cardio or weights?

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13

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  • sally_jeffswife
    sally_jeffswife Posts: 766 Member
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    Both are best.
  • GamerLady
    GamerLady Posts: 359 Member
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    If you go every day in the week, I would do M/W/F weights and T/Th cardio.
    That's what I do too, 3 days weights, 2 days spinning.
  • amann1976
    amann1976 Posts: 742 Member
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    the answer is neither. weight loss is controlled by what you put in your mouth calories in vs calories. cardio and weight training are for your fitness level and a healthier you. you can do all the cardio or weights you want but if your diet ain't tight the only results you will see is 2-3 lbs of water weight bouncing back and forth
  • zach334455
    zach334455 Posts: 1
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    I was wondering the same thing.

    I'm 17, 165 pounds (not a lot of muscle mass haha I haven't been able to go to lift weights in, well, almost 8 months). I want to get rid of the extra fat, so I've been doing a lot of cardio (maybe 5-6 hours a week) for the past two weeks and eating about 1300 calories a day.

    Is this the correct thing to do? I would also like to be able to have noticeable muscle when I get to my goal (around 150 pounds). Should I also be doing a lot of weightlifting? But don't you need to eat more to gain muscle? ahh, conflicting goals lol.

    If anyone knows, please message me. Thank you so much! :)
  • ndj1979
    ndj1979 Posts: 29,136 Member
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    I was wondering the same thing.

    I'm 17, 165 pounds (not a lot of muscle mass haha I haven't been able to go to lift weights in, well, almost 8 months). I want to get rid of the extra fat, so I've been doing a lot of cardio (maybe 5-6 hours a week) for the past two weeks and eating about 1300 calories a day.

    Is this the correct thing to do? I would also like to be able to have noticeable muscle when I get to my goal (around 150 pounds). Should I also be doing a lot of weightlifting? But don't you need to eat more to gain muscle? ahh, conflicting goals lol.

    If anyone knows, please message me. Thank you so much! :)

    here is what you do ..

    1. learn compound lifts - bench press, deadlift, squat, overhead press, pull ups, chin ups,etc..
    2. incorporate these movies into a three day a week total body routine where you are hitting legs/arms/shoulders/back/tris/ (m,w,f)
    3. Do cardio on off days so tues/thursday....
    4. rest two days
    5 repeat...
  • RyanWilson1993
    RyanWilson1993 Posts: 409 Member
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    Use both and eat good clean foods also you can't just target stomach fat
  • Sarauk2sf
    Sarauk2sf Posts: 28,072 Member
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    I was wondering the same thing.

    I'm 17, 165 pounds (not a lot of muscle mass haha I haven't been able to go to lift weights in, well, almost 8 months). I want to get rid of the extra fat, so I've been doing a lot of cardio (maybe 5-6 hours a week) for the past two weeks and eating about 1300 calories a day.

    Is this the correct thing to do? I would also like to be able to have noticeable muscle when I get to my goal (around 150 pounds). Should I also be doing a lot of weightlifting? But don't you need to eat more to gain muscle? ahh, conflicting goals lol.

    If anyone knows, please message me. Thank you so much! :)

    First of all, I would check that the 1,300 is not too low. Make sure you are weighing your food with a digital food scale and be really good about logging.

    You should start weight lifting - not because you will have any appreciable muscle gains, but to maintain the muscle that you have.
  • mattdsoares
    mattdsoares Posts: 13
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    Both. A good idea is to alternate cardio and strength training days. The cardio will directly consume calories which will burn fat. The strength training will encourage muscle growth and increase the resting caloric consumption rate of those muscles, also burning fat.
  • pocketmole
    pocketmole Posts: 614 Member
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    post-9247-Why-don-t-we-have-both-LyiW.gif
  • tacguy
    tacguy Posts: 196
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    Hi All,

    Which is better to lose weight - cardio or weights? Its mainly tummy fat, I look pregnant. Any help please....

