Strength Training vs. cardio in the beginning????? HELP!

SaraLily85

I am wondering if I should build up my muscles and do a little cardio in the beginning of my journey. I feel as though if I make more of my body muscle than fat, then I will have a better chance of losing weight, rather than just doing cardio all the time. I do cardio everyday, burning 200(give or take a few) calories each time. should I do more?? And I do strength training every other day for about 90 minutes working all of my muscle groups with the bowflex. I want the best workout to lose the most weight, but i do not want to lose muscle. Help! I eat about 1500 calories a day, no more. I like the elliptical, bike, treadmill and bowflex. Please give me advice on what I should do more or less of to get the most results. Im new to this whole process. But Im determined. HELP.

Taes_Hunt

Great question!!! Im interested to hear the suggestions on this one as well...

DavPul

It's not strength training vs. cardio. it's strength training and cardio. Do both, eat at a deficit. profit.

Taes_Hunt

It's not strength training vs. cardio. it's strength training and cardio. Do both, eat at a deficit. profit.

Equal parts every day?

DontStopB_Leakin

It's not strength training vs. cardio. it's strength training and cardio. Do both, eat at a deficit. profit.

Equal parts every day?

No.

Best bet, start off strength training 3 times a week. Once the intial soreness and fatigue wear off (I'd say a week, tops) sprinkle in one to two days of cardio.

That's what works best for me. In my mind, if you can do a decent amount of cardio after strength training, you're not training hard enough.

BusyRaeNOTBusty

Yes, find a good compound, heavy, progressive program. 2-3 days a week.

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/560459-stronglifts-5x5-summary

Cardio 2-3 days a week, either the same day (after lifting) or alternate days.

toya316

It's not strength training vs. cardio. it's strength training and cardio. Do both, eat at a deficit. profit.

EXACTLY... I switch up.. One day I do the Cardio and the next day I do Strength.. The way my gym works on some days I take two classes a day the first class will be Cardio and following that class will be Strength and I stay for both.

MinnieInMaine

I don't see anything wrong with what you're doing now...a good combo of cardio and strength is perfect IMHO

SaraLily85

Ok. So, I do strength training 3-4 times a week. Cardio everyday. I eat at a deficit of about 500-700 calories a day. Its been a couple of weeks and Ive lost 3lbs but I heard that the first few pounds is just water weight. On the days I do strength training, I do cardio first. Just 20 minutes on the elliptical burns about 200 calories.... If I keep doing this plan, I should see a difference in my weight and inches??

Coltsman4ever

Do both!
Cardio is like weight lifting for your heart and lungs.
Your heart is a muscle and cardio makes it strong.

mmapags

It's not strength training vs. cardio. it's strength training and cardio. Do both, eat at a deficit. profit.

Equal parts every day?

No.

Best bet, start off strength training 3 times a week. Once the intial soreness and fatigue wear off (I'd say a week, tops) sprinkle in one to two days of cardio.

That's what works best for me. In my mind, if you can do a decent amount of cardio after strength training, you're not training hard enough.

DavPul and Leak nailed it!

marycmeadows

strength train - NOW. I see people asking this question all the time and I'm still baffled as to where the idea of waiting to strength train til later came from. it makes NO sense!!

strength train 3 days a week, cardio 3-5 days a week. when doing strength & cardio, do strength first then cardio!

andreae13

I definitely agree with Cardio and strength training. It's what I've done through out my whole journey and it has made a huge difference. One key though is to make sure you are getting enough protein in your diet so you don't loose the muscle your working so hard to build. I eat anywhere from 180-200 grams of protein a day.

KatrinaWilke

It's not strength training vs. cardio. it's strength training and cardio. Do both, eat at a deficit. profit.

I love how you put it!! It's that simple!!

jc112486

Any thoughts on how to balance it out in one work out? I've started to back and forth between cardio and strength training during each workout (i get tired and bored if I do one or the other first), but I don't know if this is more or less effective than just doing one or the other straight through.

gregarybrown72

Both. but make sure you have fan with cardio. Good playlist and interesting workouts like the mini-tri or heavy bag or skiiping rope.

Still_Fluffy

I am not an expert; I've lost 130 pounds and did it mostly through running. I only recently started lifting regularly. If I could do it again, I would have added a lot more strength training, but not at the expense of the cardo. When you do cardo, it should be hard. Run at a speed that challenges you without making you too winded. I only use an elliptical or bike on recovery days. It takes a lot of work or time to burn any meaningfully calories with such machines. I would keep lifting three days a week and shoot for up to an hour of good cardio three days a week. Good luck!

Breezeme

That is very interesting! I love all the great advice from this post. I just always thought that you are supose to do cardio before strength training to warm up those muscles. Or should you just do like a quick 5 minutes cardio to warm the muscles???

lizziebeth1028

Do both!!!

glenner

Both. This is from an article on strength training- "You burn calories during strength training, and your body continues to burn calories after strength training, a process called "physiologic homework." More calories are used to make and maintain muscle than fat, and in fact strength training can boost your metabolism by 15 percent — that can really jumpstart a weight loss plan." Cardio is great for the heart, metabolism, bones, mood (increases serotonin). The only limitation is make sure you allow muscle groups time to rest between workouts. I work out doing my 10 minute warm up (should always do a warm out before doing strength training) on the treadmill then do weights for half hour-I do upper body one day, lower body the next day - then finish with half hour cardio on whatever machine is free. Or I do half hour cardio on treadmill etc then do half hour weights. Gets everything covered in an hour!

SonyaCele

Both.