Weight traing and cardio

SueMizZou

I had my body fat measured and find that I'm 49% fat. Good grief. Obviously need to add weight training to my program. I'm currently treadmilling 5 days a week for an hour each time. I have lots of time available to exercise. If I add a weight training program do I have to cut back on cardio? I find that the calorie burn from the cardio is really motivating and I'm concerned that cutting back will cause my program to fall apart. Any help will be appreciated.

taylor5877

You don't have to cut back on cardio, just make sure you're eating enough to allow your body to recover. Just guessing, but you'd probably happy with your body from doing cardio and some light/moderate strength training, but with the focus on cardio.

Oh, and welcome to the SEC along with us(Aggie here). See you at Kyle (again).

DanaDark

Keep the cardio. Add HEAVY weight training (Weights you can only lift like 8 to 12 times per set).

If you are shorter on time, reduce cardio to 45 minutes. Weight training IS that important.

Do each muscle group about 2x a week. Divide it up however you want, ie. 2x a week full body, 4x a week upper then lower then upper then lower, etc.

Jbarbo01

I wouldnt cut back on cardio necessarily but I would change up your cardio, straight same speed, same incline working out isnt giving you as much benefit as interval training. That came right from my trainer. Try weight training at least 3 days a week, and then do cardio after. Alternate some days with HIT training, and some days with the hour long endurance training. Well rounded workout routine will give you the best result, with heavy weight training, interval cardio and circuit training, and long endurance workouts.

kooltray87

Cardio (tredmilling) is a great instant calorie burner, but building muscle is key to calorie burn all day! If you think you feel great doing cardio, wait til you feel the burn after lifting weights. It feels great to see your strength increase over time, and adding some definition to your body is not such a bad side-effect! I'd say if you have the time, do all the cardio you want but NEVER neglect the weights.

78Octane

You definitely want to start lifting. Muscle burns more calories while resting than fat does. Cardio is great for you, but fat loss all comes down to nutrition and how much food you eat. Cardio increases the weight loss by putting your body in a more caloric deficit.

I think a 30 minute brisk walk everyday is great cardio when incorporated with a lifting program.

First and foremost, you need to make sure your nutrition is spot on for fat loss. It is very hard to build solid muscle mass and loss fat at the same time. In the beginning you will notice gains, and this is because you are shocking your muscles, but after a short time they will stop growing unless you are feeding your muscles the proper nutrients to grow; protein and a surplus of clean calories. So you might ask, why lift then if I am not going to build muscle? The answer is to tone and maintain the current muscle mass you have. When your body fat starts to drop more and more, which it will because you can do this, you want to minimize your body losing lean muscle mass in the process of dieting. Lifting is the only way to try to stop this.

Good luck and you can do this.

SugarPie07

There are many benefits to strength training. It will increase your lean body mass, which will in turn increase your metabolism. The calorie burn benefit also lasts longer than the actual weight training session - so you'll continue to burn calories even after you finish the weights (which does not happen with steady state cardio). It also is fantastic for your bones.

I would suggest 3-4X per week. You can alternate upper/lower or you can pair up body parts like chest/triceps, back/biceps, legs/shoulders (common split).

I'd cut back on the cardio - 5X per week for an hour is quite a bit. I'm a big fan of HIIT myself. It'll do what steady state cardio does in a quarter of the time - but it's all about what your body can handle. 2X per week of steady state, 2X per week of HIIT is what I would shoot for.

bcattoes

If you have the time, I wouldn't cut back on cardio. It is, as you say, a good calorie burner and its good for your heart, so win-win.

dlwyatt82

Just don't do your cardio right before lifting weights; if you're going to do both in the same workout, lift first.

ellie319

Just don't do your cardio right before lifting weights; if you're going to do both in the same workout, lift first.

Actually it depends on your goal...if your aim is to build muscle then lift 1st cardio 2nd...but if your goal is weight loss with toning then cardio 1st and weight lifting 2nd

78Octane

One more thing. For starters, I would recommend body weight exercises before even lifting one single weight. Push ups, chin ups, crunches, pull ups, squats, lunges, etc. Many people jump head first into lifting actual weights instead of body weight exercises.