Results with Strictly Cardio vs. Results with Strength Train

princesslmc2 · May 2011

Good morning!!

So just wondering what others have experienced.

Last fall, I went through the ChaLEAN Extreme program, which focuses 90% on strength training. Lifting heavy to build muscle cause MUSCLE BURNS FAT, as Chalene loves to say. Then in January, I did a combination of workouts (Hip Hop Abs and TurboFire) that solely focused on cardio. I stopped seeing the results... As a matter of fact, I don't think I lost a single pound that whole month.

Well in February, I switched it up again with the TurboFire/ChaLEAN Extreme Hybrid program, throwing back in all the strength training. Lost about 10-12 pounds in two months, which is awesome! I'm on Month #3 of this program (just finished the first week) which is strictly cardio for a month, and I haven't lost a single pound - in fact, I've gained .5 pounds. (P.S. there should be no "womanly" issues this past week - and I've been under calories and have been drinking plenty of water.) I have another three weeks on this "phase," but I'm wondering how effective it will be. Though, how will I know till I try it out? LOL!!

So my general question is... Am I the only one who sees results once adding strength training? My thought is perhaps the regular lifting weights "wakes up" my muscles for the day to help me burn more. LOL

JeffGDDG · May 2011

Congratulations on the great job!. I have found just the opposite for me. Significant weight loss via cardio and not so much with strength. I think we are all different and at some point should balance the strength and cardio. And as they say, the best exercise is the one you will do consistently. Good luck!

kayleeblue · May 2011

I started in January with Fit Moms For Life which is strength training and very little cardio.. I lost maybe 1 pound the first 4 weeks...I was ready to give up...EXCEPT!! I had measured my self...I seen a big difference then...So I do both strength and cardio...after 2.5 months I was able to walk up flights,,,yes flights of stairs without feeling like my chest was going to explode...I have since tried to add Jillians 30 day shred...that's to much cardio for me so I have combined some of her work out with FMFL and have lost 13 pounds and over 10 inches...so everybody is different..Good Luck!

chrisyoung0422 · May 2011

I had to switch from weights to mostly cardio to see any loss. Everyone is different. Great job though. :drinker:

hroush · May 2011

I have lost 25 lbs with just strength training with the only cardio being I ran a mile before hand (2 lbs a week). I then lost a total of 65 lbs from just spin classes (pretty much 2 lbs a week). Here is an article about a guy that lost 36 lbs from purely weight lifting:

http://stronglifts.com/stronglifts-5x5-results-fat-loss-bjarni/

I think the weight lifting method is better because if you only do cardio you will eventually become "skinny fat" as I did. I am now purely strength training in the attempt to build muscle and burn off the rest of the fat.

poustotah · May 2011

For me, I lose weight either way but I lose the weight differently. When I did strictly cardio, I had to lower my calorie intake further and it took longer to come off. When I do strictly weight, I pack on the muscle and lose the weight slowly but my body looks differently very quickly. When I combine both, I lost around 15lbs a month AND packed on a bunch of muscle. For me, 150lbs lost on all cardio or all strength is a size 8-10, but lost on a combination is more like a 4-6.

SMJohnson27 · May 2011

I think the weight lifting method is better because if you only do cardio you will eventually become "skinny fat" as I did. I am now purely strength training in the attempt to build muscle and burn off the rest of the fat.

Agreed. I have noticed the same thing. I lost weight with cardio. But am now dealing with the "skinny fat" look. I am now doing mostly weight lifting with only 15-20 minutes of cardio and have noticed better results.

http://graemethomasonline.com/ladies-cardio-sucks-for-weight-loss/

hpsnickers1 · May 2011

Congratulations on the great job!. I have found just the opposite for me. Significant weight loss via cardio and not so much with strength. I think we are all different and at some point should balance the strength and cardio. And as they say, the best exercise is the one you will do consistently. Good luck!

the reason you get significant weight loss with just cardio is because the amount of muscle mass you lose along with fat mass. You might not see significant weight loss with strength training because you are adding lean muscle mass while still losing fat mass. (3500 calories is one pound of fat lost but 3500 calories of muscle mass like is around 6 pounds. That muscle mass is what keeps your body burning fat through the day and that is much more important in the long run. I think it should start out with strength and plenty of cardio. As you get to healthier weights than the balance needs to shift towards more strength training and use cardio as a supplement. Too much cardio can hurt your metabolism and lean muscle mass. And your overall health because of the stress it puts on your body.

