How much cardio vs. strength should I do for weight loss?

Determinednoob

Cardio burns fat. Keep the strength to once a week, it doesn't burn fat.

Bad advice.

Seconded.

T34418l3angel

Second, I come in a minimum of 100 calories under my calorie goal each day. So I have a deficit every day.

You already have a deficit built into your daily calorie goal - don't add more to it.
Meet or exceed your goal. Better 50 over than 100 below.

^ this!! When you put in your stats and you say you want to lose 1, 11/2, 2lbs a week it's already calculating a deficit for you, don't come in under your calories purposely!

T34418l3angel

Cardio burns fat. Keep the strength to once a week, it doesn't burn fat.

Bad advice.

Seconded.

Agree bad advice

gungho66

Cardio burns fat. Keep the strength to once a week, it doesn't burn fat.

Muscle burns fat, and building muscle comes from weightlifting . You actually increase your fat burning capabilities by incorporating both

zaph0d

Cardio burns fat. Keep the strength to once a week, it doesn't burn fat.

you win today's

MB_Positif

Cardio burns fat. Keep the strength to once a week, it doesn't burn fat.

Not true. See my pics for truth.

First one, doing mostly cardio, approximately a loose size 10.



Second one, down about 2-5 more pounds from the last picture, doing mostly weightlifting. Wearing a size 6 that is starting to get loose.

Sarauk2sf

Cardio burns fat. Keep the strength to once a week, it doesn't burn fat.

Bad advice.

Seconded.

Agree bad advice

Yup

leska1216

Like other post have offered, your diary is closed and we don't know your eating habits or what exercises you are doing. Knowing you weight is also important. You are asking a question that asks specific answers but without giving enough facts.

On a personal level, I do 25 minutes cardio and 25 minutes resistance training. I do this in the outdoors! And my twice a week job keeps me walking for over 4 hrs per day. My net calories are 1500 per day and I am losing. Have lost 7 pounds so far (just over a month) and have 13 more to go to first goal.

JesterMFP

Second, I come in a minimum of 100 calories under my calorie goal each day. So I have a deficit every day.

You already have a deficit built into your daily calorie goal - don't add more to it.
Meet or exceed your goal. Better 50 over than 100 below.

^ this!! When you put in your stats and you say you want to lose 1, 11/2, 2lbs a week it's already calculating a deficit for you, don't come in under your calories purposely!

Piling on to agree with this. You shouldn't really be more than 100 under, and it would be ok if sometimes you're over your calorie goal. You don't have to create a deficit from the calorie goal that MFP gives you - that is already built in.

Sarauk2sf

As you are busy - I would suggest (as have others) weight training 3 x a week if possible and fill the rest with cardio (mix it up - some low intensity, some steady state some intervals).

psuLemon

Second, I come in a minimum of 100 calories under my calorie goal each day. So I have a deficit every day.

You already have a deficit built into your daily calorie goal - don't add more to it.
Meet or exceed your goal. Better 50 over than 100 below.

Agreeing with Heybales on this one. Another question is, are you over extending your weight loss goals.. For example, a person with 20 lbs a week can NOT aim for 2 lbs per week. It's not enough. Below are general guidelines.


If you have 75+ lbs to lose 2 lbs/week is ideal,
If you have 40-75 lbs to lose 1.5 lbs/week is ideal,
If you have 25-40 lbs to lose 1 lbs/week is ideal,
If you have 15 -25 lbs to lose 0.5 to 1.0 lbs/week is ideal, and
If you have less than 15 lbs to lose 0.5 lbs/week is ideal.

likemeinvisible

Cardio burns fat. Keep the strength to once a week, it doesn't burn fat.

You might want to do some research in to any study in the last 10 years concerning your claim.

Cardio during the workout burns 60% or more carbs as energy in the fat-burning zone, unless you only walk, then you might get 50/50 carbs/fat. All the way up to 100% carbs if doing max effort. Ever hear of anaerobic? Look up, interesting facts.

Lifting burns brief carbs during the workout and post workout fat during recovery.

For time taken, lifting will burn more fat overall when you count the whole day.

When I say cardio I mean aerobic, in other words, using oxygen to burn fat. The muscle will switch from glycogen to fat during the workout, the longer it is the more fat will be used as an energy source. I agree that it takes a certain time for cardio to be effective. I don't know if lifting is better, could you point me to a source to further my education ?


edit: I uploaded a current pic, the one with the grey pants.
<--- that's my pulse at rest. That's why it's called cardio.

WendyTerry420

Cardio burns fat. Keep the strength to once a week, it doesn't burn fat.

Bad advice.

Seconded.

Agree bad advice

Yup

Fifth'd


In fact, I would argue that strength training burns more fat than cardio.

capnrus789

I lost 50 lbs in college and didn't excercise at all. Just watched what I ate. So if it's simply weight loss, that works.

Oh, and by the way, EVERYTHING we say on the MFP forums works. It's just a matter of doing it and finding out if it works for you.

psuLemon

Cardio burns fat. Keep the strength to once a week, it doesn't burn fat.

You might want to do some research in to any study in the last 10 years concerning your claim.

