Help Please! What mix cardio:weights to lose weight?!

weights gain muscles. i just do cardio. I do a couple minutes of weight machines, but only because i have a shoulder injury and want to work it a lil extra..

The best way is to combine the two. Cardio and weights. I usually have 1-2 cardio only days, but most of the time I do both. Usually 45-60 minutes of cardio and 15-30 minutes of weights. However, the order is kind of controversial in the sense that no one really knows. I've read articles that say cardio first then weights, and i've seen others that say weights then cardio. I think it's different for everyone. I've had a lot of success doing cardio then weights, but I know people who do weights then cardio and they see results just as fast as I do. I would say do it one way for a couple weeks. If its working for you stick with it. If not, do it the other way around.

Cardio has always been my go-to type of exercise when it comes to burning calories. Although going for a bike ride or jog does burn major calories, a recent study from the University of Southern Maine shows that weight training may offer more bang for your buck in the calorie-burning department than cardio.

Participants in the study burned as many calories doing 30 minutes of weight training (it doesn't mention what types of exercises or the equipment used) as they did going for a 30-minute run at a lightening fast six-minute-per-mile pace. Since running at that speed for that long is better left for those training for winning marathons, it seems that if you're looking to burn calories, strength training is your best bet.

Aside from burning calories, weight training also makes you stronger and gives your muscles that chiseled look you're after. As if that wasn't enough, strength training also boosts your metabolism, with some exercise physiologists estimating that the body continues to burn calories for up to 36 hours after your workout.




Strength or Cardio...which burns more calories?
Friday, February 18, 2011 by Jen Schilling
Well, I get asked this question alot. Which kind of exercise burns more calories...strength or cardio? The answer is both. Let me explain. Cardiovascular exercise is needed to burn calories and help you lose weight. Cardio exercise is anything that gets your heart rate up. Cardiovascular means having to do with the heart and lungs. So when we do a cardiovascular exercise we are working just that...our heart and our lungs. Cardio exercise is needed to keep your heart healthy. It is also needed to burn calories and fat. It helps you lose weight by burning away those calories that we have eaten.

The more cardiovascular exercise we do, the lower our heartrate becomes because it is conditioning our heart to work more efficiently. Long distance runners usually have the healthiest of hearts and a typical heart rate for them at rest would be in the 50's as compared to many people today that have a resting heart rate in the 80's or 90's. That is very low but it just shows how well conditioned their hearts are. Many people want to make their abs look good and ask me what exercises are best to do that. My answer...cardio exercise. Many people have strong abs but it is the layer of fat that covers them that prevents us from seeing that muscle. You have to burn the calories away and lose the weight to do that and that entails cardiovascular exercise.

Now on to strength. Strength exercise is needed to help make our muscles stronger. It can also help make our bones stronger as well which can even help reverse the process of osteoporosis. But strength exercise can also help you lose weight. Many women are afraid of strength training for fear of looking too masculine. They don't want to "bulk up". But that usually doesn't happen unless you have A LOT of testosterone in your system or you are taking some kind of illegal steroid or drug. Strength exercise, in fact, also helps you lose weight.

Strength exercise makes you have more muscle. It is true that muscle weighs more than fat but it also helps burn fat. So, the more muscle you have, the higher your metabolism is. The better your metabolism is, the better your body burns fat...even while you are sleeping. Case in point: body builders can eat 3000-4000 calories a day and not have to worry about gaining weight because of how much muscle they have on their bodies. They have such a good metabolism that their bodies burn up all those calories.

Cardiovascular exercise is important to help someone lose weight. Strength training is also important for that same reason. So the answer is both. It's basically a math equation when it comes to losing weight. You have to burn more calories than you consume to lose the weight. One pound is equal to 3500 calories. So, you need to burn that much or eat that much less to lose one pound in a week. That sounds like a lot but if you simply eat 500 calories less in one day or burn 500 calories more in one day for 7 days, you will lose a pound. To make it even easier, you could consume 250 less and burn 250 more each day for a week and lose a pound.

So, both cardio and strength will burn calories but in different ways. Cardio burns more calories while you are doing it. Strength exercise will actually burn more calories after you have stopped exercising. You will burn calories at a faster rate for longer afterwards with strength than with cardio. It sounds strange but it is true.

Cardio's main focus is on heart health, and getting more calories to eat, since with this site you should eat your exercise calories, due to the fact they already add a deficit for healthy weight loss. Weights will increase metabolism, and when you are at your goal, help you look firm, and toned.

