Carido vs. Weights

bfiely

I just recently started going to the gym and i try to spend at least 30 minutes doing weights. nothing crazy since im looking to loose weight not bulk up. I usually do the arm machines, leg machines. But i have been told a bunch of different things about using weights. I have heard that it is necessary to do both carido and weights inorder to loose weight and tone up. But on the other hand I have heard that weights will make u gain too much muscle and then defeats the purpose of actually loosing weight. So I was wondering what everyone else thinks about this. I want to loose a lot of weight but I also do not want to have a bunch of flabby skin afterwards.

BandMom2

You need the wt training, esp if you are a woman, you need it for bone health down the road and to help build lean muscle. It is hard for a woman to "bulk up" you would have to be working toward that goal. sounds like you are doing just right, keep it up

rileysowner

You are a woman, the likelihood of you bulking up especially while in a calorie deficit are slim to none, but working your muscles hard will help you keep the muscle you have and burn off the fat you do not want. Do fear using heavy weights and low repetitions (shooting for not being able to do another repetition somewhere between 6-8 repetitions). You will not bulk up. Even if you put on some muscle, it will not be huge, it will instead lead to that healthy toned look that most women strive for and most men love. In fact, doing a workout like that will help you very much in fat loss. Don't fear it.

NoAdditives

As a woman, you will NOT bulk up from doing weights. Even female body builders can't get big without the use of steroids and similar "supplements". Our bodies just don't allow it. Also, you will not build any noticeable amount of muscle when you are eating a calorie deficit. It's hard to build new muscle tissue, one thing you have to do in order to have that happen is to eat an huge excess of calories. So yes, for multiple reasons you need both cardio and weight training.

And BTW, you aren't trying to "loose" weight, you're trying to LOSE weight. Loose means not tight, lose means to get rid of.

krise31

Uhh you def should be doing weight training and cardio. Weight training is what will slim and sculpt your body just look at my profile pics. I do p90 which is a mix of cardio and weight training you can see what weight training does I've lost a ton of body fat so far and have only dropped 14 lbs.

AAboulhosn

Actually, it's the weight training that boosts your metabolism so you burn calories even when you're not working out. Most people will tell you that a mix of cardio and weights are the way to go!! Don't worry about getting bulky, because you won't. It's very difficult for women to get big, bulky muscles. And don't get discouraged if you don't see the scale going down as quick as you would like while you're weight training...it's going to probably take a little longer, but on the good side...it'll be harder for you to gain it back in the future! Good luck!!!!!!!!!

EricInArlington

if you want to loses Lbs run run run run and bike bike bike like crazy, get that heart rate up!!! :bigsmile:

Angel1029

Weights will not bulk you up. Lifting will make you smaller and tighter. I lift heavy weights everyday in the 6-8 rep range and I am not bulky. Us as women don't have enough testosterone in our bodies to bulk up.
Pick up some weights, get a good routine going and you will be amazed at how your body will change.

bstamps12

I spent 8 months doing mostly weights and only a little cardio...the truth is that it is too hard to burn calories if your focus is on weights. Like BandMom and RileysOwner said, you need some weight training to build bone health. You also need to build muscle because the more muscle you have, the more calories you are burning when you are just sitting still.

I didn't lose any weight until I switched my focus to cardio. Everyone is different, but for me, it took major calorie burn to blast some pounds off. Now that I have lost some of the weight, you can actually see the toning from lifting weights. Lifting weights alone will probably not ever show any toning if you have over 20 lbs to lose; and if you have over 20 lbs to lose (like I did at the beginning), you probably should focus on losing some pounds and getting your cardio system back on track through cardio work.

Good luck!

audjrey

Unless you are planning on benching or squatting 100 pounds and curling 25+ pounds, I wouldn't fear lifting weights. I'm 5'3" and can easily squat 100 pounds, curl 20 pounds, and crunch 35 pounds, and I still don't have a lot of muscle. Look at my profile pic! I'm tiny!! And I've been lifting for years!

Do cardio and weights equally to start. If you're doing 30 minutes of cardio, then do 30 minutes of strength work.

Take one full day to rest from both cardio and weights. If you must exercise, make it gentle exercise. For example, take a leisure walk, do gentle yoga, or tai chi.

