Cardio vs. weights

barbbeekman

So I know it has been asked before - cardio vs. weight training.
I have been struggling for the past year to lose weight. I feel that I work out consistently.
Go to the YMCA or work out at home. Generally my schedule as of late is as follows:

Monday – run 2 – 3 miles at the Y – and also walk at work on my breaks 20-40 minutes at 3.5 mph
Tuesday – sometimes I am able to go to the Y if no volleyball game that night – again 2-3 miles running
Walk at work on breaks 20-40 minutes at 3.5 mph
Wednesday – run 2-3 miles at the Y, walk on breaks 20-40 min at 3.5 mph and women’s league volleyball
It is competitive however when I figure under the exercise for MFP I generally just use non competitive – I don’t want to over-calculate the calories.
Thursday – if I can go to the Y I generally do and run 2-3 miles – and walk on breaks 20-40 min at 3.5 mph
Fridays – I try to get up before work and do the elliptical for 30 minutes or Jackie’s power circuit which is w/ weights and only about 20 minutes long. Walk at work 20-40 min at 3.5 mph.

My weekends vary – I try to get some activity in – Saturdays - usually my daughter and I go to the Y and she goes to the “discovery center” while I run again 2-3 miles and then I also try to lift weights. Otherwise I do the elliptical at home for 30-45 minutes.
Sundays are usually my rest day.

On average I am at the Y at least 3 days during the week and then if I can get there on Saturday I do. The problem I am struggling with is I am not seeing the scale go down at all  which is very disappointing when I feel that I am working hard.
I know that my diet needs to be tweaked but I track what I eat, the good bad and ugly.

So, should I be getting more weight training in – would that help. I just feel that I need to get my cardio in and that with the time limits that I have 30-45 minutes before I have to go get my daughter, I just stick with cardio.

Thanks and sorry for the long version!

DanaDark

Weight loss has significantly more to do with diet than it does with exercise. You gave us maybe 10% of what we need to know. =/

love4fitnesslove4food_wechange

Weights won't speed up the rate of weight loss if you're substituting weights for cardio...however, it will change your body and allow you to lose inches.

I say focus on your diet--keep training and be patient.

With your workout regiment you should be getting results--how many calories are you eating? What are your stats? How long have you been at this?

McBully4

Thanks and sorry for the long version!

can we get a short version ?

bokodasu

Diet is going to be the big answer - I mean, linebackers work out like 8 hours a day, but they're not really known for being skinny minnies, and that's because you can always eat more than you exercise.

But the other answer is yes, you should be doing both. Replace 2-3 of those cardio days with a 10-minute warmup and a serious full-body resistance workout. You'll get stronger & feel better, and you'll be more likely to hold on to your lovely muscle, which you need for stuff like playing volleyball and carrying toddlers around. (I bench-press my 3-year-old, she thinks it's hilarous.)

vlivengood

What pace are you doing your treadmill at? how long is the 2-3 miles taking you? Tell me you DO NOT HOLD ON to the treadmill....

If you are really wanting to drop the pounds you need to increase your cardio and really watch the calories........

cbrrabbit25

i have to disagree with the above statements on diet. Its more about lifting weights than diet unless you are like seriously eating bad or overeating and i don't think you would be asking this question if you were eating junk all the time and too much of it.

RedHeadDevotchka

Start doing MOAR WEIGHTS! Lift heavy, lift often, and eat clean. That means, cut out processed foods, and eat whole grains and such. Then start taking progress pics of yourself because weight training won't necessarily help you lose weight, you will gain some weight in fact, but it will be muscle.

DanaDark

i have to disagree with the above statements on diet. Its more about lifting weights than diet unless you are like seriously eating bad or overeating and i don't think you would be asking this question if you were eating junk all the time and too much of it.

We have NO information on her diet. She may be the healthiest eater in the world with perfect calories to match her needs, or she may not eat at all ever, or be consuming 50,000 calories of bon bons.

Assuming her diet is A-OK simply because she is on MFP does not make it so.

IronPlayground

If you are short on time and want to get max benefits, I would suggest High Intensity Interval Training over Steady State Cardio.

tiffany5839

Definately diet! I work out a crap load and can lose nothing unless I eat less and very healthy! I love to eat so I try to work out extra to make up for the calories and that seems to help a lot.

margojr4

If you open your dairy, you can get some feedback on your nutrition intake

Vonwarr

It is much easier to establish a calorie deficit via diet rather than exercise. Diet is the key to weight loss. Take in less than you burn and you will lose weight. Weight training will affect the QUALITY of your loss, meaning that you will lose more fat and less muscle if you weight train while eating at a deficit.

