Has cardio weakened me?

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hazeljordan1974
hazeljordan1974 Posts: 107 Member
in Fitness and Exercise
I lost 70lbs through MFP and cardio - either walking or running - yes I did it too fast, nothing I can do about that now...

I have been talking to one of the personal trainers in the gym - well he keeps coming up to me and commenting on my routine etc - he had half an hour to spare so put together (and made me do) a lower body strength session that hurt my legs etc.. I told him about my reluctance to completely let go of cardio as it helped me lose the weight - he said it had nothing to do with the cardio and really only to do with what I ate. He told me that I should be able to leg press more than I can and that I should be stronger than I am currently. I have never really been strong - my upper body strength is really poor, I am trying to change this. Could he be right though? Has cardio completely messed me up?

Although my body needs more toning I can feel muscles in my arms, legs and abs and am pretty pleased with my progress so far, I have put together a core and arm work out which I can feel working, I just know it will take time and that I shouldn't be discouraged by what has gone before.
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Replies

  • darrensurrey
    darrensurrey Posts: 3,942 Member
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    "Use it or lose it".

    Something to think about - if you have a PTer giving you advice and routines then you need to follow him 100% otherwise you cannot make any judgements on his skill/knowledge/usefulness or lack thereof.
  • sammniamii
    sammniamii Posts: 669 Member
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    Cardio is endurance, strength training is exactly that - strength training.

    Even in my beginning, I hated cardio but did it..... BUT I always did something with the "floor" machines for strength. I finally got off the machines into Free weights, with cardio after and.... love it. I've also kept the 70lb I've lost off for a year.

    No one says you HAVE to give up cardio, just add some strength training 3 days a week, with your cardio in between.

    In the end it's what you are happy with that you need to deal with.
  • ironanimal
    ironanimal Posts: 5,922 Member
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    If you lost weight fast and didn't do any resistance exercise, chances are you did lose a fairly large amount of muscle along the way.
  • AmykinsCatfood
    AmykinsCatfood Posts: 599 Member
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    Cardio is excellent for maintain lung and heart function.. I think you can agree that that is important. However, if you weren't doing any sort of strength training you would be weaker than someone who does, just common biology. Just keep working on your strength training and you'll be good to go!
  • sarahrbraun
    sarahrbraun Posts: 2,261 Member
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    I lost 70lbs through MFP and cardio - either walking or running - yes I did it too fast, nothing I can do about that now...

    I have been talking to one of the personal trainers in the gym - well he keeps coming up to me and commenting on my routine etc - he had half an hour to spare so put together (and made me do) a lower body strength session that hurt my legs etc.. I told him about my reluctance to completely let go of cardio as it helped me lose the weight - he said it had nothing to do with the cardio and really only to do with what I ate. He told me that I should be able to leg press more than I can and that I should be stronger than I am currently. I have never really been strong - my upper body strength is really poor, I am trying to change this. Could he be right though? Has cardio completely messed me up?

    Although my body needs more toning I can feel muscles in my arms, legs and abs and am pretty pleased with my progress so far, I have put together a core and arm work out which I can feel working, I just know it will take time and that I shouldn't be discouraged by what has gone before.

    I don't know that it has "weakened" you, but I do know that it is possible to lose weight without doing a butt load of cardio.

    I worked with a trainer for months, and the last routine he wrote for me only had me doing 20-30 minutes of cardio 4 days a week. The 5th day I did about 90 minutes ( I was taking a 60 min dance class). I also did a good 60 minutes of weight training 4-5 days a week. In the last 2 weeks I have lost about a pound, despite "gaining" 2 lbs for Thanksgiving.
  • ArtemisRuns
    ArtemisRuns Posts: 251 Member
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    Why would you think cardio would weaken you? My runner's legs are strong.
  • michellekicks
    michellekicks Posts: 3,624 Member
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    If you lost weight fast and didn't do any resistance exercise, chances are you did lose a fairly large amount of muscle along the way.

    This.

    I lost 60 lbs on weight watchers in my 20's and I didn't do any weight training specifically. The closest thing to resistance training I did was kickboxing, which incorporated things like pushups and air squats etc.

    Of the 60 lbs I lost, 13.5 lbs was lean body mass... almost 25%.
  • Mr_Knight
    Mr_Knight Posts: 9,532 Member
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    If you lost weight fast and didn't do any resistance exercise, chances are you did lose a fairly large amount of muscle along the way.

    She would have lost it even with training - 85% of LBM retention during dieting is strictly genetics. Lifting makes a difference, but let's no go overboard with expectations - the difference is in the margins.
    Of the 60 lbs I lost, 13.5 lbs was lean body mass... almost 25%.

    Don't sweat it. Unless you are a genetic freak, lifting would have only preserved up to 2 pounds of that. And quite possibly none.
  • msf74
    msf74 Posts: 3,498 Member
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    I suspect cardio hasn't weakened you but you haven't really trained to be strength or your environment does not require that of you naturally.

    Your body adapts to the demands you place on it.

    You haven't demanded it to be strong.
  • geebusuk
    geebusuk Posts: 3,348 Member
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    Quite likely, especially if you didn't eat a lot of protein while losing weight quickly, you are weaker now.

    If you want a demonstration, get a 70lb weight-vest and wear it for a whole day (maybe not running).

    First off, bet you get tired pretty quickly.
    Secondly, if you keep doing it, bet you get some muscle back.