Don't work the same body part every day. In other words, if you work your chest, back, shoulders and arms one day then work your core, butt, and legs the next day. Or if you do total body conditioning, only do it three times a week.

stephanielynn76

Cardio might help to get you thinner, but weight training is what will reshape your body... I know this from experience!

kirstinkrueger

http://hubpages.com/hub/CardiovsStrengthTrainingWhichburnsmorefat
The problem is, strength training has been vastly oversold as a metabolism-boosting calorie burner. It's time for a reality check.


Metabolism 101
Our metabolism is the key to burning fat. To lose weight we need to increase our total calorie burn. To increase our total calorie burn we need to increase one (or more) of the following:

Your basal metabolic rate, or BMR, which is essentially the calories you burn at rest. Your BMR is important because it makes up a large percentage of total calorie burn, but unfortunately you can't do much to increase (or decrease) it. Your BMR is mostly determined by your genetic makeup and body weight. The only way to really boost your BMR is to gain a large amount of weight (quite counter productive for our reasons).

Your physical-activity energy expenditure, which is all the activity you do in a day. This not only includes all of your workouts, but also walking your dog, doing the dishes, climbing the stairs, even brushing your teeth- any time your body is active it is adding to your physical-activity energy expenditure. Your physical-activity energy expenditure is the most important part of your total calorie burn because it is the part you can do the most about, all you have to do to increase it is to get up and move!

Your thermic effect of feeding, which is the energy your body expends while digesting food. Your thermis effect of feeding is generally about 10 percent of your daily calorie burn. However this number can be increased by eating small meals several times a day rather than just a few large meals. Stimulating foods such as green tea and chili peppers can also speed your thermic effect of feeding.

Your excess post-exercise oxygen consumption, which is the extra calories you burn after exercise. Your excess post-exercise oxygen consumption is also known as the "afterburn". The amount of calories you burn post-workout will depend on the type of your workout, if you heart rate is increased during your workout and stay increased your will burn more.

Why Strength Training doesn't burn

The theory behind strength training burning more than cardio comes from the idea that one pound of muscle uses more calories per day than one pound fat does, while this is true, it is not enough to trim you down. Take a look at the numbers:

182 calories are burned per day for each pound of kidney your body houses.
110 calories are burned per day for each pound of brain that your body houses.
6 calories are burned per day for each pound of muscle that your body houses.
2 calories are burned per day for each pound of fat that your body houses.
During strength training you burn less calories, and the additional calories you burn due to the gain in muscle in your body is barely enough to make a difference, your time would be much better spend doing cardio where you would burn more calories during the workout (and less after).

Why Cardio does burn

If you're interested in boosting your metabolism to lose weight, aerobic training such as running and walking is a better investment than strength training. All you need to do is look at the numbers to see why:

40 minutes of moderate cardio (running 8:30 pace) vs. 40 minutes of moderate strength training-

Cardio: 522 calories burned during the activity, 30 calories burned in afterburn, 0 calories burned from gained muscle

Strength Training: approximately 136 calories burned during the activity, 20 calories burned in afterburn, 30 calories burned from gained muscle

Cardio leads by 366 calories.
So there it is, if you want to burn more fat do more cardio, the numbers are simple. However, I won't necessarily replace all strength training with cardio, it is good to have a mix of both-this way you will burn fat and build muscle which will keep you strong and healthy and prevent against injury, not to mention provide you with sleek and sexy muscles. It is also important to keep diet in mind, exercise alone won't do it (and neither will diet alone). You need to focus on creating a diet and exercise plan and sticking to it!

i also read this today I found interesting!

Q: Is it true that your body continues to burn extra calories for 12 hours after you've worked out?

A: Yes. "After vigorous exercise, we've seen caloric expenditure increase for up to 48 hours," says exercise physiologist Tom R. Thomas, Ph.D., director of the exercise physiology program at the University of Missouri in Columbia. The longer and harder you work out, the greater the post-workout metabolism increase and the longer it lasts. Subjects in Thomas' research burned 600-700 calories during one hour of running at about 80 percent of their maximum heart rate. During the next 48 hours, they burned about 15 percent more calories -- 90-105 extra -- than they otherwise would have. About 75 percent of the post-workout metabolism increase occurs in the first 1 2 hours after exercise, according to Thomas.

