eat in a defiict and you'll look better.

msf74

trigden1991 wrote: »

If you weigh 363 with 35% bodyfat, that puts your fat free mass at 230lbs which is a massive amount of muscle to have. Start working out, do cardio, eat in a defiict and you'll look better.

I agree with this.

For most people I would say do both, but for morbidly obese / obese people I think the greatest benefit overall would be through just shifting weight in the beginning. That means maximising calorie burn using exercise which means cardio.

Once a good chunk of weight is off then incorporating resistance training comes into play.

jemhh

Regardless of your bodyfat %, the fact that you are 363 pounds mean that you are stronger than you think. You are carrying around an extra 150 lbs or so every single day. Weak people cannot do that. Don't underestimate yourself

I think that you should incorporate some strength training (progressive resistance) as well as cardio (walking is great for cardio.) It may be better to start with bodyweight work or it may be better to start with weights. If possible, I would see about finding a trainer who specializes in overweight populations. It would be easy for me to say "oh just lift weights" but you may have some physical limitations due to being very out of shape. I used a personal trainer in the beginning. He specialized in overweight/obese people and people with diabetes and that's why I picked him. A good trainer can help you with a program that fits your particular needs.