Weights vs Cardio
kimtpa1417
Posts: 461 Member
There is so much different information out there and depending on who I talk to I get different answers. I have alot of body fat I'd like to loss. Right now I'm killing myself in the gym doing cardio and weights. Some people say ditch the cardio and some say ditch the weights until the scale comes down. I hate cardio but do it trying to lose weight. So which is better?
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Replies
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Both. Cardio burns more calories, weights help you hang onto muscle (and give you a better shape when the fat comes off).15
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kimtpa1417 wrote: »There is so much different information out there and depending on who I talk to I get different answers. I have alot of body fat I'd like to loss. Right now I'm killing myself in the gym doing cardio and weights. Some people say ditch the cardio and some say ditch the weights until the scale comes down. I hate cardio but do it trying to lose weight. So which is better?
I wouldn't recommend it, but you don't have to do any exercise whatsoever to lose weight. Losing weight is namely going to come down to your diet. Exercise is great for your overall health and well-being and your fitness...and you don't need to kill yourself in the gym to achieve that either. In regards to your health and overall fitness, both resistance training and cardiovascular work are important, particularly if you spend most of your day sitting behind a desk.
I lift 3x per week and it takes me 35-40 minutes with a full body program. I may or may not do a little cardio afterwards depending on time, but it's usually no more than 15 minutes or so and it's pretty light. I don't spend any more than an hour in the gym, and it's usually a little less than that.
Most of my cardio work is done on my road bike on non-lifting days. My weekday rides are usually 30-45 minutes and use my weekends for longer rides.
I exercise most days of the week, but certainly don't grind myself into the ground with it.
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Balance.
Cardio does burn more during the exercise, but when the exercise is over, the burn is pretty much over as well>
If you build up some additional muscle mass, you may not burn as much during the exercise. However, muscle at rest requires more calories just to keep around, so you will use more energy at rest with more muscle mass.
Not to mention, if you are in a calorie deficit, you want to make sure you are not losing muscle mass. So doing some resistance training helps preserve the muscle mass you have, helping maintain that calorie burn muscle provides at rest.
So incorporate BOTH into your training plan.12 -
I think you're asking the wrong question. Cardio is usually short for cardiovascular training, as in anything that increases your heartrate and breathing rate, or to put it in layman's terms, an activity that means you move around fast enough to get out of breath.
The world is full of activities that require moving around. What's out there and available for you that you'd find less hellish than doing whatever it is you're doing in the gym?
Think outside the box. Instead of trying to justify dropping the gym stuff you hate, or trying to persuade yourself to keep doing it, find something better.
Tap-dancing, cardio drumming, badminton, squash, swimming, horse-riding, ice-skating! Read this for inspiration, even. https://www.businessinsider.com/exercises-workouts-burn-most-calories-2017-8?r=US&IR=T#8-flag-football-584-calorieshour-728-calorieshour-305 -
estherdragonbat wrote: »Both. Cardio burns more calories, weights help you hang onto muscle (and give you a better shape when the fat comes off).
Are you saying that you’re bound to lose muscle if you only focus on losing fat?0 -
It's likely. I wouldn't say it's inevitable, but the odds favor it. This link has tips on how to avoid it. https://www.aworkoutroutine.com/how-to-lose-fat-without-losing-muscle/
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estherdragonbat wrote: »Both. Cardio burns more calories, weights help you hang onto muscle (and give you a better shape when the fat comes off).
Are you saying that you’re bound to lose muscle if you only focus on losing fat?
If one make no changes to maintain muscles, then simply by virtue of carrying less, a person will lose muscle.8 -
magnusthenerd wrote: »estherdragonbat wrote: »Both. Cardio burns more calories, weights help you hang onto muscle (and give you a better shape when the fat comes off).
Are you saying that you’re bound to lose muscle if you only focus on losing fat?
If one make no changes to maintain muscles, then simply by virtue of carrying less, a person will lose muscle.
This sounds dramatic. Surely not a lot of muscle if you’re eating enough.10 -
magnusthenerd wrote: »estherdragonbat wrote: »Both. Cardio burns more calories, weights help you hang onto muscle (and give you a better shape when the fat comes off).
Are you saying that you’re bound to lose muscle if you only focus on losing fat?
If one make no changes to maintain muscles, then simply by virtue of carrying less, a person will lose muscle.
This sounds dramatic. Surely not a lot of muscle if you’re eating enough.
Your muscle mass adapts to the demands you put on it. If you lose weight but your lifestyle, activity and exercise remains exactly the same the demand is reducing. Every time you move you are moving less weight.
You could visualise it by thinking of carrying around a 20kg suitcase you might take on holiday for every waking moment - every movement needs more effort, more strength, more muscle.