fteale · May 2011

I don't lose any weight doing weights, I just bulk up. I have lost 12 lbs ish running, though.

llkilgore · May 2011

Strength training AND cardio for me, and both need to be challenging. Progress slows when I stick to a routine for too long and my body is allowed to get too conditioned.

marathonmom72 · May 2011

I had the same thing happen to me. I spent about a month doing some heavy cardio workouts with very little strength training and I gained 5 lbs! Looking back, I think my body may have been hanging onto everything it had just trying to meet the demands I was making. I switched back to alternating my cardio days with my strength training days, and I have seen some weight loss again!

scarecrow41 · May 2011

You can't really gain lean muscle mass while losing fat...its about as close to physiologically impossible as you can get. At best you can maintain muscle mass while losing fat, which is optimum.

It seems to me you are simply burning more calories when doing your strength training.

princesslmc2 · May 2011

You can't really gain lean muscle mass while losing fat...its about as close to physiologically impossible as you can get. At best you can maintain muscle mass while losing fat, which is optimum.

It seems to me you are simply burning more calories when doing your strength training.

This doesn't really make sense.... I've lost 40 pounds and over 55 inches. While I still weigh more than I did in college (by 40 pounds), I'm wearing the SAME SIZE as I did in college - because I have replaced the fatty fat with some leaner muscle.

According to my Bodybugg, I can burn over 300 calories in a half hour of cardio, and only 150ish in a half hour of strength training... So definitely burning more in the cardio.

mmtiernan · May 2011

ChaLEAN is 40% weight training - 3 days per week. Cardio/endurance - 2 days per week. 2 days to rest.

I think that a lot of people are completely zeroed in on the scale when so many other factors really come in to play with regard to your progress. For example, how do your clothes fit? Did you take and keep your measurements? How do you feel over all? Are you thin but still flabby (ie: skinny fat) or are you firm and muscular (not muscle-bound - big difference)? Are you generally happy with your reflection in the mirror? How are your health stats: blood pressure, cholesterol levels, etc.?

My point is that the scale is not the one true measure of how well an exercise program and your eating habits (diet) are working for you.

Nor is a true measure of how well an exercise program works for you simply the number of calories that you burn doing it. Sure, the idea is to burn calories - but the ideal is to increase your metabolism so that your body is continually burning calories at its optimum level, which is best acheived by adding muscle and fueling your body efficiently through correct eating habits and portion control.

michelle4271 · May 2011

muscle burn more fat than cardio alone, another benefit is strength training will "tighten" you up as you are losing the weight. Please make sure that you are measuring yourself, chances are, when the scale doesnt move for a period of time, the tape measure is

michelle4271 · May 2011

You can't really gain lean muscle mass while losing fat...its about as close to physiologically impossible as you can get. At best you can maintain muscle mass while losing fat, which is optimum.

It seems to me you are simply burning more calories when doing your strength training.

This doesn't really make sense.... I've lost 40 pounds and over 55 inches. While I still weigh more than I did in college (by 40 pounds), I'm wearing the SAME SIZE as I did in college - because I have replaced the fatty fat with some leaner muscle.

According to my Bodybugg, I can burn over 300 calories in a half hour of cardio, and only 150ish in a half hour of strength training... So definitely burning more in the cardio.

maybe so, but the strength training is what is needed to keep that burn going all day.....its needed, no question about it

princesslmc2 · May 2011

Okay... so the purpose of my post wasn't really to ask for advice... I'm measuring EVERYTHING and am pleased with my results. I was just noticing that the scale moves more slowly when I'm not doing strength training and only doing cardio, and I wondered if anyone else was running into the same scenario.

Loubell83 · May 2011

I totally agree with you. I started MFP in January, and for the first 3 months only did cardio, and whilst I did see a result in weight loss I was frustrated that my clothes were not getting looser at the rate I expected. For the last 4 weeks I have started doing 2 sessions of pure cardio a week, and 3 sessions of a combination of the both of them (20 mins cardio as a warm up and 30 mins strength training) and the results have been great, and as my body is slowly reshaping my clothes are getting much looser at a quicker rate.

Well done, you have made a really good start so keep it up!

ShapeUpSidney · May 2011

I'm not keeping good metrics, so I can't say what is specifically causing my weight to shift at the moment. I HAVE implemented more strength training recently, and I see consistent weight loss. It's slightly better than when I was doing cardio only, but without good metrics, I can't really pin point the reasons behind the changes.