    It is possible to keep hold of the muscle you have, but I believe in many cases people can actually end up with proportionally less if they lose too quickly!

    Weight loss is calories in vs calories out.
    So doing cardio means for the same speed of weight loss, you can eat more.


    The concept of 'tone' isn't too useful.
    What this means usually is visibly seeing not too big muscles.
    So you can do this by either losing more weight or gaining more muscle.

    Regardless, I'd certainly start the routine provided for you and see how it goes.
    Of course the good with cardio is that it also improves you aerobic fitness generally.
  • Sarahnade42x
    Sarahnade42x Posts: 308 Member
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    I'm in pretty much the same boat -- Lost 80lbs by focusing on cardio/nutrition and ended up losing a lot of strength. It's not that cardio "messed you up," it's that when you lose weight, you lose both body fat and muscle unless you strength train to maintain the lean mass (the "use it or lose it" concept). Now I'm lifting to get that muscle back -- that's more important to me than numbers at this point.
  • FrnkLft
    FrnkLft Posts: 1,821 Member
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    Here's how it all works:

    - Diet = Lose/Maintain/Gain Fat and Muscle Weight
    - Cardio = Most time efficient way to burn calories, great for cardiovascular health and endurance
    - Heavy Lifting = Great way to burn calories too, necessary for muscle maintenance/gain & strength

    Cardio might have made you a bit weaker, but that can easily be fixed by working on lifting. You don't need to drop cardio, though if you're going to be doing both, you'll have to feel it out and find your balance.
  • hazeljordan1974
    hazeljordan1974 Posts: 107 Member
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    Thank you all for your advice and help...

    I will seriously start my weights regime - it is scary though as I know I can't build muscle with a calorie deficit so will need to eat more to build this muscle.

    I will take note of the PT in the gym - he knows better than me and has the body to prove it. Tomorrow is my first body pump session in a very long time - scared!

    Here we go - the next stage of getting a better body!
  • Krista916
    Krista916 Posts: 258
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    Eventually, you will stop seeing they type of results you are seeing right now with cardio. You need to build lean muscle to help burn fat more efficiantly. What about HIIT? It's still cardio but it incorporates weights as well.
  • anothermop
    anothermop Posts: 187 Member
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    I completed Insanity and P90X, so I decided to do something different and run 4 or 5 days a week. I did that for about 6 weeks and I was bored out of my mind. So I started another round of P90X. I could only do about half of the pull-ups I was doing just 2 months before. It's taken me almost 2 months of P90X to get those pull-ups back.

    I need to find that mix of exercises: Strength and Cardio
  • GiddyupTim
    GiddyupTim Posts: 2,819 Member
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    Seems like most people would agree with the things the trainer told you. But . . . isn't it a bit presumptuous of him to tell you -- unsolicited, since you did not hire a session with him -- what to do? Perhaps he is stressing lifting because that is what he gets PAID to help people do?
    Nothing wrong with running. Running makes your legs strong (when you are not eating in a deficit). And, if you really want to make your legs stronger, you can: sprint (do fartleks), run hills, do box jumps after your run, run stairs.
    Course, if you want to lift, it will make your stronger faster.
    I just wouldn't get all befuddled just because some guy told you to do something, especially when what you have been doing has been working for you.
  • geebusuk
    geebusuk Posts: 3,348 Member
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    If you're an experienced weight lifer that has been doing it for a while with lowish body fat already and no extra chemical 'help', then you'll have serious trouble to gain and lose at the same time.

    However, there's plenty of cases of people that are relatively 'new' who don't have much muscle managing to at least gain strength and lose fat.

    I'd look at the 'lean gains' method - http://rippedbody.jp/2011/10/08/leangains-intermittent-fasting-guide-how-to-do-it-by-yourself/
    The basic idea is you eat more on the days you weight train, so that goes towards muscle, with your deficit on days you don't.

    Even without that, I'd say I've at least not lost strength on a serious deficit (likely well over 1000) in the past because at the time I was doing a lot of heavy work day in day out (I was shifting a large unit's worth of car parts to another unit - so carrying gearbox's or two car doors at a time say up a few flights of stairs.)
    Seems like most people would agree with the things the trainer told you. But . . . isn't it a bit presumptuous of him to tell you -- unsolicited, since you did not hire a session with him -- what to do?
    I presumed he fancied her :).
  • Kevalicious99
    Kevalicious99 Posts: 1,131 Member
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    Thank you all for your advice and help...

    Tomorrow is my first body pump session in a very long time - scared!

    Body pump is awesome. You will love it .. but the first week or two is probably going to be tough. Just use a little amount of weight and you will be fine.
  • hazeljordan1974
    hazeljordan1974 Posts: 107 Member
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    I presumed he fancied her :).

    Well he did talk about coffee and ask a lot of questions - but he talks to a lot of girls in the gym...
  • geekyjock76
    geekyjock76 Posts: 2,720 Member
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    If you lost weight fast and didn't do any resistance exercise, chances are you did lose a fairly large amount of muscle along the way.

    She would have lost it even with training - 85% of LBM retention during dieting is strictly genetics. Lifting makes a difference, but let's no go overboard with expectations - the difference is in the margins.
    Of the 60 lbs I lost, 13.5 lbs was lean body mass... almost 25%.

    Don't sweat it. Unless you are a genetic freak, lifting would have only preserved up to 2 pounds of that. And quite possibly none.
    I haven't seen a post this bad since reading EccentricDad's post.

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