Cardio vs. Weight Training

Weight training does not build muscle on top of fat. It doesn't even necessarily build muscle, but it preserves your lean tissue so that your body can burn fat instead of muscle while you are eating at a calorie deficit. Without weight training, as you eat at a calorie deficit, your body will burn both lean tissue and fat.

If I were you, start weight training right away. The changes to your body are going to really surprise you. I lost weight while doing solely strength training, no cardio, and my body shape really benefitted from it.

Strength/ weight training is #1 in my book! Spent years on a freakin treadmill- no good. Started w/weights, down 61# and 50ish inches and from a 28 to a 16 in jeans. Changes your body composition big time!

Do both and don't wait.......cardio burns more calories. Weights help your preserve lean muscle mass. Sounds like a win win to me.

everyone that has ever followed that plan (cardio now to lose weight, strength training to build muscle later) always end up saying the same thing...

"i wish i had started strength training sooner."

everyone that has ever followed that plan (cardio now to lose weight, strength training to build muscle later) always end up saying the same thing...

"i wish i had started strength training sooner."

Quoted for truth.... ask me how I know...lol
and because that is the best avatar ever.

Sounds like a great plan!

It would require exponentially more work for the OP to follow that plan and try to put muscle back on, rather than working to maintain the muscle mass now.....

OP, you should start yesterday.

When you're in a deficit you lose water, fat, and muscle. When in that deficit you can work through a progressive overload strength plan to maintain your Lean Body Mass. This means that you will lose mainly water and fat while working to maintain muscle. This means that as you lose the fat, you'll uncover the muscle that you have been maintaining, thus creating muscle definition. You're not growing it, just uncovering it.

Cardio if you like it, because it's good for you, and it allows you to eat more while staying in your deficit, mixed with a good lifting program, plus patience, and you'll get there.

I agree with Capt. Apollo - everyone I know says they wish they'd started earlier.

I'd also add a few things:

* Figure out your TDEE and use that as your guide for how many calories you need to eat. Under-eating is not your friend, no matter how counter intuitive it seems. For example, my BMR -- which is what my body needs to function without ANY activity at all -- is 1500+ calories. If I ate 1200 cals per day, do you think my body would let go of an ounce of fat? No way. I promise, you can and will find story after story of people eating what sounds like boatloads of calories, doing a normal amount of weight lifting and cardio (= not every day, not hours per day - and sometimes that cardio is leisurely walks!), and losing weight.

* If you do start weight training, especially with heavy weights, plan on ignoring your scale for a while. That number will not be a good indication of your progress due to muscle gain, water retention, and/or a million other things. Instead...

* Take pictures and measurements when you start, then take new sets every month or so. Use these to see the ways your body has changed for the better.

I've been lifting heavy for about seven weeks, and I've "only" lost about four pounds, but people have noticed changes in my body and have asked if I've lost weight. Which means it looks like I've lost more than I have.

If you're not sure where to start, a couple good books are Starting Strength by Mark Rippetoe, and The New Rules of Weight Lifting for Women by Lou Schuler. Personally, I follow the StrongLifts 5x5 program (stronglifts.com) and love it. These are all beginner appropriate.

Good luck!
Courtney

Figure out your TDEE and use that as your guide for how many calories you need to eat. Under-eating is not your friend, no matter how counter intuitive it seems. For example, my BMR - which is what my body needs to function without ANY activity at all - is 1500+ calories. If I ate 1200 cals per day, do you think my body would let go of an ounce of fat? No way.

Yes, if you eat fewer calories than your body needs to run you will lose weight.
If you're not putting enough calories in, the body will burn what it has.
The body has to fuel its chemical reactions, and to do that it prefers to burn carbs (glucose, then glycogen), then it burns fat, and as a last resort it burns muscle.

MFP says my BMR is 1700 cal.
MFP generally says I burn 400-800 cal in exercise every day.
For a couple months I've been eating 1650 or less per day, losing weight, and my doctors are happy with my health.
My doctor & dietician told me to eat 10x my healthy goal weight in calories and ignore exercise or "net" calories.
Do not eat back exercise calories! You're sabotaging your efforts. First, most people underestimate how much they eat. Second, most machines (including MFP) overestimate calories burned.

cardio burns calories, but if you follow MFP you should be eating those cals back, so in that case cardio does not help you lose weight, it allows you to eat more while losing weight.

Cardio is great for increasing endurance and strengthening your heart.
Strength training is great while in a deficit as it helps you retain the muscle you already have meaning you will be a lower body fat % while losing and at goal weight. It also increases bone density and makes everyday tasks easier. without strength training a large % of your weight loss will come from muscle than if you incorporate it.

