Cardio vs. Weight Training

Sarah0866

Thanks everyone for the responses! No, I don't have any medical reason not to weight train. I originally just assumed it was because the scale can go up when you weight train and I'm trying to lose... I wanted to ask because I hear so many people say that they swear by weight training...

When weight training you are right that the scale may vary a lot more but let's be honest, the scale will vary no matter what you do. It will go up and down.

So what you need to do is take measurements of your neck, bust, waist, hips and anything else you want to take measurements of. Get someone to take your body fat percentage if you feel comfortable or there are some body fat calculators (like the army body fat calculator) you can use with your measurements to get a rough estimate of body fat percentage. I would suggest only getting on the scale once a week and do not get upset when it goes up as there are all SORTS of reasons for it going up other than an actual gain of FAT.

So.... pick a good balance of weight training and cardio and prepare for great results! Be patient as everything takes time and commit to a healthier you! You got this!

Couldn't agree more! Balance is key, and I will never advocate a cardio only approach, namely because strength training has done wonders for me, a former cardio junkie with zero muscle tone.

Salt_Sand_Sun

I think you may need a second opinion. Incorporating stength training now will be immensely beneficial to you!! Cardio will bring bigger immediate burns while weight traininig will help with a longer after burn. Meaning the more lean muscle you have the more calories you burn after your workout is complete.

Cardio is great and will help you get the weight down. But do not toss weight training aside. Try 2x a week and start building that muscle. I'm told and have read here that weight training sooner can help with loose skin as well.

And also - be proud!! 15lbs is awesome - congrats!!

Stage14

First, I don't think there are, to my knowledge, any nutrition or sports med/kinesiology classes required for a GP medical degree. Yes, we'd all like to think that our doctors are smarter than the average bear, but they aren't any more likely to be experts on nutrition and exercise any more than your auto mechanic is likely to be an expert electrician.

Just a random guess, but I'm thinking the doctor probably said that because cardio helps drop weight faster, and if he's wanting OP to drop weight as quickly as possible, then that is more likely to happen with straight cardio than half cardio and half strength training. Now, that being said, I would definitely ask about the reasoning behind this advice, and if it doesn't include a medical issue, I would go ahead and start strength training now.

april21401

Thanks everyone! These have been really helpful to read through! One thing I haven't done is measure myself to track progress that way. I've been solely relying on the scale... I will definitely read up on the best ways to incorporate weight training and I'll start measuring the inches too. Thanks again!

exmsde

Doctors often operate from their experiences dealing with hundreds to thousands of patients. Your doctor may have observed:

- More injuries amongst his overweight/obese patients when they do weight training
- More patients giving up on a fitness routine over a dislike of weight training than over cardio
- More rapid improvement in key cardiac measures such as blood pressure and cholesterol from his patients who focus on cardio over those who focus on weight training
- Difficulty getting patients to do both. Generally on the days you do weight training you tend to do little to light cardio (or if you do heavy cardio then it detracts from the quality of weight training).

Thus in your doctors eyes the most successful course of action would be to tell patients to concentrate on cardio first and add weight training later. He may have oversimplified the message in terms of saying to wait until you reach goal before adding weight training, but that could easily be clarified in a discussion.

jlapey

With strength training you may SEE your goal SIZE before reaching your goal WEIGHT.

leebesstoad

If I was in your position I'd go see the Doctor again and ask why he told you to only do cardio. There could be a reason he's not told you about. Just to be on the safe side, after all, you'd like to think that after gaining a medical degree, he'd know wtf he was talking about.

I don't disagree with the advice. Or the thoughts. Unfortunately, it isn't always the case. With what most doctors know about exercise and nutrition, you are more likely to get solid advice from them about your fantasy football team than you are about exercise and nutrition. Sad but true.

Source of this information? What percentage is "most"?

Knowing how much is (or to be specific, isn't) taught in medical school and how much is (or isn't) covered in medical specialty board tests. Knowing that any doctor worth their salt will refer a patient for diet question to a registered dietician. Even the speciality that probably needs diet knowledge the most, endocrinology, relies heavily on RDs for their expertise on diet and nutrition. There is too much information that is constantly evolving to worry about in the rest of the field of medicine. Nutrition, diet and exercise are miniscule parts at best.

Lemongrab1

You can't use any one person as the final say, even your doctor. A lot of doctors suck. It's the scary truth.
In this particular case, your doctor belongs to that sucky statistic.
You need to do strength training to maintain muscle mass seeing as losing weight causes you to also lose muscle.

ndj1979

First, get a new Dr...

Second - I would recommend a combination of weight training and cardio ...Familiarize yourself with compound lifts - squats, deadlifts, pull ups/chin ups, over head press, bench press etc, and then incorporate these into a total body workout where you hit weights three days a week and do cardio two to three days a week with at least one full rest day a week.

once you hit your goal weight you can look at further backing off cardio and maybe going to more advanced weight routine of like an upper/lower split or something...

NYCNika

I had used cardio to drop the first 25lb. On the last 9 it has been a combo of cardio and strength training with a personal trainer.

1) Being in great cardio shape has helped me with training in general.

2) The thing is -- you really see the most dramatic results from weight training AFTER you drop the weight. (by results I mean ABS and toning on your body that really looks cool). It was not visible under fat. And when you pay that kind of money you really want to see this kind of effect.

3). Weight training helped me lose about 2 sizes while my weight kept stable. (there is not much weight I can lose anymore, so this was a great boost to keep getting smaller while remaining at stable weight).

cwolfman13

You may want to ask your doctor why? I've personally done both throughout the process and I generally recommend doing both...but perhaps your doctor has some reason behind this suggestion.

