Weight lifting or cardio?

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MensEtSalvere2013
MensEtSalvere2013 Posts: 230 Member
in Fitness and Exercise
Hey all, What is more important? Weight lifting or cardio to lose weight? My Dr. wants me to focus more on cardio than on lifting weights now. I typically lift 3-4 days a week but with travelling al lot this summer it's been harder. My trainer does not agree with my Dr. though. What should I do? I am currently at a nasty plateau. Been around the same weight the past month. Any help is appreciated. Down 66 pounds so far :)

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  • onwarddownward
    onwarddownward Posts: 1,683 Member
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    I think they go hand in hand. I do both. You wouldn't do weight training every day (needing recuperation time) so why not do cardio, too?

    I would feel my workouts would be incomplete without both and calesthenics (crunches, push ups, etc.) too.

    Good luck!
  • thatjeffsmith
    thatjeffsmith Posts: 110 Member
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    Yes, as in both are important.

    And neither - you can lose weight by just sticking to a good diet.


    Now that we have that generic advice out of the way, if you trust your Dr, I would listen to what s/he has to say. And listen to yourself, you've lost 66 pounds, so you already know a lot.

    I lift twice a week and do cardio 2-3x a week. But that's just me.
  • katekross
    katekross Posts: 463 Member
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    They do go hand in hand. I usually try do 6 days of cardio followed by 3 days of weights. But, I NEVER leave the gym after lifting, I always do at least 20 min. of cardio :)
  • YoBecca
    YoBecca Posts: 167
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    I agree re: doing both. But, for me, what has helped me push through plateaus has been to focus on increasing my intensity on one of the other. So, in my cardio, to make sure I am really pushing myself and leaving it all out there (going faster, going harder). Or, focusing on making gains in strength. I've never tried to make big leaps in both at the same time, but upping the intensity in one or the other has always helped me start to see improvements again.
  • cwolfman13
    cwolfman13 Posts: 41,868 Member
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    Any fitness regimen worth it's salt is going to have elements of both. You can't be truly fit without both. Weight loss is simply about calorie deficit and if you're using MFP, you have a weight loss deficit built into your calorie goal already...that being the case, you use your diet for weight loss; exercise for fitness. The fitness is just going to help you reshape your body and make you look better with the fat gone from your diet. Trying to create a deficit of calories with exercise itself is extremely inefficient because it would basically require you to over-train just to lose about 1 Lb per week.
  • DavPul
    DavPul Posts: 61,406 Member
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    I'll listen to the doctor when they say "lose weight" but when they say how to lose weight I tune them out as they are generally clueless.

    After such a major loss, a month long loss stall isn't usual. I'd hesitate to even call it a plateau. For me, I would either take a diet break or switch up my routine for a bit. Those can be both mentally and physically invigorating
  • taso42
    taso42 Posts: 8,980 Member
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    control your diet and control your weight. control your exercise and control your fitness.
  • MyJourney1960
    MyJourney1960 Posts: 1,133 Member
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    I agree re: doing both. But, for me, what has helped me push through plateaus has been to focus on increasing my intensity on one of the other. So, in my cardio, to make sure I am really pushing myself and leaving it all out there (going faster, going harder). Or, focusing on making gains in strength. I've never tried to make big leaps in both at the same time, but upping the intensity in one or the other has always helped me start to see improvements again.
    I agree with this. as well as readjusting your cal intake/food choices.
  • lexoxoc
    lexoxoc Posts: 135 Member
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    I agree on doing both. My schedule is: M-W-F Running & Lifting, T-Th Cardio (either Zumba, Yoga, Elliptical, Stairmaster, ect.).

    If you've been doing the same cardio workout's consistently than your body is going to get use to them and the pounds won't come off as easily. If you haven't switched up your cardio workout's than I would do that. I use to just do Yoga but after a few months the scale wouldn't budge so doing the same workout wasn't helping my plateau.

    Listen to your Doctor for now and have your trainer work with you on what your Doctor suggests.
  • CipherZero
    CipherZero Posts: 1,418 Member
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    It's fairly simple:
    [1] To lose weight, eat less.
    [2] To gain strength, lift heavy things repeatedly.
    [3] To build endurance, move quickly and in quantity.
  • Tessyloowhoo
    Tessyloowhoo Posts: 504
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    It's fairly simple:
    [1] To lose weight, eat less.
    [2] To gain strength, lift heavy things repeatedly.
    [3] To build endurance, move quickly and in quantity.

    This^^^ you i like you!
  • lithezebra
    lithezebra Posts: 3,670 Member
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    According to the peer reviewed research that I read, cardio is better for losing fat, AND lifting is better for maintaining muscle mass, especially if you're losing fat. Therefore, I choose to do both.
  • MensEtSalvere2013
    MensEtSalvere2013 Posts: 230 Member
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    Thanks all for the help. I am aiming to do both while upping my protein so I don't lose muscle.
  • Iron_Lotus
    Iron_Lotus Posts: 2,295 Member
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    It's fairly simple:
    [1] To lose weight, eat less.
    [2] To gain strength, lift heavy things repeatedly.
    [3] To build endurance, move quickly and in quantity.

    :flowerforyou:
  • water_coloured
    water_coloured Posts: 81 Member
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    Weight training will help you preserve LBM as you lose weight. Cardio will increase your calorie deficit.

    Personally, I prefer weight training over cardio.

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