For someone losing a small amount of weight it's not going to be a dramatic difference but the statement you quoted isn't dramatic at all, just a statement of fact.8 -
I don't particularly like either, but I prefer very light cardio.0
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This probably isn't the answer you want to hear, but I'm a huge proponent of the idea that the best kind of exercise for you is the kind that you enjoy.
In the long run, do you want to be grimly dragging yourself to the gym a few times a week to endure another eternity on the treadmill?
Me, I hate cardio machines at the gym. (I know other people are different- and more power to ya all!) But y'know what I love? Getting outside and cycling. Swimming, anywhere. Lacing up a pair of skates and spending hours at the rink. Putting my hiking boots on and exploring.
If I thought 'cardio' was just a thing to do on machines at the gym? I'd last a few weeks. Couple months, tops. And then I'd be doing zero cardio. But it turns out that as long as the weather isn't completely woeful, I'm happy-out outdoors, where I don't even have to convince myself to do cardio 'cause I'm too busy having fun.
For some people the cardio they like is in the gym. Others, the outdoors. Others, it's playing sports. None of these are intrinsically better than others- again, the best kind is the kind that you'll want to keep doing over and over and that makes you feel good.
Same with weights. What do you like doing? Do you like machines? Do you think the TRX is neat? Do you get a kick out of loading up a barbell with a ton* of weights and deadlifting it like a bawsssss? Or would you rather be, say, getting your resistance training halfway up a climbing wall, or doing a tricky move on an aerial hoop?
What I'm trying to say here is: weights are good. Cardio is good. Moving your body is good. But if you hate doing a thing, you're not gonna keep doing it. So at the end of the day, the best kind of exercise isn't "cardio" or "weights". It's the kind you'll look forward to doing, even when you're not trying to get the number on the scale to go down.
*ok, maybe less than an actual ton12 -
kimtpa1417 wrote: »There is so much different information out there and depending on who I talk to I get different answers. I have alot of body fat I'd like to loss. Right now I'm killing myself in the gym doing cardio and weights. Some people say ditch the cardio and some say ditch the weights until the scale comes down. I hate cardio but do it trying to lose weight. So which is better?
Fat loss is about energy balance. Lift weights to strengthen your muscles, do cardio strengthen your cardiovascular system, lose fat by maintaining a calorie deficit...13 -
kimtpa1417 wrote: »There is so much different information out there and depending on who I talk to I get different answers. I have alot of body fat I'd like to loss. Right now I'm killing myself in the gym doing cardio and weights. Some people say ditch the cardio and some say ditch the weights until the scale comes down. I hate cardio but do it trying to lose weight. So which is better?
Fat loss is about energy balance. Lift weights to strengthen your muscles, do cardio strengthen your cardiovascular system, lose fat by maintaining a calorie deficit...
/thread. That covers all the bases.12 -
magnusthenerd wrote: »estherdragonbat wrote: »Both. Cardio burns more calories, weights help you hang onto muscle (and give you a better shape when the fat comes off).
Are you saying that you’re bound to lose muscle if you only focus on losing fat?
If one make no changes to maintain muscles, then simply by virtue of carrying less, a person will lose muscle.
This sounds dramatic. Surely not a lot of muscle if you’re eating enough.
Unfortunately, it can be the case. I have done it both ways. I lost weight the first time with a bit of cardio and walking, small deficit, a decent amount of protein. I basically ended up a smaller soft version of my self. Which is fine but I wasn't happy with it at all. Second time around I incorporated lifting and it made a really huge difference, I was lean, tight, defined when I got to goal.10 -
magnusthenerd wrote: »estherdragonbat wrote: »Both. Cardio burns more calories, weights help you hang onto muscle (and give you a better shape when the fat comes off).
Are you saying that you’re bound to lose muscle if you only focus on losing fat?
If one make no changes to maintain muscles, then simply by virtue of carrying less, a person will lose muscle.
This sounds dramatic. Surely not a lot of muscle if you’re eating enough.
If you believe my statement should be read as
then how can you also read it asSurely not a lot of muscle if you’re eating enough.
Please don't put your own contradictions into what I wrote. Nowhere did I say it would be a lot.This sounds dramatic.
What causes muscle growth and what causes muscle maintenance are complex subjects still being studied. At least one principle of retention is the maximum stimulus - given sufficient protein and calories, a person will maintain the muscles needed to continue the maximum stress put on the muscle. It would follow from this principle that that amount of weight lost will a factor in the muscle lost - a person who's been loading their muscles with a 300lb body going to a 150lb body is going to lose more than someone who goes from 160lb to 150lb.