Too much cardio doesn't help. It's an alternative way of establishing a deficit, but it's easier to establish a deficit via diet. From Lyle McDonald (long but in-depth detail): http://www.bodyrecomposition.com/fat-loss/exercise-and-weightfat-loss-part-1.html

And some thoughts on too much cardio from one of the world's top strength coaches:

1. Continuous aerobic work plateaus after 8 weeks of training so anything more is counterproductive.
2. Aerobic training worsens power locally and systemically – in other words, it can make you slower.
3. Aerobic training increases oxidative stress which can accelerate aging.
4. Aerobic training increases adrenal stress which can make you fatter and produce other undesirable health consequences
5. Aerobic training increases body fat in stressed individuals by contributing additional stress.
6. Aerobic training worsens testosterone/cortisol ratio which impedes your ability to add fat burning lean muscle.


http://www.charlespoliquin.com/ArticlesMultimedia/Articles/Article/25/Getting_Maximum_Results_Part_I_-_Alternatives_to_A.aspx


Edited to add: The only cardio I do is some walking and a short (10min) bike ride to the gym as a warm-up. I've been losing steadily since May by establishing a deficit in my diet. Cardio is completely unnecessary for weight loss.

DrMAvDPhD

What you're doing now isn't working. Therefor you must change something. You can probably take care of it with diet alone. However, I personally have seen better non-scale results form lifting than cardio, and to me, that is more important.

mlkiel

Everyone is different...both are good and you should be doing both. Weights will help build muscle, which will burn fat. Cardio is always a great calorie burner. I don't like using the word "diet":grumble: Make healthier eating choices, stay under your calorie goal and this should help you reach your goals...good luck:flowerforyou:

changeinme67

Keep a hand written food journal. I started to do that a month ago even though I was tracking all my meals on another website. I could go over it and review at a glance. I felt like I was eating healthy, exercising moderately, and tracking my foods but in the past year all I was doing was maintaining. After a month of my journaling I found that although I ate 3 healthy meals and a healthy snack in the afternoon, I was eating potato chips on a daily basis. Not even one serving either usually 2-3 servings. Although I new I ate them daily I felt I worked out enough to fit it in. So last week I didn't have not one chip. Boy was I craving them badly. Low and behold, for the first time in 1 year I lost 1.2 lbs. They are loaded with fat and sodium. It also explained what I had been going to the doctor for . I was very thirsty every day and went to the doctor had all kinds of test and found nothing. That week my severe thirst was gone. It's the extremely high sodium in the chips that gave me the severe thirst. You think a doctor would ask you to keep track of what you are eating. So keep track of your sodium intake also. That can put on the extra bloating pounds. Add in at least to start one day of full body strengthening exercise and increase it as you go on. Maybe cardio on 3-4 days and at least 2 days of strengthening.

verptwerp

bumping for a later read .....

bcattoes

Make sure you are eating right. You don't have to eat "clean" all the time but make sure you are getting enough calories to fuel your workouts, but less than you burn, and that you are eating a variety of foods and getting proper nutrition.

And increase the intensity of your workouts. It sounds like you use a treadmill so try periodically bumping it up to a sprint and/or increasing the incline for a few minutes several times during your run. When you walk you could walk faster or uphill, and/or wear a weighted vest. Add in more sessions of calisthenics, weights or other resistance training.

cedarghost

Weights won't speed up the rate of weight loss if you're substituting weights for cardio...however, it will change your body and allow you to lose inches.

Partially right, from my personal experience. It will definitely change your body and help you lose inches, however, if done correctly, weight training will burn more fat than cardio does by a MILE.
It's called EPOC, or afterburn, and it rocks! A 15 to 20 minute strength training done right, will do more for your cardiovascular system than an hour of "true cardio" as well.
Look up 15 minute fat burning workouts, or 15 minute High Intensity Interval Training with weights.
Here is a decent article on it: http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/strength_train_fat_loss.htm but make sure to read plenty of sites.
I have lifted on and off for 20+ years and just discovered this about 6 or 8 weeks ago, when I decided to get back in shape.
It's very intense when done right. For example of the cardio benefits, after a circuit, your heart rate should be up so much that you shouldn't be able to carry on a normal conversation. You should be able to spit out 4 or 5 words maximum....

cbrrabbit25

i have to disagree with the above statements on diet. Its more about lifting weights than diet unless you are like seriously eating bad or overeating and i don't think you would be asking this question if you were eating junk all the time and too much of it.

We have NO information on her diet. She may be the healthiest eater in the world with perfect calories to match her needs, or she may not eat at all ever, or be consuming 50,000 calories of bon bons.

Assuming her diet is A-OK simply because she is on MFP does not make it so.

Well i was giving her the benefit and assuming she wasnt being stupid in asking such a question if she is also eating a lot of crap.

