Workout to lose belly fat!!!

TheRealParisLove

Actually cardio burns cals, not fat. If you don't do strength training while in a deficit a larger % of your loss will come from lean muscle instead of fat. so with cardio only a 10lb loss you may lose 6lbs of fat a 4lb of lbm, but if you incorporated strength training a 10lb loss would more likely have 8 lbs of fat loss and only 2 lbm. So with cardio only you would lose less fat than if you did strength training (with or without cardio) assuming the same caloric deficit.

This depends on your body type. I lost 9% body fat and gained 4 pounds of muscle using cardio only (cycling, dance, running). I did not lose any LBM. I lift weights very rarely (2x a month) and for performance reasons only.

Everyone is different. One person's experience can be quite different from someone else's. My husband is like you in that he can't do much cardio or it harms his LBM. He's an ectomorph and I'm a mesomorph.

CarmenNeitz

Thanks! I found this information with you and your sister more helpful.

55in13

Cardio and diet are the most important things for losing fat, because cardio usually burns more calories than weight lifting (and you need to be in a deficit to burn fat). But mixing in strength training helps tone and sculpt your body so it looks good when the fat starts coming off :-)

That is absolutely incorrect. With cardio, you burn calories only when performing the exercise not much after wards. With lifting you're burning calories during lifting and also afterwards which is called the after burn effect. You continue to burn calories hours afters lifting.

wut?

It is possible. When lifting at a level of intensity that few people ever achieve, studies find that the metabolism stays at a higher level than it was before lifting. It's not much higher and it is difficult to train hard enough to get it to happen. If you are in good enough shape to get the after burn, you probably don't need it. There is also HIIT cardio that has a similar effect and a similar disclaimer.

MissStatement

I'll let the calorie afterburn debate rage on. OP, how bad is your back? I am not a doctor, physical therapist, or personal trainer so take this with a HUGE grain of salt. I can't tell you what you should be doing, but I wanted to share my bad back tale. When I was 30 I herniated two discs in my back (L4-5 and L5-S1) attempting to pick up a storage bin that was way too heavy. That one stupid move has caused me back pain that comes and goes ever since. The initial injury resolved with therapy, I didn't need injections or surgery thankfully, but still every so often it dogs me. I've been having pain long enough to know that when my back hurts, it is usually because my hamstrings are tight. I work in a sedentary job so I am prone to tight hamstrings. I also have a weak core that responds very well to lifting.

This is totally counterintuitive, but my back feels best when I am exercising regularly, and when I say exercising regularly, I mean strength training with heavy weights. I started out on machines because I was afraid of injuring my back with free weights. I just started using free weights and my back is not bothering me in the least. I do goblet squats (I don't feel confident enough to try barbell back squats yet because I have another herniated disk in my neck (yay) that I am afraid of reinjuring), barbell deadlifts, pushups, dumbbell bench and overhead presses, cable lat pulldowns, cable upright rows, weighted hyperextensions, planks, and hanging leg raises. I am extremely careful in that the millisecond I feel my form is off and I am gettign close to failure, I stop. I choose a weight that generally causes failure after about 2 sets of 8-10 reps with all of the things I do.

If you think it will not exacerbate your issues, try goblet squats and light deadlifts. Obviously if your doctor has told you not to, then you should listen. I swear by heavy lifting to keep the pain at bay.

pauljsaunders

Hi

Thanks for your reply.

My back was damaged while training to apply for the UK fire service.

I twisted T9 = 11 and damaged a disc in the L region which is now compressing the spinal cord.

I do agree that constate exercise does keep the pain away and I remain very mobile.....

I think what I'll do is to start off light with short reps.... and see how things go...

Many thanks... your reply has given me something to think about...

astralpictures

Cardio and diet are the most important things for losing fat, because cardio usually burns more calories than weight lifting (and you need to be in a deficit to burn fat). But mixing in strength training helps tone and sculpt your body so it looks good when the fat starts coming off :-)

That is absolutely incorrect. With cardio, you burn calories only when performing the exercise not much after wards. With lifting you're burning calories during lifting and also afterwards which is called the after burn effect. You continue to burn calories hours afters lifting.

How is that absolutely incorrect? The main way to lose fat is by creating a calorie deficit, which means your body burns fat (and yes, a little muscle) from calories. Proponents of IF claim that doing cardio in a fasting state will burn more fat than muscle, but there isn't a lot of evidence supporting this yet.

But a calorie deficit and losing fat should be controlled mostly through diet. Exercising, in terms of fat loss and not other health benefits, isn't about targeting areas, but rather about expending more calories to help with your deficit goal to burn fat. As I said, strength training has other benefits that are important and yes, you do burn calories doing so that will help burn fat. But I'd bet that I burn more calories doing an hour of cardio than you burn doing an hour of weight lifting and your supposed after burn combined. I throw in strength training to keep my muscles strong and to make my figure look better when the fat is coming off from my calories deficit.

I've been going to the gym for almost 4 months now and have been doing about 80% cardio 20% strength combined with a healthier diet, and I've lost nearly 40 pounds and lots of belly fat from an unfortunate beer gut from my 20s. There are a few guys I work out with who have been going at least as long as me who weigh mid-200s and the ratios are reversed (probably even 90% strength 10% cardio or less), and they haven't lost much body fat at all around their mid-section in 4 months. Maybe you can lose fat while foregoing cardio, but these guys, and expect many others, cannot. As my belly fat gets to a closer level that I would like, my percentage between cardio and strength training will even out.