As far as when to do what, you can do what you want. Some people say do cardio every day, and weights everyother day. Mostly it depends on how much time you have to spend on your workouts, but I would recommend weights for no longer than an hour a day for 3 days a week, then the other days do cardio, either HIIT, for 20 minutes, which is supposed to give a great afterburn effect, or steady state for longer for increased endurance. If I do cardio and weights the same day, I prefer to start with weights, so that I don't use up all my energy on cardio.

This is my personal experience...

I am currently on Cardio only and dropped the wights all together until I hit my goal weight. I did not notice my muscle went down but I have also lost weight with just straight cardio.

I would recommend giving it a shot both ways as for the order. I personally always ran first because it seemed to get me geared up to really hammer on the weights. I know guys who have had great luck the other way also.

I believe a person has to experiment with the different options and things to find the perfect set up. :grumble:

I did just cardio until my wife started making fun of me for being scrawny - I went from 235 down to 190. I focused on an upper body free weight program since the cardio I was doing (running, elliptical) was doing wonders for my legs already.

I ended up going up 10 pounds then dropping back down to my current weight (188) with much more lean mass. Also found it easier to drop weight with the additional muscle - more energy being burned. I ended up doing 2/3 of my workouts cardio, 1/3 strength and all of that with the upper body.

Don't do just cardio. You need to have a balance of both. Women don't tend "on a whole" to gain muscle "mass", but lifting weights will make things look and feel tighter. There are so many sites on line, just google it and you can come up with a routine that fits your schedule and body type.

i agree i do p90x and its both. seems like a good balance

you can do both..it wont hurt.

make sure you do weights first, then cardio.

i did both at the same time. 40 mins of weights and 50 mins of cardio

Neither:

Calorie deficit to lose weight.

Strength Training to preserve Lean Body Mass (Bone density, muscle tissue, etc) and make you stronger

Cardio for Heart Health, Muscular Endurance.

I asked a question earlier today about when to do cardio vs weights in a workout. Then questions came up about doing both at the same time, etc.

My main focus is weight loss. So here are my new questions:

1. Should I JUST be doing cardio?
2. If I should do weights should I ONLY do weights on the days that I do weights?
3. If I take the "new" approach of weights first, then cardio, is it taking away from the affects of the cardio?

4. ULTIMATELY, other than diet which I have down now, what workout mix is the "best" for getting rid of fat/weight?

Thus far I have focused on the Elliptical trainer and then after that do some core work and one day a week doing chest, biceps, and triceps with weights. But every day is Elliptical and Core, in that order. I have dropped 35 lbs in 5 weeks and have plenty to lose. Can I be more efficient in what I'm doing? I have over 100 lbs to lose so there's plenty left!!!

Diet is the most important aspect of your weight loss program. If you get that part right, then you can be successful with a number of different exercise plans.

Don't overthink this. You can do 3-5 days of cardio -- including both endurance and interval workouts--and 2 days of strength training (full-body, emphasis on compound lifts, 5-9 RM rep range, 3 sets per exercise) and that should be fine.

You can do the strength and cardio in whatever order you want, at whatever time of day you want, before or after eating, etc. You can do strength and cardio in the same workout.

Neither:

Calorie deficit to lose weight.

Strength Training to preserve Lean Body Mass (Bone density, muscle tissue, etc) and make you stronger

Cardio for Heart Health, Muscular Endurance.

This right here. I'll add that cardio is a very good way to help get into that calorie deficit, especially if you have trouble eating less food (like myself)

i second this.

weights gain muscles.

Neither:

Calorie deficit to lose weight.

Strength Training to preserve Lean Body Mass (Bone density, muscle tissue, etc) and make you stronger

Cardio for Heart Health, Muscular Endurance.

This right here. I'll add that cardio is a very good way to help get into that calorie deficit, especially if you have trouble eating less food (like myself)

i second this.

Third, and to add....preserving LBM gives you the "tone" you're looking for once the fat is gone.

Funnily enought there's another thread on this here:
http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/1090290-help-for-maintaining-weight-and-gaining-lean-muscle

I won't cross post but suffice to say, I ditched all the bench work and switched to cardio. Only then did my weight drop dramatically and I've toned far more than I ever did pushing weights. Now, to me, the people doing weights don't look toned anymore.

People doing weights don't look 'toned'? Am I reading this correctly?

I do both...I do lifting heavy twice a week and cardio 2 or 3 days a week. And when I lift I do big compound lifts (squats, deads, rows etc)

I have about 10-15 pounds of weight I want to drop, but I'm more focused now on how my clothes fit than the numbers on the scale.

4.37:1

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