So could it be dramatic? Sure, if the weight loss is dramatic.5 -
Keep doing both, but in my experience, weights are more important. Do a proper workout with weights and you’ll be burning a load of calories too, leave cardio for 3 times a week for 30 minutes (and not too intensely either, do it in a way that you can maintain an agitated conversation). This should help you!6
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paulavillacb wrote: »Keep doing both, but in my experience, weights are more important. Do a proper workout with weights and you’ll be burning a load of calories too, leave cardio for 3 times a week for 30 minutes (and not too intensely either, do it in a way that you can maintain an agitated conversation). This should help you!
While I'm a bit biased towards lifting (just a leetle, lol) I think that you have the calorie burns here reversed. Lifting burns very few calories in comparison to solid state cardio.8 -
kimtpa1417 wrote: »There is so much different information out there and depending on who I talk to I get different answers. I have alot of body fat I'd like to loss. Right now I'm killing myself in the gym doing cardio and weights. Some people say ditch the cardio and some say ditch the weights until the scale comes down. I hate cardio but do it trying to lose weight. So which is better?
As others have said, do both for their different health benefits.
I hate gym cardio but really look forward to spending time in the woods at lunchtime. I'm going to start working on cleaning up a very overgrown trail today. For some reason my brain really digs this. Find the cardio you enjoy.0 -
kshama2001 wrote: »kimtpa1417 wrote: »There is so much different information out there and depending on who I talk to I get different answers. I have alot of body fat I'd like to loss. Right now I'm killing myself in the gym doing cardio and weights. Some people say ditch the cardio and some say ditch the weights until the scale comes down. I hate cardio but do it trying to lose weight. So which is better?
As others have said, do both for their different health benefits.
I hate gym cardio but really look forward to spending time in the woods at lunchtime. I'm going to start working on cleaning up a very overgrown trail today. For some reason my brain really digs this. Find the cardio you enjoy.
I'd take this advice a step further and find the method of both forms of exercise you enjoy and do them because you like them and/or place value in them outside of the calories the activities burn. I'm not at all a fan of the approach of treating exercise as a transaction for calories; I tried it for too long and had it disappoint too much to endorse it.3 -
kimtpa1417 wrote: »There is so much different information out there and depending on who I talk to I get different answers. I have alot of body fat I'd like to loss. Right now I'm killing myself in the gym doing cardio and weights. Some people say ditch the cardio and some say ditch the weights until the scale comes down. I hate cardio but do it trying to lose weight. So which is better?
Don't ditch either. Cardio=improved aerobic capability and more calories to eat. Weights=muscle.
Although maybe ditch the gym for the cardio. blech to hampster wheels.0 -
kshama2001 wrote: »kimtpa1417 wrote: »There is so much different information out there and depending on who I talk to I get different answers. I have alot of body fat I'd like to loss. Right now I'm killing myself in the gym doing cardio and weights. Some people say ditch the cardio and some say ditch the weights until the scale comes down. I hate cardio but do it trying to lose weight. So which is better?
As others have said, do both for their different health benefits.
I hate gym cardio but really look forward to spending time in the woods at lunchtime. I'm going to start working on cleaning up a very overgrown trail today. For some reason my brain really digs this. Find the cardio you enjoy.
I'd take this advice a step further and find the method of both forms of exercise you enjoy and do them because you like them and/or place value in them outside of the calories the activities burn. I'm not at all a fan of the approach of treating exercise as a transaction for calories; I tried it for too long and had it disappoint too much to endorse it.
Agreed. OP, if you're "killing yourself" in the gym to lose weight, I'd guess you intend to stop "killing yourself" once you reach goal weight. And guess what will happen? You'll start gaining some of the weight back, or you'll have to start eating less once you get to goal to maintain that lower weight without all the exercise, and that doesn't sound fun!
Find a way of eating and an activity level that you can use to MAINTAIN a healthy weight for the rest of your life to avoid yo-yo dieting.
Cardio is awesome for your heart and lungs and burns some extra calories.
Strength training makes you stronger and can improve your shape or aesthetics.
Stretching and balance training keep your muscles and joints healthy.
Finding the balance between those three and your diet to achieve CICO balance at a healthy weight is the Holy Grail
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I do both, although as the weights get heavier, the cardio gets lighter. My warmup before weights at this point (I am just starting back at the gym after a few months of lay-off) includes 15-20 min walking at a brisk pace with some "hill" intervals on the dreadmill followed by specific warmups for shoulders and hips. Then after the lifting (compound mostly), I do 12 minutes of walk/run intervals and a couple of minutes of farmer walk, followed by foam rolling and various stretching.
