whats wrong with only doing cardio?

xoshelly84

i recently lost 60 pounds just from switching to diet soda lol. i was 240 and now im 180. and now i wanna lose more the right way. my mom has been giving me tips on what to eat. basicly never eating bad carbs so that your body will burn fat first. but i know i need to exercise as well or else ill have that loose left over skin. ok. so i figured id start doing cardio because it burns fat. i dont want to do weight training because i dont want bigger muscles. but iv been reading online that if you only do cardio then youll get "skinny fat" because your body will eat away at your muscles instead of your fat, so youll be smaller, but still have a lot of fat. iv actually read multiple times that youll end up with skinny arms and legs but a big gut. which is exactly what im afraid of because after i lost 60 pounds, i now have this disgusting pouch of fat that hangs down in the middle of my lower belly when im on all fours. i cant stand it. so im worried just doing cardio will make that worse. will it? ..... if it will, and its necessary to do both cardio and muscle workouts in order to look your best, then i would want to only work my muscles just enough to not have that "skinny fat" look and no more! because i really dont want bigger muscles. would doing a "pilates burn" video i have be good for that? its ment to burn fat but its pilates so it works your muscles too. would that be enough muscle work to avoid the "skinny fat" look?

jenilla1

<--- I lift weights and I don't have big muscles. If you're eating at a deficit, the only thing lifting will do is keep you from losing the muscle that you already have (hiding underneath the fat layer) and it should help boost your metabolism so you burn more fat. Don't fear the weights!!! :drinker:

ninerbuff

Cardio only exercise won't help to improve your muscle tone like resistance training will. The lighter you get, the less your muscle exerts force, so it atrophies more.
It's improbable to build muscle on a calorie deficit (a few exceptions) and if you don't want to look too muscular, then don't lower your body fat too low.

A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
IDEA Fitness member
Kickboxing Certified Instructor
Been in fitness industry for 30 years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition

CMB1979

i recently lost 60 pounds just from switching to diet soda lol. i was 240 and now im 180. and now i wanna lose more the right way. my mom has been giving me tips on what to eat. basicly never eating bad carbs so that your body will burn fat first. but i know i need to exercise as well or else ill have that loose left over skin. ok. so i figured id start doing cardio because it burns fat. i dont want to do weight training because i dont want bigger muscles. but iv been reading online that if you only do cardio then youll get "skinny fat" because your body will eat away at your muscles instead of your fat, so youll be smaller, but still have a lot of fat. iv actually read multiple times that youll end up with skinny arms and legs but a big gut. which is exactly what im afraid of because after i lost 60 pounds, i now have this disgusting pouch of fat that hangs down in the middle of my lower belly when im on all fours. i cant stand it. so im worried just doing cardio will make that worse. will it? ..... if it will, and its necessary to do both cardio and muscle workouts in order to look your best, then i would want to only work my muscles just enough to not have that "skinny fat" look and no more! because i really dont want bigger muscles. would doing a "pilates burn" video i have be good for that? its ment to burn fat but its pilates so it works your muscles too. would that be enough muscle work to avoid the "skinny fat" look?

Any time you diet (eat at a caloric deficit), you will lose fat and some muscle. Doing weight training helps you keep a little more of the muscle - although you will probably still lose some muscle while dieting. After a while on a strict diet, you would have lost muscle but maybe a little less muscle loss if you had been lifting weights (the heavier the better - if you can lift it safely) the entire time.

MyChocolateDiet

Cardio only exercise won't help to improve your muscle tone like resistance training will. The lighter you get, the less your muscle exerts force, so it atrophies more.
It's improbable to build muscle on a calorie deficit (a few exceptions) and if you don't want to look too muscular, then don't lower your body fat too low.

A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
IDEA Fitness member
Kickboxing Certified Instructor
Been in fitness industry for 30 years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition

SillyTree

I agree with everything everybody has posted so far.
Applying resistance to your muscles is gonna give you the results you want.
Having more muscle will boost your metabolism!
You won't get bulky if you don't want to, but that doesn't mean you shouldn't lift heavy, or work hard though.
(whatever you do, maintain proper form and control of the movement and/or weight)

As your body slowly changes, you can adjust your routine to shape it into what you want it to be….

