stop overdoing cardio and hit the damn weights!!!

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  • jay10587
    jay10587 Posts: 57 Member
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    Don't you tell me what to do ! :laugh:
  • darrensurrey
    darrensurrey Posts: 3,942 Member
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    Whilst I'm in the "choose lifting over running" category, I never used to lift in my early 20s and was slim with little muscle mass. Mainly played badminton, some kind of martial arts (TKD, wu shu or something else) and enjoyed clubbing a lot. So it was all cardio.

    Thoughts? I was not skinny fat (that came 15 years later). I was slim.

    Of course, if we rewound the clock 15 years, I'd pick up heavy lumps of metal regardless of physique.
  • meeper123
    meeper123 Posts: 3,347 Member
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    Has seen some damn hot girls lifting heavy weight with no one bothering them in the slightest.

    Then they didn't go to the gyms that I'm talking about.

    To anyone who may want to visit those gyms, PM me. I'll be happy to send the locations. They are a local chain.

    Time to upgrade sounds like that or turn up the tunes lol
  • MstngSammy
    MstngSammy Posts: 436 Member
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    I love the way some people say the best way to burn more calories is to add more muscle, by lifting weights. Then others say, women don't bulk -- that is, they really do not put on much muscle when they lift.

    Gah! I find myself wondering about this, too. Say if a woman wasn't aware of the impact nutrition could have on her results, decides to exercise by lifting heavy weights but not drop the calories, indeed you only build muscle in a surplus. Couldn't she then get bigger, more shapely muscles, but with the fat over them just appear bulkier? With cardio only they probably just wouldn't by smaller but the look of the muscles would not really change. But when some women say this is their experience they're told to shut up and only the ones who got sexy from lifting can speak. Also when people point out women who've indeed got muscly and ripped from lifting, they're told to shut up and leave those women alone.

    Bulky or not has nothing to do with why I don't lift 140lbs, just thought the information out there can tend to be a bit one sided, and perhaps we let it be since lifting is, after all pretty great for your health

    Here's what you're confusing. If you're eating in a deficit and not lifting, you're losing LBM along with fat. If you're lifting and eating in a deficit you're maintaining as much LBM as you can. You're not gaining muscle, you're maintaining what you have. So yes, it is extremely difficult for a woman to gain muscle mass and/or get bulky, but by lifting you're maining that muscle mass you already have, rather than losing both fat AND muscle.

    It's not necissarily that the best way to burn more calories is to add more mass (as stated, it's really....really hard for a female to put on mass due to testosterone levels), it's to maintain what you've got.


    ^^^I like this explanation. Thank you for this.:smile:
  • hungryhobbit1
    hungryhobbit1 Posts: 259 Member
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    I run and I lift. The great thing about lifting is that it really takes very very little time. It shouldn't feel like this huge chore. If you concentrate on the major compound lifts and do one or two a day, switching between them from day to day, you can easily spend less than 10 minutes on weights and the rest of your time on cardio. (Squats, deadlifts, bench press, overhead press, maybe some cable pulldowns to get the back.) I'm very happy with the frame this has given me, while I'm working on cutting fat through cardio and diet.

    If you run on a treadmill at the gym at all it's easy to add in a little lifting after your run. (Ideally if you were lifting purely for strength gains you might not do it this way, but even after a run you'll still get some benefit.)
    I'd hit that ;)

    o wait - I already do. lol. I was a little scared to start, but I like the differences I am seeing. I love feeling of empowerment.

    That feeling of empowerment is what I feel when I run 6 miles, when I couldn't run to my mailbox 4 months ago. I WANT to have that feeling from weights so badly, because I know I need them. I think it's because the results are slow to build, where with running I instantly started dropping weight. I love that you love it. :)
  • MireyGal76
    MireyGal76 Posts: 7,334 Member
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    I do not actively lift weights.. I want to, but I just haven't figured out how I am going to fit it into my life. I believe that cardio has it's place (do some, but don't have to go crazy), I love what boxing does for me. My shape changes have come from bodyweight exercises, some medicine ball work, and hitting the heavy bag.

    My upper body looks like I push weight, when in fact, I do not. I just beat up a heavy bag.

    The main thing, in my opinion, is that people find where their passion lies. It may involve trying things they never would have thought they'd ever do in their life - like me trying boxing... or some others trying weights, or cross fit, or for weight people - adding in some cardio too.

    It's all about balance.

    AND quality of life.


    Do what you enjoy... if you don't enjoy what you are doing, then try something new. :)
  • PHATmommy68
    PHATmommy68 Posts: 112
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    I happen to combine both. Cardio first and then end my work out with weights....
  • LiminalAscendance
    LiminalAscendance Posts: 489 Member
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    Has seen some damn hot girls lifting heavy weight with no one bothering them in the slightest.

    Then they didn't go to the gyms that I'm talking about.

    To anyone who may want to visit those gyms, PM me. I'll be happy to send the locations. They are a local chain.

    Well, it's not exactly like a guy can't "hit on" a female without attracting the attention of every casual observer in the place. Do they all bash someone over the head with a stick?