1sisrat

perhaps to much running? The body gets tired of the same workout over and over. Switching it up every two weeks can make it work harder. The body is effiecient, it will figure out a way to burn less with the same workout, so trick it by switching back and forth every two weeks or so. Bike, run, swim, and repeat. Weights are important too... and as everyone said.... diet is 90% of the calculation. People didn't workout they we do now back in the day. They didn't eat the way we do either. think on that.

barbbeekman

Well i was giving her the benefit and assuming she wasnt being stupid in asking such a question if she is also eating a lot of crap

*****************

Thanks for giving me the benefit of the doubt -
I honestly feel that I eat healthy the "majority of the time" I will be honest - I do have downfalls and usually the weekends are the hardest for me. I'll open up my food journal if you want to take a look.

On average I would say I eat 1300-1500 calories most days. do you eat back exercise points - I usually don't, I hoped this would
help me speed up the weight loss.

And for those of you that just want to reply sarcasticly, please just hold the comments to yourself, you are helping no one.
Thanks!

WendyTerry420

Less cardio and more lifting is not a bad idea at all. If it were me, I would keep the running down to 30-45 minutes, three times a week.

WendyTerry420

I honestly feel that I eat healthy the "majority of the time" I will be honest - I do have downfalls and usually the weekends are the hardest for me. I'll open up my food journal if you want to take a look.

On your food, I would comment that you aren't getting in enough protein. Try an extra 20-30 grams a day. Also, you ought to try logging on the weekends. You could very well be blowing all your hard work, but you'd never know it if you aren't keeping track.

DavPul

That was long. Let me see if I can summarize:

You're doing something that either isn't working at all or you're unhappy with the meager results, and your question is should you continue with the routine that isn't working or should you incorporate training that many people on this site have said worked incredibly well for them?

dynad

It is much easier to establish a calorie deficit via diet rather than exercise. Diet is the key to weight loss. Take in less than you burn and you will lose weight. Weight training will affect the QUALITY of your loss, meaning that you will lose more fat and less muscle if you weight train while eating at a deficit.

Too much cardio doesn't help. It's an alternative way of establishing a deficit, but it's easier to establish a deficit via diet. From Lyle McDonald (long but in-depth detail): http://www.bodyrecomposition.com/fat-loss/exercise-and-weightfat-loss-part-1.html

And some thoughts on too much cardio from one of the world's top strength coaches:

1. Continuous aerobic work plateaus after 8 weeks of training so anything more is counterproductive.
2. Aerobic training worsens power locally and systemically – in other words, it can make you slower.
3. Aerobic training increases oxidative stress which can accelerate aging.
4. Aerobic training increases adrenal stress which can make you fatter and produce other undesirable health consequences
5. Aerobic training increases body fat in stressed individuals by contributing additional stress.
6. Aerobic training worsens testosterone/cortisol ratio which impedes your ability to add fat burning lean muscle.


http://www.charlespoliquin.com/ArticlesMultimedia/Articles/Article/25/Getting_Maximum_Results_Part_I_-_Alternatives_to_A.aspx


Edited to add: The only cardio I do is some walking and a short (10min) bike ride to the gym as a warm-up. I've been losing steadily since May by establishing a deficit in my diet. Cardio is completely unnecessary for weight loss.

Well thats scary, I do cardio 2 times a week for 45 mins. 1 with light 5lb weight the other with none. I lift as heavy as I can the other 3 to 4 times a week. I put the serious hat on in the beginning of Oct and doing the ChaLean program. I always did high cardio and maybe thats why I haven't met my goal. I had no idea the results of cardio overload could be.

lizziebeth1028

It boils down to - what you are doing is not giving you the results you want. You need to change things up!!

*stick to your calorie goal, log everything
*eat more protein, I peeked at your diary. EAT MORE PROTEIN
*exchange at least 1 or 2 days of cardio with strength training. This is scary, I know. I was the cardio queen and thought that was the only key to weight loss. In the end in balancing out all the factors. You need cardio, strength, a consistent diet and enough protein
*easy on the processed foods more fresh whole foods, fruits and veggies
*hang in there. When you don't have a lot to lose it's slow going!!!

Good Luck:flowerforyou:

JasonDetwiler

If you are trying to lose fat mass and want to be successful, I would suggest High Intensity Interval Training over Steady State Cardio.

fixed

ndj1979

i would say you should change your routine up to to full body strength training three days a week and maybe (big maybe) do cardio twice a week...just my opinion...

gmad87

Personally, incorporating more weight training has helped me to break through my recent weight plateau. Before a few weeks ago, my weight was stuck and my workouts were almost exclusively cardio. Of course, diet is always important and I've started to plan ahead my meals on my MFP log instead of logging as I go through the day--that way I don't accidentally hit a wall and go over my daily intake. I still do cardio as well. So if you want my opinion, cardio, weight training, and keeping a close eye on diet should all go hand in hand (but I suppose that's an obvious generic answer :P).

Anna800

Yeah you're doing too much cardio, take a body pump class twice a week, much harder than just lifting weights yourself.