Cardio or Strength training?

PikaKnight

What has worked for me is to do cardio until you get to your goal weight, then switch to strength training.

That was my original plan too. But there are many who say to start strength training as soon as you can, to at least maintain lean muscle. It's been just lately that I decided to start before my goal weight. I always hear people saying how thrilled they are with the results and how they wish they would've started earlier. Convinced me.

I wish I'd started weight training at my heaviest because I would have had more of an opportunity than I do now, to work on body recomp. I can say that seeing my body change has been more rewarding than the scale # loss. I lost a bunch of weight but not that much in the inches department and I was still as flabby as my heaviest. Weight training was a blessing as I'd rather lose inches and tighten up :bigsmile:

BarbaraCarr1981

Im 5'9" and 150lbs too! And ive got some belly and thigh fat i wanna get rid of too! Im currenly doing StrongLifts (the right way, lol) and eating at a 300-500cal deficit - days vary; and i do a little walking with my baby and im starting badminton once a week here soon. So excited to see what i can accomplish! VERY impatient too, unfortunelty! Best of luck to you girl!

gale1089

Just want to add that abs are made in the gym, but revealed in the kitchen.
I'm not sure how 'healthily' you eat, but eating 'cleaner' would definitely be beneficial for your progress...
Especially if you're putting in all the time at the gym, it would be a shame to slow your results because of a bad diet.

Fullsterkur_woman

Please never use the word "tone" in this context ever again. You need to lose fat before you can "tone". "Toning" refers to that look which has a low body fat percentage and increased muscle mass. You can't "tone up" whilst having a significant layer of fat on your body.

No it means your muscles are in a constant state of partial contraction due to ennervation. It has nothing to do with body fat %, muscle mass or the look of a muscle. And you most certainly can have tone with any amount of fat, in fact you simply MUST have tone in all muscles unless they have sustained serious damage, it is essential, constant and totally out of your conscious control.

Here is a big ol' wet, lickety kiss via the Internet. If you're gonna correct people about what "tone" (or "tonus") means, do it right.

DavPul

You will only get rid of the fat by continuing to lose. Fat does convert to muscle. Continue to create a calorie deficit and do strength training and interval cardio.

i'm relatively sure this was just a typo on her part. she knows that fat and muscle are completely different