    Someone makes a comment that they prefer not to receive unwanted advances in a public environment, and gets a rash of responses making light of it.

    I hope the scenario isn't that inconceivable!
  • meeper123
    meeper123 Posts: 3,347 Member
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    I happen to combine both. Cardio first and then end my work out with weights....

    I have been doing that but I think I am going to swap the order. I can run for hours but Oh dear lord those weights will kill me.
  • HarleyFatboyFan
    HarleyFatboyFan Posts: 344 Member
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    I like cardio and have had a lot of success losing weight doing it but need some support and tips for weight training on the weekends.
  • QuietBloom
    QuietBloom Posts: 5,413 Member
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    Overdoing cardio? Impossible! I live for cardio, because it lets me eat more. Plus I'm really good at it.

    I hit the pushups and the kettlebell for *damn* weights.
  • meeper123
    meeper123 Posts: 3,347 Member
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    Overdoing cardio? Impossible! I live for cardio, because it lets me eat more. Plus I'm really good at it.

    I hit the pushups and the kettlebell for *damn* weights.

    I actually burn a lot of calories lifting weights shrug
  • DymonNdaRgh40
    DymonNdaRgh40 Posts: 661 Member
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    I actually enjoy both. I started with lifting weights but always wanted to run and now I love it! I have to run! I just try to balance them out by alternating the days I train.

    I think doing what you enjoy is the best way to go. Although I have to admit that lifting weights has totally reshaped my body.

    I think both provide great benefits and results.
  • SezxyStef
    SezxyStef Posts: 15,268 Member
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    It's not for everyone and I think the main point is to find something you do love so you do it because you love it not because you "have" to.

    I adhor cardio...I love weights (thank goodness).

    Mind you I have convinced my cardio queen of a sister to try weights...(nothing heavy) and she is doing a lot of body weight exercises now plus smaller dumb bells and she looks fab....getting quite cut (something she never acheived with just cardio) and is basically at maintenance now...

    She loves her look even more now, the fact she can do "real" pushups and the defintion she is getting in her shoulders.

    At the end of the day tho do what you love but consider trying other things you might be surprised.
  • LuLuChick78
    LuLuChick78 Posts: 439 Member
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    It's not for everyone and I think the main point is to find something you do love so you do it because you love it not because you "have" to.

    I adhor cardio...I love weights (thank goodness).

    Mind you I have convinced my cardio queen of a sister to try weights...(nothing heavy) and she is doing a lot of body weight exercises now plus smaller dumb bells and she looks fab....getting quite cut (something she never acheived with just cardio) and is basically at maintenance now...

    She loves her look even more now, the fact she can do "real" pushups and the defintion she is getting in her shoulders.

    At the end of the day tho do what you love but consider trying other things you might be surprised.

    You summed it up very nicely :smile:

    Yay for your sister, that's awesome!

    You look fantastic btw :flowerforyou:
  • Beezil
    Beezil Posts: 1,677 Member
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    You can get stronger without getting bigger. I like strength training, I like getting stronger, I like having some muscle showing, especially abs and nice arms. I like having a perky butt and strong legs. I like having more stamina / endurance. Cardio is fun sometimes too, but I mostly do it for extra calories, heart health, and lungs.
  • firesoul19
    firesoul19 Posts: 37 Member
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    Obviously with 15 pages of comments, tl;dr.

    But has anyone entered Tae Bo or similar kick boxing workouts into the conversation? Yes, you may not get stronger doing them, but if you put force behind the kicks and punches, resistance bands, all the squats and some videos that have extensive ab workouts at the end..... shouldn't you be able to maintain your lean muscle mass this way too?

    I'm not trying to insinuate anything, just asking for opinions. After college I lost 55 lbs doing several exercises including Tae Bo and I think I looked pretty good back then.
  • ItsMeGee3
    ItsMeGee3 Posts: 13,255 Member
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    I love cardio. I'm a runner. I also love lifting. It's a great balance for cross training and let's face it....Great shoulders and arms are a plus too. Oh, and put some weights on the bar!
  • PamHealthMission
    PamHealthMission Posts: 471 Member
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    One thing I do find is that people often say, "Wow, you've lost so much weight lately." And I respond that I have not lost weight in a year. I changed my body composition.

    Weight lifting is great for helping women achieve and maintain bone density, so don't knock it just because you happen to like cardio better. I happen to like both. I feel that weights have had a much greater impact on how I look though.

    Me too...and lifting weights improved my bone density test from early signs of osteoporosis to normal. I lift to keep my muscles as I age which I can do nothing about. I lift more days than I do cardio (low intensity, high intensity).
  • Mischievous_Rascal
    Mischievous_Rascal Posts: 1,791 Member
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    Well, I've been getting a lot of "you're tiny, how much have you lost" comments from people I usually only see around this time of the year. It's fun to watch them try and grasp the concept of body recomp when I tell them I've actually gained. :)

    I just ran across this article. It's Yahoo, but it's a pretty cool read. http://health.yahoo.net/experts/yahoo-spotlight/why-your-cardio-routine-making-you-fat

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