Weight training does not appear to offer as significant a post-workout metabolism increase as intense aerobic exercise, Thomas says, probably because of the rest between sets. A number of studies suggest that, after a 45-minute weight-training session -- three sets of 10 reps per exercise -- resting metabolic rate is increased for 60-90 minutes, burning an extra 20-50 calories. However, keep in mind that strength training is an excellent way to boost your resting metabolic rate (the number of calories your body burns at rest). While aerobics appears to offer more of a post-workout spike in metabolism, strength training enables you to develop muscle mass, which, in turn, increases metabolism overall.

xraychick77

oh the joys of women and weights myths.

you can NOT bulk up if you are trying to lose weight. it takes a calorie surplus to gain muscle. there is nothing wrong with muscle..without them you'll look flabby and unfit. there is nothing wrong with muscle weight. we need muscle, especially women. if you are losing fat its good to lift, because it'll keep your muscles from wasting away so much.

i got down to 117 at 5'2"...i've been 'bulking' for the past few months..and managed to put on 2 lbs of muscle..which is normal. women cant get all bulky like men without steroids. we lack a lot of testosterone. you wont just wake up one day and be like oh my i've bulked up too much. get real about weight training..look up some info online. a good start is the new rules of lifting for women.

mursey

That "weight training will bulk you up" idea is completely retarded. Trust me, the thinnest I ever was was when I hit the weights the hardest.

You do need both, most people ignore weights and that's why they aren't very successful at losing weight long term. Weight training also builds bone density, improves your posture, raises your metabolism, and studies have shown that people who do both weights AND cardio together control their appetite more easily than those who do cardio alone.

If you think about it, gaining muscle is hard. Does anyone here really think they're going to put on huge muscles so quickly? People WISH they could do that. . . don't worry about "bulking up" unless you happen to be somehow accidentally taking steroids some magical way.

By the way, you can get your heart rate up doing strength training, or you can do 20 mins of cardio before the weights and that helps keep your heart rate up too. You can look at my photos too, I never changed my body until someone showed me how to get around a gym and weight train. And I have been a semi- long distance runner in the past. Guess which made me the healthier and thinner? That's right, weight training. (I still do cardio but it's not the most important to me.)

BigDaddyRonnie

Weights will not bulk you up. Lifting will make you smaller and tighter. I lift heavy weights everyday in the 6-8 rep range and I am not bulky. Us as women don't have enough testosterone in our bodies to bulk up.
Pick up some weights, get a good routine going and you will be amazed at how your body will change.

I agree. Use the weights...don't be afraid of them and you will watch your body transform right before your eyes! It will definitely help and not hinder your progress.

erzille

You won't bulk up! I had the same fear....google muscle vs fat. 5 pounds of muscle take up less that 5 pounds of fat. Good luck!

LauRoxx

Honestly I'm getting a little angry at hearing all these people say it's hard to women to bulk up so don't worry about it. The truth is it depends on your body type. All the women in my family (including myself unfortunately) just pack on the muscle with little effort at all. But speaking from experience, if you notice yourself starting to bulk too much, the muscle mass will go down fairly quickly with lack of use.

I'm actually in the phase of my workout plan where I'm ignoring how much I bulk up. Right now it's just about getting the metabolism up and the total fat on my body super down. After I've lost the amount of fat desired, then I'm going to focus on slimming down the muscles

Don't worry so much about how you look at this part, just how you feel. The main part of my bulk-permitting strategy at the moment is just doing whatever makes my body feel good, and typically the more hardcore I can push myself the better I feel after a workout, and the more accomplished I feel for the rest of the day

***OMG! and I definitely did a cardio kickboxing class for the first time in 4 years today and it kicked my *kitten*!!!! I absolutely loved it

LauRoxx

Honestly I'm getting a little angry at hearing all these people say it's hard to women to bulk up so don't worry about it. The truth is it depends on your body type. All the women in my family (including myself unfortunately) just pack on the muscle with little effort at all. But speaking from experience, if you notice yourself starting to bulk too much, the muscle mass will go down fairly quickly with lack of use.

I'm actually in the phase of my workout plan where I'm ignoring how much I bulk up. Right now it's just about getting the metabolism up and the total fat on my body super down. After I've lost the amount of fat desired, then I'm going to focus on slimming down the muscles

Don't worry so much about how you look at this part, just how you feel. The main part of my bulk-permitting strategy at the moment is just doing whatever makes my body feel good, and typically the more hardcore I can push myself the better I feel after a workout, and the more accomplished I feel for the rest of the day

***OMG! and I definitely did a cardio kickboxing class for the first time in 4 years today and it kicked my *kitten*!!!! I absolutely loved it