While I generally agree that many a general practitioner knows little about actual nutrition and fitness, I wouldn't sit here and blindly tell you to ignore your doctor. I would discuss with him/her and possibly get a second opinion...but I'd want to know the "why" behind the suggestion and then go from there.

Has your doctore refereed you elsewhere? Like a dietician or anything?

jwdieter

Lots of potential reasons to stress cardio over lifting, for a very overweight person just starting physical training. Asking the doctor to clarify is good advice.

boehle

I have been told to work weight training in with cardio now
I usually do 20 minutes cardio, then a few reps of weights, and then back to cardio.

april21401

You may want to ask your doctor why? I've personally done both throughout the process and I generally recommend doing both...but perhaps your doctor has some reason behind this suggestion.

While I generally agree that many a general practitioner knows little about actual nutrition and fitness, I wouldn't sit here and blindly tell you to ignore your doctor. I would discuss with him/her and possibly get a second opinion...but I'd want to know the "why" behind the suggestion and then go from there.

Has your doctore refereed you elsewhere? Like a dietician or anything?

No, I haven't been referred to a dietician. We discussed what I was doing in terms of counting calories, etc. and she seemed fine with that. She didn't mention anything about eating "excersize calories" as everyone does here. She simply said not to go over 1200 calories and make sure I'm excersizing regularly. I will have to follow up on why she specifically recommeds cardio exlucsively prior to goal weight. Thanks again for everyone taking time to respond. I want to be successful this time!

STrooper

So I'm about 5 weeks into this. I have a LOT to lose and I've barely started to scratch the surface (15 lbs so far). Doc says cardio only until I hit my goal weight -- and then work weight training in after I've hit my goal weight. Has anyone else been told this? Or are you/have you done both throughout the entire process? Thanks.

I lost almost all my weight doing cardio only. Weight training, in conjunction with cardio, has kept the weight relatively steady and even added a few pounds of muscle back.

When one says "weight training," though, there can be a distinction between weight training for cardio (relatively light resistance, higher repetitions in a set) and weight training for strength/muscle mass. There is a huge difference between doing 10-15 repetitions with a 5 pound weight versus being able to doing only 3 repetitions with a 25 pound weight.

In reality you might find that as you close in on your goal weight that you may want/need to add it in.

You might ask your doctor why they want it this way. Without an explanation, you are left to ask a bunch of non-medical experts (like myself) who have been through our own personal journey with varying levels of success. Your mileage may vary.

I will hazard a guess, however,...because your fitness level is not high enough to support either a fairly moderate cardio or weight training regimen. Whether it be blood pressure, lung capacity and oxygen exchange rate, or other physiological indicators, your doctor probably wants you to build a "base" that you can work from. Once you have that platform, other things become possible.

AndiGirl70

I am at the halfway point to my weight loss goal. I've been walking a couple nights a week, doing HIIT workouts 2-3X a week and do the weight circuit 2-3X per week. Its working. The weight is coming off slow but I can definately tell a difference in my muscle tone and stamina is improving as well to work out harder and better. Start slow and gradually work your way up the weight stacks. If you use a HRM you can see over time how much better you are able to push yourself to reach the fat burning/cardio health zones. The tape measurerer is a better judge than the scale. Good luck on your journey.

Salt_Sand_Sun

Thanks everyone! These have been really helpful to read through! One thing I haven't done is measure myself to track progress that way. I've been solely relying on the scale... I will definitely read up on the best ways to incorporate weight training and I'll start measuring the inches too. Thanks again!

My biggest regret. Take pictures and take measurements NOW!!!!! As you start to lose weight the scale will become more of a guideline. You may want to give yourself a 'range' vs a solid number to reach. As you build muscle the scale may not move and may even go up some - but the measurements will go down. Pictures don't lie.

At the check in (to record your weight) there is also a place to enter your measurements. Start today!!!!!!

bcattoes

If I was in your position I'd go see the Doctor again and ask why he told you to only do cardio. There could be a reason he's not told you about. Just to be on the safe side, after all, you'd like to think that after gaining a medical degree, he'd know wtf he was talking about.

I don't disagree with the advice. Or the thoughts. Unfortunately, it isn't always the case. With what most doctors know about exercise and nutrition, you are more likely to get solid advice from them about your fantasy football team than you are about exercise and nutrition. Sad but true.

Source of this information? What percentage is "most"?

Knowing how much is (or to be specific, isn't) taught in medical school and how much is (or isn't) covered in medical specialty board tests. Knowing that any doctor worth their salt will refer a patient for diet question to a registered dietician. Even the speciality that probably needs diet knowledge the most, endocrinology, relies heavily on RDs for their expertise on diet and nutrition. There is too much information that is constantly evolving to worry about in the rest of the field of medicine. Nutrition, diet and exercise are miniscule parts at best.

But what makes you think "most" doctors don't do this? And what percentage don't do this?

leebesstoad

She simply said not to go over 1200 calories and make sure I'm excersizing regularly.

Anybody else having alarm bells going off on that sentence alone? Let's say you do a lot of cardio. 300, 400, 500 calories. And you only eat 1000, 1100 calories. You are going to be netting 600-800 calories? That is what she is recommending?

If that is what she is saying, she is clearly out of her league. I'm sorry, but that is just bad medicine. Talk to her, but that is just so wrong it would be unbelievable if it really didn't illustrate what I think most docs know about diet, nutrition, exercise and weight loss.

thesophierose

Doctors are idiots in most cases. They are not fitness professionals. You want to build up and preserve muscle during weight loss. Doing it after mean you have to rebuild the muscle you lost during your "cardio fat loss" and that isn't much fun. Trust me.