ladies, cardio V lifting - calories and fat question

pearshapedmum

does anybody have experience of this? if calorie consumption was to be kept the same and 2 weekly cardio/bodyweight sessions (kickboxing) were to be replaced by 2 heavy lifting sessions, would you expect to see a greater reduction in body fat?

tcunbeliever

I would expect that 2 lifting sessions would burn fewer calories than 2 kickboxing sessions, so, no, I would not expect to see a greater reduction in body fat because there would be a smaller calorie deficit. However, there should be greater muscle building with the 2 heavy lifting sessions, so you might visually look more muscular and less fatty even if the rate of actual fat reduction is reduced.

jemhh

In my experience of replacing 3 weekly bodyweight circuit sessions with 3 weekly lifting sessions while eating at the same calorie level, my overall weight loss slowed. I didn't have DEXAs done so I cannot tell you with certainty that my body fat loss rate changed. My body shaped improved, which I attribute to heavier lifting, but at the same time, I was also very close to a healthy weight range at that point so it's possible that my body shape would have been improving regardless at that point.

wilsoncl6

It would seem like your rate of fat loss would slow, if not stop completely or even gain, if you didn't take in less calories as it will take time to build muscle to increase your resting metabolic rate to compensate.