I would suggest following a 3 day/week full body lifting routine and do cardio on your non lifting days2-3 times/week.

This, this and this again!

I'd also like to point out that weight training will shrink your body even if you aren't seeing movement on the scale. For that reason, grab the tape measure and track inches, too.

I started running in 2011. By early 2012, I was down to 122 pounds and a size 4. I had to stop running for awhile and just sort of lost focus, so the weight came back. Now I've been back at it, running 3 days per week and lifting on the days between. I currently weigh about 133 but my measurements are nearly as small as they were when I weighed 122. Instead of just having smaller thighs I have thighs that are firmer and I can see muscle movement when I walk.

More muscle mass = higher metabolism = eating more

I get so bored doing cardio so instead of plodding along on a machine for 30 minutes, I space out cardio bursts throughout my workout. I always start with 7-10 minutes on the bike or treadmill while doing bicep curls with free weights every other minute. It's sort of like interval-type training style. Then I go stretch, do abs, weights for a bit--then jump back on the bike or treadmill to get my heart rate up or I'll do a sprint or two on the elliptical or some step-ups, then back to weights, squats, pushups etc.

I get super bored doing one thing for too long and far prefer weights and calisthenics to cardio but I definitely want to maintain my heart health via aerobic activity.

In no case absent a bizarre medical condition does muscle exist over fat. Muscle is attached to bone and (subcutaneous) fat is stored under the skin. Otherwise, you'll either lose, maintain, or gain muscle mass - all of which depends on your diet and exercise regimen.

First things first, you're not going to gain muscle and lose fat at the same time, as they consider opposite calorie goals. Ever noticed a bodybuilder's caloric intake? Yeah. At just 160 lb you'd need an estimated 3,500-3,700 calories and 270 g of protein on lifting days. That's because, in addition to a lot of lifting work, it takes a lot of energy to repair and build muscle tissue. Thus, you need to maintain a calorie surplus to build and maintain muscle, but a calorie deficit to lose fat. That's why you should concentrate on fat loss first and muscle growth second.

However! That doesn't mean that you shouldn't weight train and that you should focus only on cardio. In fact, too much cardio could be sabbotaging your fat loss goals, particularly if you aren't monitoring your fitness. Our bodies adapt well to walking, jogging, and running - meaning they become more efficient at doing them - so you'll quickly get to the point at which you'll burn much fewer calories doing it if you don't keep your heartbeat up. Your body will also decrease your muscle mass in an effort to increase its efficiency, which you don't want. Anyway, though, strength training burns more calories over time because of the energy it takes to repair and/or build muscle. In addition, muscle requires more energy to run then fat, so increasing muscle mass increases basal metabolic rate.

Now, when I say strength training, I mean legit strength training and not cardio with resistance, i.e., high reps, low weight. You should shoot for whatever weight enables you to do 8-12 reps to failure, meaning that you physically can not do more without a 30-90 second rest period. If you can do more after 8-12 reps, the weight is too low. Conversely, if you can't get to 8-12, the weight is too high. You can work at extremely high weight with low (maybe four) reps, but that's how you build muscle, which isn't going to happen at a calorie deficit. The two sets of 8-12 reps to failure is strength training mode, which is what you want at this stage. What that does in this context, as someone else explained, is ensure that you don't lose too much muscle while losing fat - and you're going to lose some muscle on a calorie deficit.

But that's only part of it. Your nutrition is key. Not in itself, because the only thing that matters is achieving a deficit. And this us where I stress that healthy =! fat loss. "Eating clean" does not ensure fat loss, nor does "eating dirty" ensure fat gain. Hell, you can lose fat eating only big macs, soda, and sugar out of the bag as long as you stay under your deficit. Do I recommend that? No. Is that the path to health? No. But fat loss/maintenance/gain is a survival mechanism, period, and is based on calories, period. You're not going to lose fat with a 3,000 calorie diet of "clean" food, period. I highly recommend that you eat mostly "clean" food, however; my point is only that you can't expect fat loss simply because you switch to "clean" food.

Anyway.

There is no overall "cardio vs weight training." Ideally you should do both with an emphasis on strength training unless cardio is your passion. Either way, fuel up. Do your best to achieve your deficit with food, not exercise, and make up your calories up to your deficit. For examples, don't eat 1,500 calories and then burn 500. Attempt to maintain your deficit, especially on lifting days.

Ultimately, you're just going to have to track your results with multiple criteria and see what works for you. If you would like more info, nust ask.