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Is lifting enough?

lorigem
lorigem Posts: 446 Member
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I'm at a caloric deficit averaging at about -500 daily and would like to be down about 45 more pounds (although I don't really care about the number so much as how I will look at that weight). I absolutely love lifting and have been focusing heavily on that lately. In the past months, I've added mostly cardio (with some HIIT) on my non-lifting days. But I hate cardio, I really do. I recently made the decision to quit the gym because my husband and I bought our own power rack/bench press. So we have all we need to lift. I do have a treadmill as well but I find that so incredibly BORING.

So my question is, can I meet my goal with JUST lifting? Or will it benefit me more to add in cardio as well?

And bonus question: If I just keep lifting, will I meet my goal of a 45 pound loss by next May? I gave myself a year to lose a total of 55 pounds. Well I'm down 10 (almost 11) in 3 months so it's going slowly. But I really just started lifting (consistently) for about 2 months.
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Replies

  • SideSteel
    SideSteel Posts: 11,068 Member
    If you can maintain an energy deficit without cardio then you will continue to lose weight without cardio.
  • Sarauk2sf
    Sarauk2sf Posts: 28,072 Member
    If you can maintain an energy deficit without cardio then you will continue to lose weight without cardio.

    Yep. Fwiw, neither of us does cardio as we both hate it. We do feel that increasing neat (non exercise activity) such as going for walks can be very effective in helping create a deficit.

    With regard to your last question, that is dependent on creating the necessary deficit.
  • zumbajheri
    zumbajheri Posts: 200 Member
    Do you guys think that this is enough to maintain heart health? This and the hibbidy dibbidy, of course! lulz:smokin:
  • Sarauk2sf
    Sarauk2sf Posts: 28,072 Member
    Do you guys think that this is enough to maintain heart health? This and the hibbidy dibbidy, of course! lulz:smokin:

    For me, yes. I cannot answer for others. But the response was in relation to weight loss.
  • grantwashere
    grantwashere Posts: 171 Member
    I too hate cardio. I'm down 16 lbs so far with heavy lifting. Calories are key. How you do it is up to you.
  • wffolkes
    wffolkes Posts: 186 Member
    I have found it hard to just lift and lose weight mainly down to accuracy of my deficit, I have tightened up but also added cardio on workout days to speed things up.
  • tomcornhole
    tomcornhole Posts: 1,084 Member
    I have done cardio 3 times total in the last 6 weeks. I have been doing 5/3/1 + Boring But Big (BBB) four times a week (4 day split routine) during that same period. I got on the treadmill yesterday and was as fit as ever. Saw no decrease in speed or stamina. I can't speak for anyone else, but a lifting session for me is 60 minutes of HIIT. Maybe not so much on the warmup sets. But the last work set gets the 'ole ticker a pumpin' pretty hard. And then the last 5x10 of BBB are very high intensity. Then I can't walk.
  • strongmindstrongbody
    strongmindstrongbody Posts: 315 Member
    For those of you who don't do cardio and just lift, what are your calorie intakes? Pretty low?
  • SideSteel
    SideSteel Posts: 11,068 Member
    For those of you who don't do cardio and just lift, what are your calorie intakes? Pretty low?

    I lose fat on 2200-2500 calories and I start to gain when my caloric intake clears 3300 or so. This is plenty high enough for me and I diet down to about the leanness you see in my .avi at the end of my cut, which I'd peg around the 10% mark.
  • SideSteel
    SideSteel Posts: 11,068 Member
    Do you guys think that this is enough to maintain heart health? This and the hibbidy dibbidy, of course! lulz:smokin:

    I'm really not certain how something like that would be assessed so I can't answer with certainty, but:

    My belief is that the intense exercise that I'm doing is positively influencing heart health to some degree even though it's not cardio.
  • tomcornhole
    tomcornhole Posts: 1,084 Member
    For those of you who don't do cardio and just lift, what are your calorie intakes? Pretty low?

    I am similar to sidesteel. I lose at 2200-2400 cal / day and maintain at 2,850 cal / day. Haven't done a bulk yet so not sure where that would be but I would imagine it would be around 3200 cal / day. I'm 47yo, male, 185 lbs, 13% BF.
  • sjohnny
    sjohnny Posts: 56,142 Member
    .
  • strongmindstrongbody
    strongmindstrongbody Posts: 315 Member
    I lose fat on 2200-2500 calories and I start to gain when my caloric intake clears 3300 or so. This is plenty high enough for me and I diet down to about the leanness you see in my .avi at the end of my cut, which I'd peg around the 10% mark.
    I am similar to sidesteel. I lose at 2200-2400 cal / day and maintain at 2,850 cal / day. Haven't done a bulk yet so not sure where that would be but I would imagine it would be around 3200 cal / day. I'm 47yo, male, 185 lbs, 13% BF.

    Damn, that's impressive! Is it just a guy thing?
  • SideSteel
    SideSteel Posts: 11,068 Member
    I lose fat on 2200-2500 calories and I start to gain when my caloric intake clears 3300 or so. This is plenty high enough for me and I diet down to about the leanness you see in my .avi at the end of my cut, which I'd peg around the 10% mark.
    I am similar to sidesteel. I lose at 2200-2400 cal / day and maintain at 2,850 cal / day. Haven't done a bulk yet so not sure where that would be but I would imagine it would be around 3200 cal / day. I'm 47yo, male, 185 lbs, 13% BF.

    Damn, that's impressive! Is it just a guy thing?

    No, but it varies from person to person. You of course need to have enough total daily energy expenditure to be able to create the deficit without any cardio, and smaller females will generally struggle with this.
  • bumblebums
    bumblebums Posts: 2,181 Member
    I am a woman, and I am maintaining on 2400 calories a day. The only cardio I do is walk with my dog. Occasionally, I'll go on a hike.

    There is a common misunderstanding that you have to do cardio to lose weight. It is much easier to create an energy deficit by manipulating your intake, not by increasing your expenditure. I exercise to be healthy and functional, not to lose weight.
  • Chief_Rocka
    Chief_Rocka Posts: 4,710 Member
    In my experience, men can easily maintain a calorie deficit with diet + lifting, but it can be more difficult for women. I see women doing lifting only, eating ~1500 cals, bodyfat plateauing in the mid to low 20s. At that point, many will find adding cardio preferable to further calorie reduction.
  • taunto
    taunto Posts: 6,420 Member
    tagging a good thread.
  • ZoeLifts
    ZoeLifts Posts: 10,347 Member
    I have found that I am able to steadily decrease body fat (and weight, though it is slow) without cardio. I do heavy lifting 4 times per week and am currently eating to recomp, so it averages to about 1700 per day, which is my TDEE at the moment. I would love to eat more and have toyed with the idea of adding in some cardio throughout the week, but I just can't seem to make myself add in cardio again at any level.

    But I agree with all of the above, it is certainly possible. I have enjoyed living cardio free for the past year or so.
  • Sarauk2sf
    Sarauk2sf Posts: 28,072 Member
    For those of you who don't do cardio and just lift, what are your calorie intakes? Pretty low?

    When I was bulking, I was maintaining for quite a while on 2,500.
  • NovemberJune
    NovemberJune Posts: 2,525 Member
    My cardio is walking to and from the gym and 5-10 minutes on the elliptical for warm up 4 times per week and some walks with my family. I maintain on about 1900-2000. The problem is, I'd like to LOSE some more fat but I know that means I either need to up the cardio, increase my NEAT somehow, or eat less :sad: lol
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