Advice on Cardio vs Strength Training while losing weight

3dogsrunning

you're not going to bulk up unless you take steroids

This.

Women can gain muscle but they won't get all bulky unless they're taking stuff.

There is a trainer at my gym that looks like one of those crazy body builder women. She is completely vegan and I'm pretty sure she would never touch the stuff. Thats more of what I was referring to. Not like men bulky, but woman bulky.

And she busts her butt both in the gym and at the dinner table to be that way. She didn't accidentally bulk up. Lift, do your cardio and stay in a significant calorie deficit and you'll get the results that you want. Don't waste energy thinking about results you don't want. It's a waste of resources.

Exactly what I was going to say. You don't just accidentally look like that.

Lift_hard_eat_big

you're not going to bulk up unless you take steroids

This.

Women can gain muscle but they won't get all bulky unless they're taking stuff.

There is a trainer at my gym that looks like one of those crazy body builder women. She is completely vegan and I'm pretty sure she would never touch the stuff. Thats more of what I was referring to. Not like men bulky, but woman bulky.

You never know. I saw a post from a girl in another topic saying how she was going to take an estrogen blocker to help bulk up a little.

That's quackery thinking. Taking an estrogen blocker wouldn't help her bulk.

DontWeightStartNow

I have about the same amount of weight to lose as you. I started weight lifting back in the beginning of August this year. I do about 3 to 4 days of 40 minutes of lifting (heavy as I can) and I do 35 to 40 mins of cardio 3 to 4 days as well. When you first start lifting it gets a little discouraging because it seems no matter what you eat, what you do, the scale isn't moving. after lamenting about this to whoever would listen, all i heard was "it's your muscle building, muscle weighs more than fat, blah blah blah". Because of this in the past I quit weight training (just got discouraged). THIS TIME, however, I was determined because I know weights will really sculpt my body and make it look lean as I lose the weight versus just cardio. So my mantra was "just keep doing what you're doing...just keep doing what you're doing..." After a time, I joined MFP (October to be exact) and now that I'm logging calories and burn from exercise, the pounds seem to be dropping every week. And best of all, I am finally (after about 3 months) seeing some nice results in my arms and my shoulders and especially my chest! Believe it or not, I never had cleavage until now! YAY WEIGHTLIFTING!! And you won't get that from just diet and cardio alone! Good luck!!!

LorinaLynn

There is a trainer at my gym that looks like one of those crazy body builder women. She is completely vegan and I'm pretty sure she would never touch the stuff. Thats more of what I was referring to. Not like men bulky, but woman bulky.

But she's also a trainer. She does that professionally and works damn hard to look that way. It doesn't happen overnight and doesn't happen accidentally.

Check this thread: http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/535512-real-mfp-women-weight-training-befores-and-afters

FullOfWin

I wish I could bulk as easily as some women think they can.

LorinaLynn

ROFL!!! Nah, just want to look lean, but not like scary madonna.

Ah... see, it's a difference in terminology. People who aren't into bodybuilding use "lean" as in "looking sleek and sexy and not jiggly or mushy, but without a lot of visible muscles," and people who are into it consider "lean" as "really low body fat."

The Scary Madonna look... that's not "bulky," that's just really low body fat. If you don't want muscles to be that visible or to be that veiny, that's a matter of not getting too lean.

And again... it's not something that happens overnight or accidentally.

amy1612

Let me tell you a little bit about myself. I'm 33, 5'11" and I have 70 lbs to lose to get in my healthy range, but I'd like my ultimate goal to be 90 lost. I spent a little under a year some time ago working out with a personal trainer once a week and I didn't see much weight loss, but I was not watching my eating as well as I do now.

My current feeling with the amount of weight I need to lose is that I should stick to cardio for about 3/4 of my journey then start strength training again since i don't feel that I got results before. I'm a girl so I'm not looking to bulk up, more long and lean. But am I short changing myself? Has anyone else been in this position before? I'd love to hear what others have done.

Your'e totally short changing yourself, but you seem to have some kind of thing against women lifting and how 'bulky' it makes them. If you want to do loads of cardio go for it. It wont give you the 'long lean' look you're after.

WendyTerry420

Let me tell you a little bit about myself. I'm 33, 5'11" and I have 70 lbs to lose to get in my healthy range, but I'd like my ultimate goal to be 90 lost. I spent a little under a year some time ago working out with a personal trainer once a week and I didn't see much weight loss, but I was not watching my eating as well as I do now.

My current feeling with the amount of weight I need to lose is that I should stick to cardio for about 3/4 of my journey then start strength training again since i don't feel that I got results before. I'm a girl so I'm not looking to bulk up, more long and lean. But am I short changing myself? Has anyone else been in this position before? I'd love to hear what others have done.

DEFINITELY do both! Don't weight to lose weight before you start strength training. When you do both cardio and strength training, you *WILL* burn more fat than if you only do cardio. You will also be happier with you body composition.