Strength training or cardio? Help?!

Saucy_lil_Minx

Might have been making an assumption on wanting a smaller dress size. Let me tell you as another female who had to go a buy a wedding dress ten years ago...the goal for every woman who says she wants to lose 20 lbs. before going dress shopping....

is b/c we want to buy a smaller dress size.


Also, you missed the post about eating at a deficit, and doing both cardio, and weight training?....just guessing



So let me clarify I think:

Doing both Cardio, and Heavy Lifting is important. I also think eating a a slight deficit is Crucial to reach a goal!

I also think you have to make the call as to what is best for you as an individual, and what fits your lifestyle. Also you have to make the choice on whats best to fit your ultimate goal! I am also not narrow minded enough to think that my way is the ONLY way! Honestly I know what works for me does not work for everyone.

This is why I said something about more than just the option I chose for me. :happy:

KANGOOJUMPS

cardio, no doubt about it

Huffdogg

Might have been making an assumption on wanting a smaller dress size. Let me tell you as another female who had to go a buy a wedding dress ten years ago...the goal for every woman who says she wants to lose 20 lbs. before going dress shopping....

is b/c we want to buy a smaller dress size.


Also, you missed the post about eating at a deficit, and doing both cardio, and weight training?....just guessing



So let me clarify I think:

Doing both Cardio, and Heavy Lifting is important. I also think eating a a slight deficit is Crucial to reach a goal!

I also think you have to make the call as to what is best for you as an individual, and what fits your lifestyle. Also you have to make the choice on whats best to fit your ultimate goal! I am also not narrow minded enough to think that my way is the ONLY way! Honestly I know what works for me does not work for everyone.

This is why I said something about more than just the option I chose for me. :happy:

I really didn't miss anything, and I get that a lot of women say they want to fit into a smaller dress size, just like most guys want to fit into a 32 waist pant, and just like almost everyone has a number in their head of what they'd like to weight. Unfortunately, the reality is that none of that is important in the slightest.

What people really want is to look and feel good, and that's not always going to be managed by numbers like that. I lost down to 168 lbs (6' adult male) and looked and felt terrible. I did that with deficit and cardio. Then I started really researching fitness a bit and realized that I was obsessed with irrelevant numbers. I suppose bf% would be about the best number you could chase as a metric of fitness, but that's hard for a lot of people to keep track of without someone else helping them take measurements.

At the end of the day, I stand by my original message, which is that if you are after cardiovascular fitness (from a performance, heart/lung health standpoint), then by all means cardio is important. But cardio doesn't burn fat. It burns calories, which CAN HELP put you in a deficit, which is what actually DOES burn fat. It's by no means the only way of achieving a deficit, however.

Strength training, on the other hand, has a definite, measurable impact on aesthetics when you are trying to reduce fat, because it helps preserve lean mass and keep you shapely.

Net result: if you are trying to be thinner, look better, etc, strength training is MORE important than cardio, but both are less important than a caloric deficit.

VegasFit

Yes, March is dress shopping! Unless I get super eager to do it sooner :-)

I would suggest both especially. I always do weights pre cardio. Right now I'm doing mostly circuit training. If your wedding is September is March goal dress shopping?

Congrats! Nothing like dress shopping for a big event to keep you on track. I know her pics can be a little cheesy but chickentuna has a pretty basic three a week lifting plan and not a ton of cardio. http://chickentuna.com/my_workout_routine.html

mbagradstudent

My trainer said to do strength training 3 - 4 times per week, giving yourself a day off in between each. Then, she said to do your cardio after strength-training on the days that you lift. She said you'll burn more calories. I'd been doing it backwards

Thanks for sharing this! I've been doing it backwards as well. I'm going to try this way the next time I do weights.

Escape_Artist

At the end of the day for weight loss it's about the deficit whether that deficit comes from cardio or the ''diet'' alone.

If you enjoy cardio then do it. Lifting heavy while being at a deficit will help preserve muscle mass so that is important.

Personally I stopped doing cardio a long time ago because i hate it. Lifting alone has given me very good results. Anyways the program I am following doesn't leave much energy for cardio *shrugs*

Really you need to do something you enjoy because that will be sustainable in the long run :flowerforyou:

sfbaumgarten

Both

krazykate483

So how many calories should I eat to still lose fat? I'm 5'7 and 158lbs.

Mchl496

In the emphasis of saving time and accomplishing both.. why not try to find or build a workout routine that has you doing both? As someone who will do up to 3 different workouts depending on the day,(weight lifting... Insanity Asylum... running) its nice when you can save a little time.