WEIGHTS vs CARDIO

Cardio burns calories as well as weight training so both contribute to losing weight. I am sure there may be quite a few people who focus on weight training more than cardio to lose weight because you are also toning and losing inches instead of just pounds. I personally do both on different days to mix things up. I have learned to love running and I enjoy the cardio workout from it and it can tone your legs, but not the upper body so I add weights on other days. Cardio is also very good for your cardiovascular system which is important too.

Cardio and weights affect the body differently. If you're primary goal is weight loss (scale value), then your best bet is to do no exercise and focus solely on your diet.

More realistically, people should understand that there are numerous benefits to exercise (be it cardio or strength training) and realize that weight loss/being healthy is lifelong, not a temporary thing. As such, they should do both types of exercise and realize that progress will be/should be slow.

Thanks guys. I just think I need more weight training....but its so much easier to follow a dvd than do it alone on the home gym. I have tried P90X and Insanity ....I didn't like either. What would be a good balance? I currently do 5-6/days per week 20-40 minute DVDs....I switch different ones everyday.....I have about 10 different ones.

I would do 2-3 days of cardio (whatever you want) and 2-4 days of strength training (heavy weights like starting strength or stronglifts, body weight routines like convict conditioning, resistance bands, all can be good options).

the more muscle you have the more calories you burn.

People tend to correlate cardio with weight loss because the calorie burn is very easy to quantify, so the info is there. However, lifting weights burns calories too AND builds muscle (which burns calories all day). The problem is, the calorie expenditure is much more difficult to quantify because there are a ton of variables. You burn calories when you lift as well as during the recovery afterwards.

Anyways, I wouldn't QUIT cardio, but I do recommend that you do a mix of both.

Gaucho rocks

I would do 2-3 days of cardio (whatever you want) and 2-4 days of strength training (heavy weights like starting strength or stronglifts, body weight routines like convict conditioning, resistance bands, all can be good options).

^^^^thanks so much! I think..... M,W,F=Cardio and T,TH =Weights. How long on weights? 20 minutes?

All depends on what you're doing, rest periods, etc.. I'd probably budget something more like 30-60 minutes. Hell I'm still doing warm-ups at the 15 minute mark.

Hi, there is an link somewhere on this site that seems to explain why weight training is actually a preferred method. Im at work but i will dig it up later if someone doesn't already. Im still having this debate of what to focus on more. The article swayed me pretty heavily to weights tho.

For weight loss, all you need is a calories deficit.

Cardio (as well as being good for your CV system) helps to give you more of a deficit, so you can either eat more or lose a bit faster. But the weight you lose will be fat PLUS muscle.

Strength training (as was mentioned) is harder to quantify in terms of calories burned. But it is a fact that that muscles burn more calories than fat even while resting. And, by repeated use, your body is going to learn not to get rid of the muscle while on a calorie deficit. So, by doing resistance training, you (a) keep your muscle (b) burn more calories even when not working out, which equals higher fat loss and (c) will look great when you hit your target, because you won't be "skinny fat".

For warm ups, I do a few minutes of stretching, then start the first few exercises at lower weights (25% then 50% of working set weight).

If you have free weights, you can do Stronglifts or NROL4W, or find a plan here http://www.bodybuilding.com/guides/ that you can probably modify for your home gym. I generally do strength training 3 x per week, and cardio on the off days (plus one day with nothing).

Try rowing. Concept 2 indoor rowers are the best value and rowing is one the best cardio workouts you can get. Also, since it is a full-body workout, similar to swimming, it will build muscle while burning a large amount of calories.

I read on another forum that women take longer work outs to burn sufficient calories to lose weight. The trainer said that women do not start to burn stored calories until after 20 minutes of activity. So if your work out is 30 minutes, the first 20 is basically a warm up. So even though my circuit training is 30 minutes, I try to keep active after i finish it by doing house keeping or something like that.

Also, something else that I read, was that strength is important because weight training reshapes your body by improving muscle tone. Cardio helps burning the fat that is over the muscles to help them show through.

I don't know if either of those things help you or answer your questions, but they are things that stick in my mind.

You are thinking of burning glycogen stores, NOT calories.

Anyway.... Here's the difference.


Cardio is GREAT for the following- overall health and heart health, creating a caloric deficit

Assuming you are already in a caloric deficit the second becomes null and void.

Strength traing is GREAT for the following- PRESERVING MUSCLE MASS (which means you have a higher BMR or metabolic rate), CONTINUING TO BURN CALORIES when you are done with the exercise (You continue to burn calories for up to 14 hours, so even though you may burn more INITIALLY in your cardio session, you stop when you stop that exercise), and lastly FEELING STRONG.


I personally do a mixture of both, but i focus on strength training. I actually hate cardio..... alot. I ONLY do it for the heart benifits.

If you are doing workout videos a lot as your cardio you might just need to do them with dumbells. A lot of those exercises rely on you using body weight, when you get smaller obviously the body weight is not as challenging as it would be if you were 60 lbs overweight, so the closer you get to your ideal weight and the more fit you get the harder you need to make your workouts in order to get a decent burn from it. 3-5lbs dumbells, hand or ankle weights might help when you are doing cardio (videos or cardio machines)

Also check your body fat%, 10 lbs is not so much that I would worry unless your body fat is high. If your body fat % is low then you just need to build up the muscles that are in your body and being flabby, it's not the same thing as having 10 lbs of fat.

Do both. I do.

Nothing stopping you from doing cardio & weights. I do mine all in one session as well. Even my PT at the gym says it's goo what I do.

I do ALL my cardio with some kind of weight. Zumba with hand & ankle weights, I even dance around the house with hand & ankle weights.

I read on another forum that women take longer work outs to burn sufficient calories to lose weight. The trainer said that women do not start to burn stored calories until after 20 minutes of activity. So if your work out is 30 minutes, the first 20 is basically a warm up. So even though my circuit training is 30 minutes, I try to keep active after i finish it by doing house keeping or something like that.

Also, something else that I read, was that strength is important because weight training reshapes your body by improving muscle tone. Cardio helps burning the fat that is over the muscles to help them show through.

I don't know if either of those things help you or answer your questions, but they are things that stick in my mind.

You are thinking of burning glycogen stores, NOT calories.

Anyway.... Here's the difference.


Cardio is GREAT for the following- overall health and heart health, creating a caloric deficit

Assuming you are already in a caloric deficit the second becomes null and void.

Strength traing is GREAT for the following- PRESERVING MUSCLE MASS (which means you have a higher BMR or metabolic rate), CONTINUING TO BURN CALORIES when you are done with the exercise (You continue to burn calories for up to 14 hours, so even though you may burn more INITIALLY in your cardio session, you stop when you stop that exercise), and lastly FEELING STRONG.


I personally do a mixture of both, but i focus on strength training. I actually hate cardio..... alot. I ONLY do it for the heart benifits.

Ahhh... Thank you for clarifying that. I always appreciate finding new information.