lift weights?or cardio?

AnvilHead

cqbkaju wrote: »

Focus on lifting heavy weight, compound lifts.
Do HIIT cardio afterwards or on off-days.

Did you read the part where she weighs 248 lbs., has a bad leg and can barely get out of bed or get up from a chair? I can't possibly think of worse advice than to tell her to do HIIT intervals. Workout routines are not a "one size fits all" prescription.

p8yn02016

Just remember that 90% of losing or gaining weight is in nutrition but weight training is a must in my opinion just start low and slowly go up and good luck

ardysedwardsmcgrath

so good especially i just turn big 50 to add that to my cardio lifting weights?? i use to yrs ago &got toned.. jus have fell off the wagon.. can u tell? my girls r always on me eat healthier mom soo we can hvae u around for a long time.. do u recommend supplements? i take now multi.. vitamin, ginko, glucosamine,cod liver oil pill&gensing.. idk bout that raseberry ketones some1said they aren't really that good for ya

canadianlbs

if your leg won't bend you probably have things going on that need an expert's advice, or at least someone with hand-on access to you so they can assess what the issue is. i don't want to get into a whole opinion war with other posters, but my two cents would be on the 'be careful' side.

i'd say to start out with the stuff that you already know doesn't bother your knee. and if you do want to lift right away, find a trainer or physiotherapist who can get you started safely.

sijomial

ardysedwardsmcgrath wrote: »

so good especially i just turn big 50 to add that to my cardio lifting weights?? i use to yrs ago &got toned.. jus have fell off the wagon.. can u tell? my girls r always on me eat healthier mom soo we can hvae u around for a long time.. do u recommend supplements? i take now multi.. vitamin, ginko, glucosamine,cod liver oil pill&gensing.. idk bout that raseberry ketones some1said they aren't really that good for ya

I would recommend using the site examine.com to check out the "need" for particular supplements.
You may well find that most claims aren't actually supported by research.

cqbkaju

Lift weights / weight training within your capacity and with good form by following a good progressive overload training program.
I'm not talking about some "fitness" workout with pink dumbbells.
Lifting heavy-for-you weights in a progressive manner will improve your knee problem in almost every case.
The exception is if a orthopedist says specifically not to do certain exercises.

I bet my surgeon would say my knees and ankle are far worse than yours and I do squats and deadlifts every week.
The stronger my legs are, the better my knees and ankle feels.
Same with dips and overhead presses for my shoulders, by the way.

The impact and wear from running, cardio etc. is usually far worse for your knees than lifting.
Again, this is according to my orthopedic surgeon and corroborated by every athlete I work with.

If you have any gas in the tank after lifting (or on off-days) then you could consider HIIT for cardio.

According to a PT in the family, being too weak to get out of a chair or off the toilet is why many people end up in nursing homes.
Their "cardio fitness" has nothing to do with it.

serapel

ardysedwardsmcgrath wrote: »

is it best to lift weights when im 248lbs? or jus do cardio? i need to strengthen my knees.. ive got that problem.. im gonna buy a elliptical.. i wanna do in am & pm.. i was wondering if i should join a gym for the lifting but im afraid the scale wont move.. any suggestions?

From my own experience, I found lifting and cardio together made me very hungry and I had a hard time doing both. I ended up focusing on cardio to lose weight, so I wasn't so hungry and then once I had lost a certain amount of weight, I then began incorporating weight lifting into my program.

What worked for me is not recommended though and I only needed to lose 10 lbs (post-pregnancy weight). After losing the first 5 lbs, I then began weight training while losing the other 5 lbs, so when I was finished, I weighed the same, but my body composition was different.

There is some information on this here that backs up what others are saying and it includes pictures and a dexa scan:

https://bretcontreras.com/strength-training-is-fat-loss-training/

serapel

Traveler120 wrote: »

WHY in the world would you want to lift weights when you have a bad knee and struggle to even get up from a bed or chair? Plus, assuming you're currently very unfit, this is a great recipe for getting injuries. All you need to do is low impact cardio like an elliptical. Keep the resistance up (if you can, without causing knee pain) so that you're burning lots of calories but protecting your knees. Safety first! Fat loss is based on calorie deficit and cardio increases your deficit, it's not just for heart health.