I certainly notice better physical appearance though, and that is huge!

mmtiernan · May 2011

Okay... so the purpose of my post wasn't really to ask for advice... I'm measuring EVERYTHING and am pleased with my results. I was just noticing that the scale moves more slowly when I'm not doing strength training and only doing cardio, and I wondered if anyone else was running into the same scenario.

The scale is not the ultimate measure of your progress!

The scale won't move as quickly, depending on how much weight you have to lost and how much additional muscle you have gained - then factor in water retention as the muscles repair themselves, etc. It's such a moving target. Personally, I don't own a scale - I only know how much I weight if I happen to make a trip to the Dr.s office!! I focus more on how my clothes fit, what the mirror shows me and most importantly, how I feel over all!

BTW - I'm also a ChaLEAN fan! I strength train three times per week and do cardio on opposite days. I love the way strength training makes me feel and would prefer to do that over cardio any day - however, intense 30 minute cardio really helps my asthma (believe it or not) since it increases my aerobic capacity. So, I do it anyway!

princesslmc2 · May 2011

The scale is not the ultimate measure of your progress! The scale won't move as quickly, depending on how much weight you have to lost and how much additional muscle you have gained - then factor in water retention as the muscles repair themselves, etc. It's such a moving target. Personally, I don't own a scale - I only know how much I weight if I happen to make a trip to the Dr.s office!! I focus more on how my clothes fit, what the mirror shows me and most importantly, how I feel over all!

Yes, I'm aware... That's why I do measure everything. My post was just an observation is all.

rybo · May 2011

I have experienced both, kind of.

I used to be hardcore into weight lifting for about 15 years. During that time, I’d eat anything & everything in sight. If I noticed a little extra “insulation” around the mid section, a few weeks of just eating a little better for lunch & I’d drop the weight quickly. But for the most part I could still maintain a pretty respectable body fat 10-12% while stuffing myself senseless on any food I wanted.

Jump ahead to not touching a weight in about 5 years, but running on a fairly consistent basis, nothing too crazy though 15 miles a week? Weight started slowly creeping up as my old eating habits died hard. My running got more & more serious, but without really cleaning up my diet, the weight wouldn’t come off. So I cleaned up my diet a LOT, and did manage to take the weight down (reduce body fat %).

To summarize, I could maintain a pretty healthy body fat %, using either method. BUT when using running only, I also needed to really clean up my diet to make it work. But that’s ok, I am enjoying eating healthier than I ever have and I feel the best I ever have as well.

princesslmc2 · May 2011

I have experienced both, kind of.

I used to be hardcore into weight lifting for about 15 years. During that time, I’d eat anything & everything in sight. If I noticed a little extra “insulation” around the mid section, a few weeks of just eating a little better for lunch & I’d drop the weight quickly. But for the most part I could still maintain a pretty respectable body fat 10-12% while stuffing myself senseless on any food I wanted.

Jump ahead to not touching a weight in about 5 years, but running on a fairly consistent basis, nothing too crazy though 15 miles a week? Weight started slowly creeping up as my old eating habits died hard. My running got more & more serious, but without really cleaning up my diet, the weight wouldn’t come off. So I cleaned up my diet a LOT, and did manage to take the weight down (reduce body fat %).

To summarize, I could maintain a pretty healthy body fat %, using either method. BUT when using running only, I also needed to really clean up my diet to make it work. But that’s ok, I am enjoying eating healthier than I ever have and I feel the best I ever have as well.

That is very interesting!! Thanks for sharing... It makes a lot of sense.

scarecrow41 · May 2011

You can't really gain lean muscle mass while losing fat...its about as close to physiologically impossible as you can get. At best you can maintain muscle mass while losing fat, which is optimum.

It seems to me you are simply burning more calories when doing your strength training.

This doesn't really make sense.... I've lost 40 pounds and over 55 inches. While I still weigh more than I did in college (by 40 pounds), I'm wearing the SAME SIZE as I did in college - because I have replaced the fatty fat with some leaner muscle.

According to my Bodybugg, I can burn over 300 calories in a half hour of cardio, and only 150ish in a half hour of strength training... So definitely burning more in the cardio.

Its simple fact.

Strength training can increase your metabolism thus increasing the amount of calories you burn "just laying there"...so that could be what made the difference.

Results with Strictly Cardio vs. Results with Strength Train

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