Cardio vs. Weight Training...Here We Go Again :)

f cardio....just saying......... Cardio is good for your heart......probably not a bad idea to do both. But you dont need to do cardio to lose weight.

I think your friend reads girly magazines more often hence your difference in opinion. haha, this is a bad guess, I know.
But your friend can "think" all she wants, but neither of you will get anywhere until you either do your research, or try different things while having patience, until you figure out something. No two bodies are the same so you have to tweak things along the way.

I'm not claiming to be an expert here, but I don't believe that cardio is crucial for weight loss. It helps you burn extra calories but you can do that by eating at a calorie deficit. If you are eating clean and doing a small amount of cardio exercise along with strength training you will loss weight or inches rather. I incorporated strength training into my weight loss routine and what I found was that I was smaller at a higher weight since muscle is denser than fat.

But at the end of the day weight training is essential since you build muscle with weight training and the more muscle you have, the faster your metabolism is...

cardio and weight training burn calories, not fat...

the difference is when you're in caloric deficit, the body does not only burn fat, it burns everything.

When you only do cardio, your type II muscle fibres are not being used. in caloric deficit, if you don't use it, you lose it, so the body will shed Type II muscle fibre as it is seen as not necessary. so while weight is being lost, fat isn't as much as optimally could be. You see this time and time again when people get to their goal 'weight' from cardio only, yet still look fat and flabby as they shed a crapton of muscle mass too.

When doing resistance training, you're using said Type II fibres. And the body is like well I'm using these, so I can't get rid of them. And will prioritize fat loss more. This is shows in study after study comparing the 2 forms of exercise while in caloric deficit. In EVERY one, you'll see similar WEIGHT loss amounts given equal calorie deficit, but the resistance training only group will ALWAYS have more FAT loss compared to cardio only.

All that said, this is ONLY when comparing one form of exercise done exclusively to the other. And cardio has other heart and general health benefits that resistance training cannot copy. So do cardio as much as you want, and as long as you do at least some heavy resistance training at least a couple times a week, you will also get the max fat blasting retaining lean mass benefit too.

TLDR: resistance training will be superior to cardio for fat loss. But doing both is better than either one alone for overall health and fitness.

I read many threads on this topic too. Also read NROWFW and have intended to start the program but haven't. The book makes a lot of sense.

In July 2003, at my heaviest (198) and getting to original goal (144 in Jan '04), all I did was walk and watched what I ate on WW.

Two years ago, I started running and got down to 130. I've never strength trained.

I did gain weight this summer from stress eating and slacking on my running/walking and have picked it back up and losing once again.

I have always had good luck with the cardio. I am sure by physique could change with strength but as for losing pounds, I have had great luck with cardio.

My trainer has told me that cardio is nly beneficial for temporary loss unless its combined with weight/resistance training. He has me do cardio warm up 15-20 mins, weight/resistance training and cardio again while my heart rate is up for 20 mins! He says the most up to date stairmaster is the best!

The affect of cardio, can for the most part, be simulated by just not eating the calories burned. It's not as crucial to weight-loss as a lot of people would assume. Not to mention too many people will over-estimate the amount of calories burned while running and eat back up to maintenance / over anyways. If you like cardio, great. Go for it. But don't do it for the sole purpose of burning calories. It's just easier not to eat them. Towards the lower end of the BF% spectrum, I've read that HIIT can help with losing the last stubborn amount of fat, but this will only apply to a small % of people anyways.

As for why you're not losing weight while weight-lifting, the answer to that is actually pretty simple. If you're getting enough protein and lifting progressively heavier weights, you're basically just doing a recomp of your body composition. Losing fat to gain muscle. Since muscle is denser than fat, you can put on "less" muscle than the fat and look smaller without actually going lower on the weight scale. If you're losing inches, clearly what you're doing is working and I'd strongly recommend you stick to it.

And I'm not going to lie, a young lady who lifts weights like a man is damn sexy. It shows a commitment and desire to bettering their body, and being willing to look past the myths surrounding women and weight-lifting. The book you read is actually one I recommend to female friends who are currently cardio bunnies in the gym. So kudos to you!

Finally, I'd like to introduce you to Staci. A young lady who was a cardio bunny / restrictive diet weight loss gym goer. Then _put on weight_ and looked far better after putting on the weight because it was mostly muscle. She is an inspiration to anyone looking to weight lift, and an excellent case study for women who are afraid they'll "get bulky" while lifting.

http://www.nerdfitness.com/blog/2011/07/21/meet-staci-your-new-powerlifting-super-hero/

TL;DR: So, I guess, basically, if you're losing inches without losing pounds. You're doing it right. When weight-lifting it's better to go by the waist, not the scale anyways. Cheers!

Found this great article last night - and it really brought it home for me again why I am squarely in the weight lifting group (with some cardio in the mix) - I want to lose fat - not weight!!

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


Fat Loss Vs. Weight Loss

Weight loss does NOT equal fat loss. You may be burning calories or losing weight, but that weight and those calories may or may not be coming from fat. If you follow the standard low-calorie-aerobic-exercise-model, you are likely burning muscle not fat. And a loss of muscle means a less efficient metabolism. This is the missing link when personal trainers and fitness enthusiasts embark on helping others and themselves create new bodies.

When personal trainers or exercise enthusiasts focus on weight loss, they are doing a grave disservice to their clients and/or themselves. It has been known for quite sometime that the low calorie aerobic exercise model creates a much less efficient metabolism in the long run. A study published in the Journal of the American College of Nutrition in April 1999 showed just how damaging the weight loss model can be on metabolic efficiency. This study looked at a group of obese individuals who were put on a very low calorie diet and assigned to one of two exercise regimes. One group did aerobic exercise (walking, biking, or jogging four times per week) while the second group did resistance training three times per week and no aerobic exercise.

At the end of the twelve-week study, both groups lost weight but the difference in muscle vs. fat loss was striking. The aerobic group lost 37 pounds over the course of the study. The resistance-training group lost 32 pounds. A focus on weight loss would lead us to the conclusion that aerobic exercise is best. However, when looking at the type of weight lost it was shown that the aerobic group lost almost 10 pounds of muscle on average while the resistance training group lost fat exclusively and maintained their muscle mass. Most important, when the resting metabolic rate of the participants was calculated, the aerobic group was shown to be burning 210 fewer calories at rest per day!! In contrast, the resistance-training group actually increased their metabolism by 63 calories per day.

HIIT seems to be doing amazing things for my weight loss. I've also recently added strength and weights over the last month too as I know this is also important. I think you need a healthy balance of the two x