I recommend you try swimming to get the initial weight off if you have an injury.

I had a knee injury 20 years ago and it took almost a year to heel with swimming and water aerobic. Be careful!!!

subcounter

ardysedwardsmcgrath wrote: »

is it best to lift weights when im 248lbs? or jus do cardio? i need to strengthen my knees.. ive got that problem.. im gonna buy a elliptical.. i wanna do in am & pm.. i was wondering if i should join a gym for the lifting but im afraid the scale wont move.. any suggestions?

Okay, with a bad knee even elliptical can be a little bad for your knee, as the whole body weight is distributed on it. I would recommend cycling. Stationary ones that you can change the difficulty can do wonders for you. You need to shed some of the weight before you go in to more intense stuff. Make sure you would be cycling in a fat burning HR zone, and without too much stress on your knees.

Luckily your upper body can take more! Lifting weights helps you with one specific thing. It lets you consume more calories as you make muscles. You need more food to keep your muscles fed basically. So its kind of a "cheating" method we can use to lose fat . For a beginner, I would recommend dumbbell exercises, you definitely could use a weight bench. There are thousands and thousands of exercises online. You can focus on single muscle groups in the beginning, and as your knee heals, and you lose more fat, you can continue in to more core exercises where you use your whole body.

Good luck!

P.S. ALL of us, start somewhere. Never ever feel shame about not being able to do a certain move, or not being able to do a certain thing, that someone else does. Everyone have different goals, and bodies. Where we start our journeys are different too.

You are the best judge of yourself. Make sure you push yourself just enough, your body can do wonders! Give yourself time too. The progress will come in months but you will love every step of the way once you see the results.

mommazach

Oh these answers... Pretty sure that is why people get discouraged. Holy cats. Here's my 2 cents.

I started with 3 surgeries on my left knee. Started elliptical for knee strengthening. Small times. 10 minutes, 15 minutes, worked my way up to 45 minutes and decided to try jogging. (I was feeling froggy) I found an app called C25K that worked my way up to increase my stamina. I used it on the elliptical and treadmill too. Now... Saying all of that, my legs looked great. Best they ever had, but the rest of me needed a workout too. So I started a p90x video. It was great. Sweat bunches and started working on my arms and core. Then... I did a summer boot camp with weights. Now... I only lost 6 lbs, but I lost 12 inches in 2 months. I am now a firm believer that you should do both cardio, and weight lifting. I have a muscle on the back of my arm. Didn't even know it could happen. There's one on the top of my shoulder too.... WHO KNEW! You will continue to lose weight if you eat at a deficit. You will gain muscle by doing either cardio weights. Just depends on what kind of definition you want to see. Try both, and you will not kill your knees lifting. You will strengthen them. It will help you. Keep focused on them and don't push too hard. Jogging will kill them... seriously had to figure out some of the running techniques and always have a rest day if you are doing high impact anything. My elliptical didn't jar them and I was dandy. Squats are great. Lunges are great. Just go slowly and get to where you can do more and more and more. And..... Find workout buddies or join classes. I do 3 different classes during the week and the folks there are my workout buddies. TRX is my FAV, Circuit- truly sweat, Spin... kills me... Best of luck on Your journey

rainbowbow

cqbkaju wrote: »

Lift weights / weight training within your capacity and with good form by following a good progressive overload training program.
I'm not talking about some "fitness" workout with pink dumbbells.
Lifting heavy-for-you weights in a progressive manner will improve your knee problem in almost every case.
The exception is if a orthopedist says specifically not to do certain exercises.

I bet my surgeon would say my knees and ankle are far worse than yours and I do squats and deadlifts every week.
The stronger my legs are, the better my knees and ankle feels.
Same with dips and overhead presses for my shoulders, by the way.

