Cardio & weightlifting VS. Cardio only

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Replies

  • erickirb
    erickirb Posts: 12,294 Member
    Strength training helps burn fat during cardio exercise. If you want to shed some serious fat, and tone you body then lift weights and do strength training exercises before your cardio workout.

    You need to do more reps lighter weight to tone, and less reps and heavier reps to bulk.

    No,
    high weight low reps = strength gain and muscle retention in a caloric deficit (not muscle gain)
    Low weight high reps = increased endurance
    Moderate weight, moderate reps (8-15 rep range) = moderate strength gain and muscle retention benefits while in a deficit
  • Katerina67
    Katerina67 Posts: 21
    From my own experience the best way to loose weight and get toned body is to do both weight lifting and cardio. Moreover, when I did weight lifting only the results were better vs cardio only (of course, you have to make sure that you burm more calories than you eat). You won't get bulky from weight lifting 2-3 times a day with medium to high repetitions (10-25 reps, 2-5 sets). Unless you are a pure endomrph (somebody who easily builds up musscles and has VERY hard time burning fat), it takes some effort to get bulky from weight lifting (these people can build muuscles just by doing cardio).
    So weight lifting is the must :)
  • RGv2
    RGv2 Posts: 5,789 Member
    the more muscle you have the higher your metabolism is the more fat you will lose. Remember you might weigh more because you've gained muscle but you will get smaller because muscle takes up less room than fat. I would do 3 cardio days 3 weight days per week. and measure yourself don't weigh yourself. scales are depressing to me and they don't give an accurate account of your progress. and make sure when lifting you are using a weight you are challenged with. if your doing 10 reps and its not a challenge on the last couple reps its to light. when beginning weight training you will have a little water weight because your muscles hold fluids to heal but don't let that discourage you if you keep it up then your muscles will get use to it and not hold so much.

    Unless she switches from a caloric deficit to a caloric surplus, OP won't put on enough muscle mass to move the scale up...especially post "noob" gains.
  • j6o4
    j6o4 Posts: 871 Member
    You don't need cardio at all for weight loss. What cardio does is allow you to eat more to lose the same amount of weight you could have lost from diet alone. (Eating 500 cals less than maintenance and burning 500 cals from exercise would yeild the same weight loss result as cutting 1000 cals from your diet).

    Adding strength training in will help lead to a higher % of your loss coming from fat, vs with no strength training. In other words if you strength train you will keep the muscle you already have, if you don't you will lose some of that muscle.

    So that said best thing for fat loss (not weight loss, fat loss) is strength training, adequate protein intake, and a caloric deficit. the caloric deficit can be from diet alone, or a combo of diet and exercise.

    Yep

    A) It's a mix.

    B) losing weight is less calories in vs calories out. Exercise helps with this deficit, cardio with great high cal burns.

    C) Lifting weights helps you maintain muscle mass as the weight comes off, so you have better definition. Why would you want to do all this cardio, ad then have to work that much harder to put muscle back on.

    D) No matter how much you lift, if you're in a deficit you won't bulk.


    Yep

    Triple Yep
  • TLCorsini
    TLCorsini Posts: 78
    Strength training helps burn fat during cardio exercise. If you want to shed some serious fat, and tone you body then lift weights and do strength training exercises before your cardio workout.

    You need to do more reps lighter weight to tone, and less reps and heavier reps to bulk.

    No,
    high weight low reps = strength gain and muscle retention in a caloric deficit (not muscle gain)
    Low weight high reps = increased endurance
    Moderate weight, moderate reps (8-15 rep range) = moderate strength gain and muscle retention benefits while in a deficit

    I'm new to the weightlifting scene (can you tell?). Does it matter what type of weight exercise I'm doing? i.e. deadlift or leg press etc.
  • erickirb
    erickirb Posts: 12,294 Member
    Strength training helps burn fat during cardio exercise. If you want to shed some serious fat, and tone you body then lift weights and do strength training exercises before your cardio workout.

    You need to do more reps lighter weight to tone, and less reps and heavier reps to bulk.

    No,
    high weight low reps = strength gain and muscle retention in a caloric deficit (not muscle gain)
    Low weight high reps = increased endurance
    Moderate weight, moderate reps (8-15 rep range) = moderate strength gain and muscle retention benefits while in a deficit

    I'm new to the weightlifting scene (can you tell?). Does it matter what type of weight exercise I'm doing? i.e. deadlift or leg press etc.

    If you are interested some good info in the Book Starting Strength, or even New Rules of Lifting for Women. These programs focus on the core compound lifts
  • celenachan
    celenachan Posts: 12 Member
    I am someone that did purely cardio first...and became undermuscled...skinny, but weak. It's a struggle now trying to gain muscle/clean bulk and seeing the numbers on the scale go up. I would suggest you do a combo of both so you wont be in this position later.

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