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Would it be a problem if you did both? 3 days full body strength and 2 days cardio1
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kimtpa1417 wrote: »There is so much different information out there and depending on who I talk to I get different answers. I have alot of body fat I'd like to loss. Right now I'm killing myself in the gym doing cardio and weights. Some people say ditch the cardio and some say ditch the weights until the scale comes down. I hate cardio but do it trying to lose weight. So which is better?
I would say stick to what you enjoy doing. Its like eating. Do you eat things you dont like because someone else says you should??
Changing lifestyle is about making changes that you can do for the rest of your life. I would say a vital part of that is eating things you like, and do exercise you enjoy doing.
Doing something you doint enjoy doing will not last for very long, and dosnt make much sense to me.
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Neither is strictly necessary for weight loss, you can do it all with diet, if necessary. Given that, I'd stick with whichever one you enjoy the most.1
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jennifer_417 wrote: »Neither is strictly necessary for weight loss, you can do it all with diet, if necessary. Given that, I'd stick with whichever one you enjoy the most.
You can but without some form of strength training you risk losing too much muscle which is not a good thing...2 -
...includes 15-20 min walking at a brisk pace with some "hill" intervals on the dreadmill
OMG this is AWESOME.
I tried to be a gym rat before. It didn't work. I preferred to be outside. Now I'm enjoying running (okay, jogging), and I bought a kettlebell and am incorporating bodyweight exercises because I like what weight lifting does for me, I just ... prefer to be outside.0 -
So much good information here!
I prefer weights! I do not do cardio at the gym. Blech to the hamster wheels! I do my walking and biking outside, thanks... but the cardio I do is secondary to doing weights - of the heavy kind - with a focus in compound movements.
I have found over the years that I prefer the results I get from lifting. I used to be a cardio bunny but I found that I had to be so careful with counting calories in order to lose anything. And lifting those 2 pound weights a million times (with Jillian Michaels etc) did nothing for my muscle mass.
“Killing yourself” at the gym isn’t sustainable, if you don’t enjoy what you’re doing. And you will likely regain your lost weight as soon as you stop. I would LOVE to kill myself at the gym - but that’s because I love lifting and my work/life schedule makes it hard to go to the gym as often as I feel is ideal for me and my goals. When am at the gym, I have to be super focused and use my time well to get the most out of my workout.
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I do both. Running 3x a week and then 2 days of light cardio and strength training. I have two rest days a week, sometimes I’ll do yoga on my rest days.
I didn’t enjoy working out at first. I decided to sign up for a half marathon and that’s made a big difference for me. Just the mental shift between working out just to workout vs actually training for a specific event has made me enjoy my workouts a lot more. Plus, following a plan I feel like my workouts are more purposeful and effective.
I don’t really workout for weight loss though. Exercise is important for health, it will help with your body composition when you get down to your goal weight but weight loss happens in the kitchen.1 -
AoifeFitzy wrote: »This probably isn't the answer you want to hear, but I'm a huge proponent of the idea that the best kind of exercise for you is the kind that you enjoy.
In the long run, do you want to be grimly dragging yourself to the gym a few times a week to endure another eternity on the treadmill?
Me, I hate cardio machines at the gym. (I know other people are different- and more power to ya all!) But y'know what I love? Getting outside and cycling. Swimming, anywhere. Lacing up a pair of skates and spending hours at the rink. Putting my hiking boots on and exploring.
If I thought 'cardio' was just a thing to do on machines at the gym? I'd last a few weeks. Couple months, tops. And then I'd be doing zero cardio. But it turns out that as long as the weather isn't completely woeful, I'm happy-out outdoors, where I don't even have to convince myself to do cardio 'cause I'm too busy having fun.
For some people the cardio they like is in the gym. Others, the outdoors. Others, it's playing sports. None of these are intrinsically better than others- again, the best kind is the kind that you'll want to keep doing over and over and that makes you feel good.
Same with weights. What do you like doing? Do you like machines? Do you think the TRX is neat? Do you get a kick out of loading up a barbell with a ton* of weights and deadlifting it like a bawsssss? Or would you rather be, say, getting your resistance training halfway up a climbing wall, or doing a tricky move on an aerial hoop?
What I'm trying to say here is: weights are good. Cardio is good. Moving your body is good. But if you hate doing a thing, you're not gonna keep doing it. So at the end of the day, the best kind of exercise isn't "cardio" or "weights". It's the kind you'll look forward to doing, even when you're not trying to get the number on the scale to go down.
*ok, maybe less than an actual ton
Outstanding answer! I agree wholeheartedly. The only way to change your lifestyle is to find something you like otherwise you won't stick with it.1
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