Cardio or weights?

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  • JenGranzow
    JenGranzow Posts: 116 Member
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    Mmmm, chocolate and peanut butter.

    First and foremost, get your diet under control because no amount of exercise will make up for a lousy diet.

    Then, add in both cardio and weights.
  • BigGuy47
    BigGuy47 Posts: 1,768 Member
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    both
  • mustgetmuscles1
    mustgetmuscles1 Posts: 3,346 Member
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    Here is some advice I just gave to a friend. I will paste it here because I think it has everything you need set up a plan.

    "Losing fat anywhere on the body is more to do with a calorie deficit than any particular exercise. With that said the fat will burn off from wherever the body decides. You can not control this and it usually comes off in the reverse order it went on.

    To lose "weight" put your calories in a moderate deficit. Notice I said "weight". To make sure the majority of your weight loss comes from "body fat" you will need to do resistance training. Muscle is very expensive to maintain calorie wise. If you do not convince your body that the muscle is necessary it will get rid of it. This can look great on the scale but is terrible for body composition. This site is full of people who reach their weight loss goals and are not happy with the way their bodies look. This is usually do to excessive calorie deficit (from severe dieting or excessive cardio) and no resistance training (lifting relatively heavy weights on the big compound lifts).

    Is cardio necessary for fat loss? Nope. You can lose weight just with diet alone or diet with strength training combined to maximize fat loss.

    Should you do cardio anyways? Yep. Many benefits of doing cardio but I recommend high intensity cardio. 20-30 minutes as hard as you can go. Try HIIT training at first. Do that about 3 times per week. Spending hours on a treadmill will burn calories but is so inefficient that I think its a waste of time. "

    Read this and the attached study but do NOT lower your calories that low:
    http://fitnessblackbook.com/dieting_for_fat_loss/maintain-muscle-mass-on-800-calories-per-day/

    Watch this video for setting up calorie goals and macros (protein, fats, carbs)
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bakMu9ddQ5I

    Watch this video on which kind of cardio to do but ignore her obnoxiousness:
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=up5n86VGC3c
  • WendyTerry420
    WendyTerry420 Posts: 13,274 Member
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    Is cardio necessary for fat loss? Nope. You can lose weight just with diet alone or diet with strength training combined to maximize fat loss.

    Should you do cardio anyways? Yep. Many benefits of doing cardio but I recommend high intensity cardio. 20-30 minutes as hard as you can go. Try HIIT training at first. Do that about 3 times per week. Spending hours on a treadmill will burn calories but is so inefficient that I think its a waste of time. "

    And thank God for that! :tongue:
  • hesn92
    hesn92 Posts: 5,967 Member
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    For weight loss, you don't need either one. All you need is a calorie deficit. Cardio is good to do though because it allows you to eat more while maintaining the same deficit. Lifting weights will make your body retain more muscle and look a lot better naked/in a swim suit/undies/whatever. Exercise is also just good for you. It can give you more energy, increase your libido, lots of other things...
  • chsmith79
    chsmith79 Posts: 240 Member
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    i walk my dog daily and do crossfit 4 times a week. as someone previously said, you do burn calories with everything you do in crossfit. the negative i find with tracking it on mfp is that it doesn't add any calories earned for strength training exercises. and i know that with the amount of sweat, constant movement, and fatigued muscles i get from an hour long class, i am burning hundreds of calories. only cardio exercise calories burned get factored in to your daily allotment. but i know that i have a lot more to "eat back" on crossfit days. and so it will look like i have gone over on calories when i really haven't.

    as for cardio vs. weights, in general, the question you need to ask yourself is this: what is more important, the number on the scale or the way your *kitten* looks in jeans? weights are going to add muscle mass which is going to keep your weight higher initially, but your figure will quickly change for the better. cardio is going to shed pounds, but your body won't look as fit as what you think should match your weight until you begin to tone it.



    i was once taught that the right balance for getting healthy is:
    50% diet
    40% strength
    10% cardio

    theres strength training under cardio which will help add back your calories used

    I use circuit training under cardio for my crossfit workouts
  • JustJennie1
    JustJennie1 Posts: 3,843 Member
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    Honestly it's up to you and what you want to do.

    You can do cardio and weights on the same day. With regards to which you "should" do first is again up to you.

    I do 30 min. of cardio followed by an hour of weights. Why? Because if I do my hour of weights first I'm in no mood to do the cardio after. I know this because I've listened to all the people who say you *have* to do cardio after weights and I skipped it because I just wasn't in the mood for it. I have also started adding in an extra round of cardio later in the day in the form of an hour long workout video or taking the dog on a very brisk walk 3-4 mile walk (and when I say brisk I'm talking 4.5 avg. MPH, rough terrain with hills).

    Also I'm not one who prescribes to the "Do cardio because then you can eat more!" theory. IMO doing that is counter productive.
  • Determinednoob
    Determinednoob Posts: 2,001 Member
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    Honestly it's up to you and what you want to do.

