strength training and cardio

hoyagirl03

Sorry in advance if this is a truly basic/stupid question, but just wanted to be sure... If you're trying to lose weight by doing cardio, you can still do strength training in an effort to tone your muscles, right? I'm getting a little confused because someone said that if you're in a calorie deficit, you cannot build muscle. I'm assuming 'building' muscle is different from 'toning' muscle as you're losing weight.

Again, thanks for any advice (sheepish grin). And sorry again if it's super basic. LOL!!

BeardieDad

I'm no expert but I'm pretty sure you can tone muscle and run a calorie deficit at the same time. I believe you just need to make sure you get the protien you need to build muscle tissue.

ChitownFoodie

Ive gotten better muscle definition while doing cardio by doing cardio with resistance. Also, if you mix up cardio and strength training you'll tone.

RobinS78

I am no expert either. Ditto on the protein comment.

I've recently been told and read...muscle burns lotsa calories! So say...you did built some muscle and did nothing else...you'd burn way more calories than if you simply did nothing. I'd only guess the same goes for if you were doing cardio or not...that you'd burn more calories in general (cardio or not) with some extra muscle on your skeleton.

Add in strength training into your cardio routine and I'd say you are golden!

jenomaha

Strength training also helps in weight loss and more importantly in improved body composition. The more lean muscle mass you have, the less bodyfat percentage you have. 1 pound of fat burns about 5 calories and 1 pound of muscle burns approximately 20-30 calories.

The "tone" look people refer to is due to someone having low bodyfat and a good amount of lean muscle mass. They don't have a decent layer of fat covering the muscle they do have.

In a nutshell, this is what your muscles can do:

1. Grow larger and/or stronger
2. Shrink smaller and/or get weaker

Here are a couple of articles regarding "Toning" Myths and what toning really is.

http://doubleyourgains.com/build-muscle-tone

http://exercise.about.com/cs/weightloss/a/toning.htm

Hope this helps! Good luck!