The impact and wear from running, cardio etc. is usually far worse for your knees than lifting.
Again, this is according to my orthopedic surgeon and corroborated by every athlete I work with.

If you have any gas in the tank after lifting (or on off-days) then you could consider HIIT for cardio.

According to a PT in the family, being too weak to get out of a chair or off the toilet is why many people end up in nursing homes.
Their "cardio fitness" has nothing to do with it.

I just want to point out that this is not a good recommendation for someone who is so overweight.

Resistance training that is tailored to your individual needs is important. There are many different ways to perform resistance training and many different acute variables (training for hypertrophy, strength, endurance, power, and more).

The OP doesn't need to lift weights, no one does unless this is something they enjoy. resistance training can be performed WITHOUT weight lifting. And in her case and current size, starting with bodyweight training, increasing balance and stability, etc. are going to be vital if she chooses to "lift heavy" in the future.

p.s. it's my pet peeve when people are told they have to "lift heavy" and "women should lift heavy, no pink barbie weights". Like... i'm sorry, but everyone starts somewhere and everyone has individual goals and needs.

firef1y72

ardysedwardsmcgrath wrote: »

is it best to lift weights when im 248lbs? or jus do cardio? i need to strengthen my knees.. ive got that problem.. im gonna buy a elliptical.. i wanna do in am & pm.. i was wondering if i should join a gym for the lifting but im afraid the scale wont move.. any suggestions?

I started at 289lb, could barely walk thanks to my weight combined with hypermobility (a condition where the joints are unstable, at risk of dislocation and can be pretty painful). As I said I could barely walk across the room without crutches, certainly couldn't get up and down off the floor and struggled with just about any activity. Now I can jog (slow but it's still a jog) 5km, spend 20 minutes on elliptical, row for what feels like for ever, squat bum to floor without the bar and before hernia surgery put me back to the bar was deadlifting 70kg and squatting 60kg (which was a lot for me). Oh and I do use some modifications but I hold my own in Insanity, Boxercise and Zumba classes too.

But I didn't get to this point overnight, it's taken a year full of little steps to get this far. To start with I simply tried adding an extra 500 daily steps each week. Then after a few months I joined a small local gym and worked out a program with a few weight machines (as I had no mobility to speak off) and simply 5 minutes on the stationary bike. I tried to improve each session, by the tiniest amount, another 30 seconds on the bike, one more rep on the triceps pull down, etc. And those small improvements turned in to bigger improvements, 5 minutes on the bike became 10 minutes and I added in the rower and then the elliptical and then the step. Swiss ball squats became very shallow unassisted squats, which became full squats, which became dumbell weighted squats which then became squats in the squat rack with the bar and weights on my back. It's all about making tiny but consistent improvements. But I will say that I consulted with my physiotherapist, who not only okayed the activity but has been very pleased with the results.

As for food, I don't ban anything, I love my food too much, but with my current activity level (that a year ago I would have thought was impossible), I can eat a lot (2000-2500Calories). I just try and make sure I get plenty of protein and it doesn't take too long to decide whether a treat is worth the calories, especially if you invest in a tracker and discover just how many steps it takes to burn that chocolate bar off.

firef1y72

Traveler120 wrote: »

WHY in the world would you want to lift weights when you have a bad knee and struggle to even get up from a bed or chair? Plus, assuming you're currently very unfit, this is a great recipe for getting injuries. All you need to do is low impact cardio like an elliptical. Keep the resistance up (if you can, without causing knee pain) so that you're burning lots of calories but protecting your knees. Safety first! Fat loss is based on calorie deficit and cardio increases your deficit, it's not just for heart health.

Because depending on the reason for the "bad knee" strengthening the muscles can help, the op mentioned the knee popping, I'm guessing this means some form of dislocation/subluxation. I have a condition (hypermobility) where that type of injury is very common (in my case my ankle and shoulders), but since adding resistance training and more specifically heavier compound lifting I've had huge improvements in stability, pain levels and even mobility. Yes I have to ensure I take care and build up slowly, but there's no reason that the op should lift weights as long as appropriate advice from a physio is sought.