Tightening Vs. Cardio First?

I've read that too much cardio can lead to a bit of a tummy, something to do with cortisol that I've not looked in to. I've lost weight down to a UK size 8 through diet and cardio. Now I'm shifting my focus to weight-lifting and yoga to get the toned look I'm after and feel stronger.

Start a lifting program

I'm doing the kettleworkx 6 week program & it's really helped me to tone up all over, quickly. I'm losing the stomach. The back fat by my bra has really gone down. (But I saw a girl on YouTube who lost a lot by doing elliptical & counting calories. I just don't have the energy for elliptical right now).

arditarose wrote: »

yopeeps025 wrote: »

Liftng4Lis wrote: »

Start a lifting program

Not everyone like lifting weights.

Did the OP say she didn't like lifting weights?

I was giving my MFP friend a hard time. Let include the OP though. If Op was then the Op would of been written differently. I could be wrong.

And I want to know what would be a great way to tighten my stomach muscles while I do cardio

yopeeps025 wrote: »

arditarose wrote: »

yopeeps025 wrote: »

Liftng4Lis wrote: »

Start a lifting program

Not everyone like lifting weights.

Did the OP say she didn't like lifting weights?

I was giving my MFP friend a hard time. Let include the OP though. If Op was then the Op would of been written differently. I could be wrong.

And I want to know what would be a great way to tighten my stomach muscles while I do cardio

Laughs Yo
OP- strength training will help tighten everything simultaneously while maintaining muscle mass.

Here's an article I think might help, from Women's Health Magazine:

http://www.womenshealthmag.com/fitness/weight-exercises-women

It discusses the benefits of adding weight training to working out.

Keep in mind, muscle weighs more than fat. When you cause microtears in your muscles from resistance training, water "fills" the muscle to help with healing. So when you start working out, the scale will likely go up due to water weight (which is good because you're muscles are healing), and the scale may stay up as the muscles become stronger (and heavier). Then, as the fat starts burning away, the scale should drop. If it doesn't drop right away, don't lose heart! You should see your muscles become leaner, which shows the workouts are working. And make sure to go by how you feel and how your clothes fit, not just the numbers on the scale. They can be misleading regarding how fit you are.

Good luck!

i recently started a training plan from a qualified personal trainer for the same thing.
i do planks,ab crunches and strength training daily.
cardio is elliptical and rowing machine.
hope this helps.

Just a clarification... doing ab won't give you a flat stomach but it will give you a strong core (ideally, you should work your lower back as well). If you want a flat stomach, you have to lose body fat all over. How long that takes will be determined by genetics.

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panda_0022 wrote: »

thanks everyone I have been wanting to do strength training but will it be hard to tighten if I wanna lose some weight first. im still struggling to be consistent with the exercising I got the calorie counting down. this is my very first attempt at trying to lose all this weight so I am a lil discouraged. ive lost about 32 lbs of the 108 I need to lose so about 76 left .

Weight training will strengthen the muscles but you won't gain muscle mass while eating at a deficit. So continue eating at a deficit to lose the fat, but strength training will prepare you for when you're ready to recomp.

steff274 wrote:

Decent abs workout will help to some extent.. Planks, crunches, mountain climbers, oblique crunches, leg extentions, flutter kicks.

All very good, and don't require a gym.
The best way to burn calories is cardio. Keep up the walking / elliptical.
To firm the muscles that will be emerging as the fat goes away, do the above core workout.

panda_0022 wrote: »

ndj1979 wrote: »

honestly - working your "ab muslces" is really not going to get you there. You are going to need to continue to lose body fat and mix in some heavy lifting (compound movements). I see so many people in the gym working abs every day for like 30 minutes (I used to be that guy) and it is really waste of time, becuase, no offense intended here, all you are really doing is working the muslce that is buried under the fat. You need to drop off the body fat for your abs to start showing…

so my recommendation is start lifting heavy stuff and keep eating in a deficit…

My main goal is to lose weight and I know I will never get back to what I was 10 years ago but I wanna try to get close. And thanks for the great advice.

You can get there if you want to. There is no reason that you cant. What he is saying is that doing all the ab work should only be to strengthen those muscles. It wont help tighten, tone, reduce or anything like that. That will come from calorie management.

Do the strength training to preserve muscles and strengthen your whole body.

Eat at a moderate deficit to lose the body fat.

Throw in some cardio for health, endurance and/or if you want to eat a little more.

A barbell squat engages something like 200+ muscles including the core muscles.

That is a much more efficient use of your time than doing "ab" work. You can still do it in addition but with the understanding that it is for strength and endurance and not reducing the size.