Cardio vs. Weights

1. Weight loss is a question of creating a calorie deficit. 99% of that happens in the kitchen.

2. Cardio exercises burn some calories (generally not as many as we want them to or think they should!) and can help increase that deficit a little.

3. "Muscle burns more calories than fat"--technically true, but not really enough to make a difference (single digits per day)

4. Weight lifting while eating at a deficit isn't going to build muscle (can't make something out of nothing); it *will* help preserve as much muscle as you can so the weight you're losing is fat. This is a good thing.

5. Lifting weights does not burn as many calories as most cardio exercises, so if you've reduced your cardio to make time for weights, you might have to adjust downward how much you're eating a little.

6. Switching up your workout routine, *especially* weightlifting, can trigger the *appearance* of weight gain/plateau due to water retention. This is true initially; for me, it is also true that my weight increases (generally) 2-4 pounds the morning after I've lifted. If you are doing weights every day and haven't been at it that long, you could still be seeing a water effect. How long have you been strength training?

7. Weighing your food is great! How are you at logging and tracking overall? Do you sneak little bits of food while serving, eat a lot of guesstimated restaurant meals, etc? (Strength training makes me ravenously hungry and sneaking food in at every change, even subconsciously.)

If your new to lifting or haven't lifted in a while you can see strength gains while at a deficit, especially if your a little chubby. If your already lean or have lifted for a while you'll have to be at a caloric surplus, even if its only 200cal/day to make gains. If you want to lose than stay at a deficit & keep lifting but change your strategy. Like changing weight, reps, & sets to get results. Also if you just started lifting you'll probably stop losing or even gain weight the 1st week or maybe even 2, as your body stores water in the tissue that hasn't been used in a while. Other than that, the 1st commenter was spot on. BTW I'm speaking from experience. I'm making big strength gains while losing weight. But I'm a 22yr old male. 5'11" 200lb

i am a triathlete, and i incorporate lifting into my routine. i used to think that i could out train my bad diet, and that it wasn't even all that bad to begin with. moderation and all that. i mean, i logged everything, came in just at about my goal. but i stayed at the same weight for about two years. until i really cleaned up my eating and cut way back on alcohol, and i started seeing a drop in weight.

so lifting or cardio doesn't matter. what and how much you eat does.

During my weight loss I did mostly cardio with some strength training. In a year I lost 50 pounds, I was pretty happy with how I looked but over time I started doing more strength training than cardio (right now the only cardio I do is goof around playing sports with my 8 year old son). In a year of focusing more on lifting than anything else I went down 3 more clothing sizes and stayed the same weight, so for me...there's no question strength training "wins" for aesthetic changes. Right now I am bulking to gain muscle and am up 7 pounds from my lowest weight on MFP and still fit in the same clothes.

I did both cardio and weights together with a small calorie deficit to lose my weight.
Followed the MFP "eat back exercise calories" method to fuel my exercise properly.

The biggest success factor for me was finding a way to adhere to a suitable and sustainable calorie deficit long term - for me that was a version of intermittent fasting but that's where adherence is a very personal thing. Didn't exclude any foods at all.

It worked.
Fitter, stronger, healthier, got back to weight I was 30 years ago and maintaining my weight happily.

If you are stalled for a long time then would look at your food logging and intake rather than your exercise routine in the first instance.

sijomial wrote: »

I did both cardio and weights together with a small calorie deficit to lose my weight.
Followed the MFP "eat back exercise calories" method to fuel my exercise properly.

The biggest success factor for me was finding a way to adhere to a suitable and sustainable calorie deficit long term - for me that was a version of intermittent fasting but that's where adherence is a very personal thing. Didn't exclude any foods at all.

It worked.
Fitter, stronger, healthier, got back to weight I was 30 years ago and maintaining my weight happily.

If you are stalled for a long time then would look at your food logging and intake rather than your exercise routine in the first instance.

I didn't really say it in my post, but I followed the eat back exercise calories method as well and totally agree with the part about finding a way to adhere to things that are suitable and sustainable for long term. I have been at this for 4 years and 2.5 of those have been maintaining my weight.

gbjess204 wrote: »

No sources to cite, just what has been heard. Things always go in waves in what is best for health, weight loss, and well, anything else. Eggs were bad in the 90's now its a super food. What I am interested in is what is REALLY best for weight loss cardio training or weight training. I know the more muscle one has, more calorie burn through out the day.

I am stuck in a rut, I was doing only carido, now I have mixed in and equal amount of weight training and not really seeing results. Yes, I am aware that muscle does weigh more than fat, but I measure centimeters weekly, there is not much movement on the measuring tape.

I am at 1,400 cal/ day with actual measuring food on a kitchen scale and just getting frustrated with the plateau.

I would love to hear what people have to say. Please no F*ing b**ch debates.What are your stories and what you have experienced?

I'm not sure why you're measuring food on a scale. I know to estimate caloric intake, but you would need to know the carbohydrate, fat, and protein content of what you're weighing to know the caloric content. You should look at the food labeling to determine caloric content as well as the MFP food database. For those meals that you just cannot find in the database, either create or import recipes to determine caloric content more accurately. It is important to accurately estimate how much you're consuming and then how much you're burning on a daily basis. For the latter, I use a heart rate monitor for estimating calories burned during exercise and the MFP calculator for daily caloric requirements for somebody my height, gender, and age.

I've been keeping track of calories consumed along with calories burned for the past 7 months using MFP. MFP estimates my caloric needs based on my age, gender, and height, and then tells me how many calories to consume daily based on my desired weight loss rate. I exercise almost every day of the week, both cardio and weight training. I often have a hard time getting out of bed early to exercise (5-530am during the week, later on the weekends), but I do it. I also know that I will be less likely to exercise consistently if I do so in the afternoon (too many competing activities that will win out). I also allow myself to eat some unhealthy foods on occasion to keep my sanity - and do my best to keep track of how much over my daily goal I go! My weight loss has been slow (1 lb per week) and steady.

During the whole process, I've learned a lot about the calories associated with certain foods and just how much I need to eat to be satisfied.

gbjess204 wrote: »

I weigh my food by grams and do not sneak bites. I log everything even if I decide to have wine or vodka on weekends. I also measure the oil I use too. I'm not lifting enormous amounts of weights, like 10lb Dumbbells. I do about 50 lbs with the leg attachment on my weight bench.

I think it'd be good to look into an actual lifting program...SL 5x5, New Rules of Lifting for Women. Those 10 lb dumbbells aren't going to last you long.

Anyway, strength training in a deficit shows amazing results. I basically do two hours of cardio a week TOPS, usually less. I've lost almost 30 pounds, kept a lot of muscle, and am so happy I'm not sitting in the 130s having lost all my muscle and needing to get into the 120s to look thin enough.

OP, if you don't mind a bunch of well-meaning but often annoying suggestions, you might want to make your diary public. Occasionally a fresh eye can see something you might miss.

I mainly do weights, I don't measure my food, I choose to eat a more nutritious diet, so I can have more and have the best and most effective workout I can. I don't do cardio, cause I mainly do a lot of walking and other things in my daily life. Try doing weights for awhile and see where you end up in a couple of months or so. But by all means, what worked for me might not work for you. Just have fun with it an try not to stress the f$&k out.

10 pound dumbbells are pretty light except for some isolation lifts. Learn some form on the compound lifts and really push yourself in terms of the weights you work with. I think you'll be pleasantly surprised at how good you feel very soon!