    Ideally, any physical fitness program should include the four fundementals of fitness:
    Muscular Strength
    Muscular Endurance
    Cardiovascular fitness
    Mobility & Flexablity

    Health and fitness (which will lead to a healthy weight) cannot be defined by only one of these. Find a program that adresses all four and, with a healthy diet, you will be successful.
  • edack72
    edack72 Posts: 173 Member
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    BOTH!!!!
  • ElevatorSoup
    ElevatorSoup Posts: 14
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    Whatever works best for you. There is no right answer.
  • JustJennie1
    JustJennie1 Posts: 3,843 Member
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    Both but what ever will work for you and what you will stick to.

    I do 30 min of cardio daily followed by an hour+ of weights. Cardio leans me out while the weights gives me a nice muscular physique. And I actually LIKE doing cardio.
  • RippedNicole
    RippedNicole Posts: 6
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    To lose weight, you don't need either. You just need a caloric deficit, which you can achieve by moderating your food intake. No cardio or weight training required.

    However, you clearly want to lose fat, and there is a difference between weight loss and fat loss. For optimal fat loss, you need a caloric deficit to drop pounds, along with adequate protein intake and strength training to maintain your lean body mass so that most or all of the pounds you lose are in the form of fat and not muscle.

    Cardio is not a necessary part of the fat loss process. If your goal is to improve your cardiovascular fitness/health, do it. If you have performance goals that involve "cardio" activities like running or cycling, do it. If you enjoy cardio, do it. But if your only goal is fat loss, you don't need it.

    Game, set and match.

    yep
  • Givemewings
    Givemewings Posts: 864 Member
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    A combination of both is best.
  • Matt_Wild
    Matt_Wild Posts: 2,673 Member
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    If cardio is so great, why does one always see the same people doing the same cardio, and no change in body comp?

    The OP asked which one was best if they could only do one, its resistance without a shadow of a doubt. For my current cut, I've lost around 8-10kg doing zero cardio. Yo when she was dieting for her comp that she won the entire show, did about 10-15 lots of cardio in 6 months.

    Its over rated that cardio. Unless you like it!
  • ateamtrainer
    ateamtrainer Posts: 12
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    I think a lot of people missed that you were short on time and that you are a Mom so it's gonna be difficult to gain enough muscle for it to have a significant impact on your metabolic rate.

    In your case I think cardio wins, but don't take my word for it, search and read the summary of a scientific study titled

    Effects of aerobic and/or resistance training on body mass and fat mass in overweight or obese adults

    and then you can decide for yourself.
  • Sarauk2sf
    Sarauk2sf Posts: 28,072 Member
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    I think a lot of people missed that you were short on time and that you are a Mom so it's gonna be difficult to gain enough muscle for it to have a significant impact on your metabolic rate.

    In your case I think cardio wins, but don't take my word for it, search and read the summary of a scientific study titled

    Effects of aerobic and/or resistance training on body mass and fat mass in overweight or obese adults

    and then you can decide for yourself.

    No, many did not miss it. You do not resistance train to gain muscle on a deficit, you do it to maintain muscle.
  • ateamtrainer
    ateamtrainer Posts: 12
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    Not many but I was talking about those who referred to increasing her metabolic rate. She doesn't need to worry too much about maintaining muscle mass other than to eat enough protein at the moment. The reason being that from her original post it would seem that her body fat is well over 20% and therefore so long as her deficit is not too extreme her body will burn off much more fat in preference to lean muscle.
  • Sarauk2sf
    Sarauk2sf Posts: 28,072 Member
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    Not many but I was talking about those who referred to increasing her metabolic rate. She doesn't need to worry too much about maintaining muscle mass other than to eat enough protein at the moment. The reason being that from her original post it would seem that her body fat is well over 20% and therefore so long as her deficit is not too extreme her body will burn off much more fat in preference to lean muscle.

    You do not maintain muscle mass without resistance training, no matter how much protein you get.

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