    You can do cardio and weights on the same day. With regards to which you "should" do first is again up to you.

    I do 30 min. of cardio followed by an hour of weights. Why? Because if I do my hour of weights first I'm in no mood to do the cardio after. I know this because I've listened to all the people who say you *have* to do cardio after weights and I skipped it because I just wasn't in the mood for it. I have also started adding in an extra round of cardio later in the day in the form of an hour long workout video or taking the dog on a very brisk walk 3-4 mile walk (and when I say brisk I'm talking 4.5 avg. MPH, rough terrain with hills).

    Also I'm not one who prescribes to the "Do cardio because then you can eat more!" theory. IMO doing that is counter productive.

    Then why do you do cardio instead of eating less? Seems counterproductive
  • JustJennie1
    JustJennie1 Posts: 3,843 Member
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    Honestly it's up to you and what you want to do.

    You can do cardio and weights on the same day. With regards to which you "should" do first is again up to you.

    I do 30 min. of cardio followed by an hour of weights. Why? Because if I do my hour of weights first I'm in no mood to do the cardio after. I know this because I've listened to all the people who say you *have* to do cardio after weights and I skipped it because I just wasn't in the mood for it. I have also started adding in an extra round of cardio later in the day in the form of an hour long workout video or taking the dog on a very brisk walk 3-4 mile walk (and when I say brisk I'm talking 4.5 avg. MPH, rough terrain with hills).

    Also I'm not one who prescribes to the "Do cardio because then you can eat more!" theory. IMO doing that is counter productive.

    Then why do you do cardio instead of eating less? Seems counterproductive

    Not that it's any of your business (or that I even mentioned it in my post) I actually do both. I personally do not prescribe to the "I've burned a billion calories so I can eat as much as I want to now!" theory.
  • Determinednoob
    Determinednoob Posts: 2,001 Member
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    Honestly it's up to you and what you want to do.

    You can do cardio and weights on the same day. With regards to which you "should" do first is again up to you.

    I do 30 min. of cardio followed by an hour of weights. Why? Because if I do my hour of weights first I'm in no mood to do the cardio after. I know this because I've listened to all the people who say you *have* to do cardio after weights and I skipped it because I just wasn't in the mood for it. I have also started adding in an extra round of cardio later in the day in the form of an hour long workout video or taking the dog on a very brisk walk 3-4 mile walk (and when I say brisk I'm talking 4.5 avg. MPH, rough terrain with hills).

    Also I'm not one who prescribes to the "Do cardio because then you can eat more!" theory. IMO doing that is counter productive.

    Then why do you do cardio instead of eating less? Seems counterproductive

    Not that it's any of your business (or that I even mentioned it in my post) I actually do both. I personally do not prescribe to the "I've burned a billion calories so I can eat as much as I want to now!" theory.

    Unless I am hallucinating your post says you do cardio. You said that doing cardio in order to eat more is counterproductive. Could it not be said then that doing cardio instead of eating less is counterproductive in the same manner or even more so since it is a missed opportunity to save time and money?
  • lizziebeth1028
    lizziebeth1028 Posts: 3,602 Member
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    Today I am going back to the gym and don't know what to concentrate on. I have 56 pounds to lose to get to my goal weight.

    Should I just do cardio first to get rid of the fat? I carry most of my weight in my mid section.

    Any advice would be appreciated.

    Both!! Both are an essential part of a well rounded fitness routine!!
  • JustJennie1
    JustJennie1 Posts: 3,843 Member
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    Honestly it's up to you and what you want to do.

    You can do cardio and weights on the same day. With regards to which you "should" do first is again up to you.

    I do 30 min. of cardio followed by an hour of weights. Why? Because if I do my hour of weights first I'm in no mood to do the cardio after. I know this because I've listened to all the people who say you *have* to do cardio after weights and I skipped it because I just wasn't in the mood for it. I have also started adding in an extra round of cardio later in the day in the form of an hour long workout video or taking the dog on a very brisk walk 3-4 mile walk (and when I say brisk I'm talking 4.5 avg. MPH, rough terrain with hills).

    Also I'm not one who prescribes to the "Do cardio because then you can eat more!" theory. IMO doing that is counter productive.

    Then why do you do cardio instead of eating less? Seems counterproductive

    Not that it's any of your business (or that I even mentioned it in my post) I actually do both. I personally do not prescribe to the "I've burned a billion calories so I can eat as much as I want to now!" theory.

    Unless I am hallucinating your post says you do cardio. You said that doing cardio in order to eat more is counterproductive. Could it not be said then that doing cardio instead of eating less is counterproductive in the same manner or even more so since it is a missed opportunity to save time and money?

    What? You basically said the same thing.

    And why are you calling me out on my post any way?
  • Determinednoob
    Determinednoob Posts: 2,001 Member
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    What? You basically said the same thing.

    And why are you calling me out on my post any way?

    I won't bother explaining it again. I'll answer your question by saying to play devils adcovate.

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