Cardio during the workout burns 60% or more carbs as energy in the fat-burning zone, unless you only walk, then you might get 50/50 carbs/fat. All the way up to 100% carbs if doing max effort. Ever hear of anaerobic? Look up, interesting facts.

Lifting burns brief carbs during the workout and post workout fat during recovery.

For time taken, lifting will burn more fat overall when you count the whole day.

When I say cardio I mean aerobic, in other words, using oxygen to burn fat. The muscle will switch from glycogen to fat during the workout, the longer it is the more fat will be used as an energy source. I agree that it takes a certain time for cardio to be effective. I don't know if lifting is better, could you point me to a source to further my education ?


edit: I uploaded a current pic, the one with the grey pants.
<--- that's my pulse at rest. That's why it's called cardio.

Thats cool and all, but weight training still burns more fat than cardio. Not only does it burn more fat, it also maintains your metabolic rate over time and prevents catabolization of lean body mass. The link below is fairly good to read.


http://www.metaboliceffect.com/topic/38-nutrition-lifestyle.aspx

erickirb

edit: I uploaded a current pic, the one with the grey pants.
<--- that's my pulse at rest. That's why it's called cardio.

So, what does that have to do with fat loss? I do cardio one day/week and my resting hr is 48bpm but I strength train 4 days/week

zaph0d

edit: I uploaded a current pic, the one with the grey pants.
<--- that's my pulse at rest. That's why it's called cardio.

time to get up close and personal with a barbell

Topsking2010

Bump

T34418l3angel

Cardio burns fat. Keep the strength to once a week, it doesn't burn fat.

You might want to do some research in to any study in the last 10 years concerning your claim.

Cardio during the workout burns 60% or more carbs as energy in the fat-burning zone, unless you only walk, then you might get 50/50 carbs/fat. All the way up to 100% carbs if doing max effort. Ever hear of anaerobic? Look up, interesting facts.

Lifting burns brief carbs during the workout and post workout fat during recovery.

For time taken, lifting will burn more fat overall when you count the whole day.

When I say cardio I mean aerobic, in other words, using oxygen to burn fat. The muscle will switch from glycogen to fat during the workout, the longer it is the more fat will be used as an energy source. I agree that it takes a certain time for cardio to be effective. I don't know if lifting is better, could you point me to a source to further my education ?


edit: I uploaded a current pic, the one with the grey pants.
<--- that's my pulse at rest. That's why it's called cardio.

I fail to see the point you were trying to make... Correct me if I'm wrong but isn't glycogen aka CARBS? So you basically just made the previous posters point. And I also don't see the point of your resting pulse rate....

texastango

Hi Everyone,

I workout four times a week. I've been alternating each time doing cardio, then strength, then cardio, etc. But I'm not seeing any results with weight loss and have been doing this for at least three weeks. I know there are lots of other variables, but I'm wondering if anyone has any insight as to how much of each I should be doing for weight loss purposes. I'd like to continue doing the same amount of both each week, but how do I know if this is right for me?

Your input is greatly appreciated!
Lisa

Lisa, first, give it time. Second, just recognize that what you are attempting to do with exercise (aerobic and Resistance training) is improve your conditioning and your cardiovascular health, strength, flexibility, and quality of weight.

By quality of weight I mean you are causing a shift from FM (Fat Mass) to FFM (Fat free mass) = replacing fat with muscle. Replace a volume of fat with the same volume of muscle and the muscle weights more....so your scales may not change much, but you will have more metabolically active muscle than fat and it will be healthier for you.

In addition, when doing exercise our bodies initially use carbohydrates / glycogen in muscle/liver/glucose in blood to perform it's tasks unless you are sprinting like heck (creatine phosphotase in muscle lasts about 30 seconds).,....and eventually as our bodies shift energy sources it moves from anaerobic metabolism to aerobic metablolism and starts utilizing Fat and amino acids. To get there you have to exercise for a while...so increase the duration of your exercise a bit (ever see a heavy marathoner?) if you have the time (increased running, swimming etc). Resistance training - there are many on here that could give you better advice than I. However, I would say your plan of 3 times a week should be sufficient. You have to ultimately find what model or working out works for you. There are many different ways...and one is probably better for you. I alternate heavy days where I do more weight, but less reps at the time, but the same number of reps total. For example - one day I'll do 15 reps per set/ 3 sets of lighter weight. The next day 10 reps per set/4 sets/ heavier weight. This keeps me advancing more quickly. It works for me. It just depends on your goals and focus.

Make sure you take in enough carbs to do your aerobic exericse (if you are doing over 45 minutes). In addition take in some protein and a bit of carbs after your resistance training. You shouldn't need more than 20 grams of protein within an hour after lifting weights. That will stimulate ATP production and MPS (Muscle protein synthesis). Skim milk with chocolate (from corn startch, not HFCS - high fructose corn syrup) or a recovery drink can be helpful giving you both the carbs and protein you need without the saturated fat after lifting. In addition you'll get the benefit of CLA (congugated Lineolinc Acid) which has been shown to produce decreases in FM (Fat Mass) in women (less benefit in men).

Good Luck!