On a side note;
Most people I know who say they don't want big muscles cannot do a push up.
I know many people who can do a lot of push ups, who are extremely lean and don't look super muscular…

I'm just saying, don't be afraid of getting stronger…
At the very least…without resistance training in your repertoire... it will make the body you're looking for, much harder to achieve… if not impossible.

MeanderingMammal

because your body will eat away at your muscles instead of your fat, so youll be smaller, but still have a lot of fat.

Notwithstanding that fact that that element is nonsense there is a lot of benefit in doing both CV work and resistance work, particularly if the CV that you do is non weight bearing pootling along at medium intensity on torture devices in the gym.

CV work improves your endurance and if you do the right type of sessions will improve your ability to convert the fuel that you consume, resistance training helps optimise the retention of lean mass and generic strength.

The balance of CV and resistance work, and the types of both, depend on your objectives. For CV work I'd generally advocate running, swimming, cycling or rowing, as all of those have an effect on retention of lean mass, although that retention is biased towards the exercise. For resistance work there are lots of options out there, lots of people on here will encourage you to try one of a fairly limited set of options, but there are plenty of programmes out there that you could try.

The other element is that in doing resistance work that has a complementary effect on reducing injury risk when you're doing weight bearing CV.

tjthegreatone

i recently lost 60 pounds just from switching to diet soda lol. i was 240 and now im 180. and now i wanna lose more the right way. my mom has been giving me tips on what to eat. basicly never eating bad carbs so that your body will burn fat first. but i know i need to exercise as well or else ill have that loose left over skin. ok. so i figured id start doing cardio because it burns fat. i dont want to do weight training because i dont want bigger muscles. but iv been reading online that if you only do cardio then youll get "skinny fat" because your body will eat away at your muscles instead of your fat, so youll be smaller, but still have a lot of fat. iv actually read multiple times that youll end up with skinny arms and legs but a big gut. which is exactly what im afraid of because after i lost 60 pounds, i now have this disgusting pouch of fat that hangs down in the middle of my lower belly when im on all fours. i cant stand it. so im worried just doing cardio will make that worse. will it? ..... if it will, and its necessary to do both cardio and muscle workouts in order to look your best, then i would want to only work my muscles just enough to not have that "skinny fat" look and no more! because i really dont want bigger muscles. would doing a "pilates burn" video i have be good for that? its ment to burn fat but its pilates so it works your muscles too. would that be enough muscle work to avoid the "skinny fat" look?

I don't know what your mother means by 'bad carbs' but there is no such thing. And there is no such thing as your body burning 'fat' first. As far as energy reserves go...it is simple. Everything you eat gets broken down in your gut and what doesn't come out the other end gets stored as some point. A small amount as glycogen (mainly in your liver and muscle) and the rest as fat. You also have some ready-to-go glucose floating around in your blood stream. When you need energy your body uses the ready glucose, then as your liver and muscle glycogen stores are depleted, fat begins to get used. It doesn't matter what you eat. The only reasons for avoiding 'bad carbs' are that people tend to binge/overeat on the white easily digestible stuff, they tend to be low in fibre and any decent micronutrients, people get hungry soon after so are more likely to overeat, and for diabetic patients the glucose load is a bad idea.

As for becoming 'muscly', the short answer is that there is no chance of that happening unless you're mainlining steroids. I see guys at my gym who have been pumping iron for months, they probably eat >300g protein a day (+/- other substances, some illegal), and they are struggling to gain even grams of muscle.

You don't need to do any cardio at all, but if you want to lose weight and still get to eat a decent amount of food then it's the best way to 'earn' extra calories to eat (yes, I know it runs counter to the 'lift heavy' crowd). Also, in the long run it is good for your cardiovascular health. The best form of cardio is interval training...that mimics what is was like for us back in the old days in the savannah chasing deer or running away from other predators.

If you want to 'tighten' your body and look nicer you'll need to lift some weights. You can start light. I started with the odd Les Mills Body Pump class just to build my confidence and to learn the basic moves. Once I was reasonably happy I moved to the free weights area where there are usually one/two friendly guys (the ones who aren't too busy staring at their abs in the mirror/chatting up other guys :laugh:) to give pointers.

I don't know if the free pouch of skin on your lower abdomen will ever go. For some people, their skin elasticity is not great and even with the best will in the world it never happens. I'd concentrate on losing the weight. When you get to your goal weight, reassess. Then really focus on 'core' work for a couple of months. If the pouch is still there after say, six months you have two options. One, accept your body as it is. Two, consider surgery.