55in13

Cardio and diet are the most important things for losing fat, because cardio usually burns more calories than weight lifting (and you need to be in a deficit to burn fat). But mixing in strength training helps tone and sculpt your body so it looks good when the fat starts coming off :-)

That is absolutely incorrect. With cardio, you burn calories only when performing the exercise not much after wards. With lifting you're burning calories during lifting and also afterwards which is called the after burn effect. You continue to burn calories hours afters lifting.

How is that absolutely incorrect? The main way to lose fat is by creating a calorie deficit, which means your body burns fat (and yes, a little muscle) from calories. Proponents of IF claim that doing cardio in a fasting state will burn more fat than muscle, but there isn't a lot of evidence supporting this yet.

But a calorie deficit and losing fat should be controlled mostly through diet. Exercising, in terms of fat loss and not other health benefits, isn't about targeting areas, but rather about expending more calories to help with your deficit goal to burn fat. As I said, strength training has other benefits that are important and yes, you do burn calories doing so that will help burn fat. But I'd bet that I burn more calories doing an hour of cardio than you burn doing an hour of weight lifting and your supposed after burn combined. I throw in strength training to keep my muscles strong and to make my figure look better when the fat is coming off from my calories deficit.

I've been going to the gym for almost 4 months now and have been doing about 80% cardio 20% strength combined with a healthier diet, and I've lost nearly 40 pounds and lots of belly fat from an unfortunate beer gut from my 20s. There are a few guys I work out with who have been going at least as long as me who weigh mid-200s and the ratios are reversed (probably even 90% strength 10% cardio or less), and they haven't lost much body fat at all around their mid-section in 4 months. Maybe you can lose fat while foregoing cardio, but these guys, and expect many others, cannot. As my belly fat gets to a closer level that I would like, my percentage between cardio and strength training will even out.

IMO, you are very realistic and the people who push lifting as better exercise are more idealistic. I think it is possible to burn more calories lifting than with cardio. Will most people do it? No, not ever. I think the people who can do it only manage it some of the time.

astralpictures

Cardio and diet are the most important things for losing fat, because cardio usually burns more calories than weight lifting (and you need to be in a deficit to burn fat). But mixing in strength training helps tone and sculpt your body so it looks good when the fat starts coming off :-)

That is absolutely incorrect. With cardio, you burn calories only when performing the exercise not much after wards. With lifting you're burning calories during lifting and also afterwards which is called the after burn effect. You continue to burn calories hours afters lifting.

How is that absolutely incorrect? The main way to lose fat is by creating a calorie deficit, which means your body burns fat (and yes, a little muscle) from calories. Proponents of IF claim that doing cardio in a fasting state will burn more fat than muscle, but there isn't a lot of evidence supporting this yet.

But a calorie deficit and losing fat should be controlled mostly through diet. Exercising, in terms of fat loss and not other health benefits, isn't about targeting areas, but rather about expending more calories to help with your deficit goal to burn fat. As I said, strength training has other benefits that are important and yes, you do burn calories doing so that will help burn fat. But I'd bet that I burn more calories doing an hour of cardio than you burn doing an hour of weight lifting and your supposed after burn combined. I throw in strength training to keep my muscles strong and to make my figure look better when the fat is coming off from my calories deficit.

I've been going to the gym for almost 4 months now and have been doing about 80% cardio 20% strength combined with a healthier diet, and I've lost nearly 40 pounds and lots of belly fat from an unfortunate beer gut from my 20s. There are a few guys I work out with who have been going at least as long as me who weigh mid-200s and the ratios are reversed (probably even 90% strength 10% cardio or less), and they haven't lost much body fat at all around their mid-section in 4 months. Maybe you can lose fat while foregoing cardio, but these guys, and expect many others, cannot. As my belly fat gets to a closer level that I would like, my percentage between cardio and strength training will even out.

IMO, you are very realistic and the people who push lifting as better exercise are more idealistic. I think it is possible to burn more calories lifting than with cardio. Will most people do it? No, not ever. I think the people who can do it only manage it some of the time.

I can agree to that. I should never say anything is not possible, but yeah... in most cases, it is unlikely. Training athletes are one case where they definitely will burn more than me, even doing high intensity cardio like sprints or spinning I bet. Most lifters I see don't go for an elevated heart rate though, since they do a set and then hang out and chat for 5 minutes. Repeat.

55in13

I can agree to that. I should never say anything is not possible, but yeah... in most cases, it is unlikely

I have heard long drawn out technical explanations, but the one that made the most sense to me was the simplest. Cardio is making your body work fast and just the mechanics of how you move keep you from being able to really go 100%. You start stressing joints and pulling tendons. Resistance training is slow and you can add resistance to the point where you are exerting 100% and not budging or barely moving the weight. But my point was and is that no one does that for very long, if at all. Most lifters top out the weight at a point where they can do a few reps and they do take breathers. Either way, you can burn plenty. I would not discourage either and I don't think either has a major advantage. But for most people, measured purely by burn over time, I think cardio will work better for them in the real world.