ratio of cardio to weight training for weight loss

kristinaljp10 · May 2015

Hello everyone,

I seem to be in a bit of a rut with my weight loss and I was curious about others routines. Do you feel that cardio or weight training really amped up your weight loss? I have been doing a mix of both ( two days 30 mins cardio, and three days of 15 min hiit warmup with a Nike strength workout). I don't seem to be making much progress on the scale or in appearance. I want to get into a healthy bmi range and gain some lean muscle, but just don't seem to know how.
Currently on 1200 calorie diet. Female Weight 142 height 5'3"

Has anyone experienced the same thing and gotten past it? Tips would be appreciated.

losingitseattle · May 2015

I'm almost 46, 5'4", currently 143 lbs with 22-23% BF, and teach about 4.5 hours of fitness classes (Hiit, Spin, Pilates, Barre) plus lift heavy two days a week for 60 minutes. I eat between 1800-2000 calories a day when I am trying to drop a few lbs and that gets me anywhere from 3/4 to 1 lb a week on avg. I'm curious if you are eating enough? Are you netting to 1200 or eating 1200 total? Have you had your BF% tested? Do you know your TDEE and BMR? (Head to www.scoobysworkshop.com or fitnessfrog.com to calculate it. You must know it to be successful!).

I've lost weight all ways but I think the easiest, most sustainable and efficient way is to prioritize strength training first and then add cardio second. You look like you have a good mix going already. How much do you move outside of working out? Although I did find it easy to keep weight off when I was doing triathlon - I was also much younger, though with distance running I'd lose 5 lbs and then stop losing (was always hungry). I find I am much more hungry on days I teach Spin for an hour than when I lift for an hour.

Check out the Eat More 2 Weigh Less Board. Lots of good info there!

kristinaljp10 · May 2015

losingitseattle wrote: »

I'm almost 46, 5'4", currently 143 lbs with 22-23% BF, and teach about 4.5 hours of fitness classes (Hiit, Spin, Pilates, Barre) plus lift heavy two days a week for 60 minutes. I eat between 1800-2000 calories a day when I am trying to drop a few lbs and that gets me anywhere from 3/4 to 1 lb a week on avg. I'm curious if you are eating enough? Are you netting to 1200 or eating 1200 total? Have you had your BF% tested? Do you know your TDEE and BMR? (Head to www.scoobysworkshop.com or fitnessfrog.com to calculate it. You must know it to be successful!).

I've lost weight all ways but I think the easiest, most sustainable and efficient way is to prioritize strength training first and then add cardio second. You look like you have a good mix going already. How much do you move outside of working out? Although I did find it easy to keep weight off when I was doing triathlon - I was also much younger, though with distance running I'd lose 5 lbs and then stop losing (was always hungry). I find I am much more hungry on days I teach Spin for an hour than when I lift for an hour.

Check out the Eat More 2 Weigh Less Board. Lots of good info there![/quote

Thanks I'll try this!

kristinaljp10 · May 2015

Forgot to post in original. BF: 33%.

According to fitness frog Tdee: is 2013 BMR: 1459
I have been going only by mfp suggestions, perhaps I should try raising my calorie intake?

DopeItUp · May 2015

100% diet. Cardio and weight training is a matter of preference, enjoyment and fitness goals.

CoffeeNBooze · May 2015

I would add take progress pictures and/or measurements every couple weeks so you can see some progress other than the scale. Sometimes the scale can take awhile to catch up.
To lose weight, you just need to be in a calorie deficit and make sure you are logging your foods as accurately as you can; meaning get a food scale and weigh your foods when necessary, too. Exercise, particularly cardio, will give you more calories to work with... you've earned them, so it's good to at least eat some of them so you are at least netting your calorie goal. I'm not an expert on strength training but you can make yourself stronger and leaner, so I definitely like your strength training and cardio combination.
Finally, give it time. Weight loss is not linear... there will be times we stall, not all weeks will be perfect. The key is persistence and patience, some of the hardest things to grasp! Keep going, you will get there!

rileyes · May 2015

I've been successful with 20 minutes of interval strength training and 30 minutes of interval cardio 4 days a week. I play tennis the other three days. I eat about 1200-1400 calories. I consistently lose weight every week and have better muscle definition.

Are you challenging yourself with your routines? I find the harder I push myself with resistance or weights the more I burn.

WolverhamptonFitness · May 2015

You have to remember - if you are not eating a deficet you wont lose weight. If you are not eating on a deficet and are lifting you will gain muscle. Muscle is 3x heavier then fat.

jacksonpt · May 2015

For me, it's all about diet. I do best when I'm eating how I should, regardless of the exercise I'm doing. I've lost weight with very minimal exercise, and I've gained weight with a ton of exercise, and everything in between.

Speaking about exercise specifically... what seems to be more effective is REALLY hard to measure. Subjectively, I've had the best results when doing a little bit of cardio late in the day... but there are so many variables that I'm hesitant to say that it was the determining factor for me.

colors_fade · May 2015

WolverhamptonFitness wrote: »

Muscle is 3x heavier then fat.

Not to bust out the science here, but...

A pound of fat = a pound of muscle.

Because it's a pound.

The only way muscle is 3x heavier than fat is if you put 3x the amount of muscle on the scale.

I think what you meant to say is, fat of the same weight has more volume than muscle.

And yeah, it's all about the calorie deficit. You can create that deficit through exercise or diet, or both. But the bottom line is, no deficit, no weight loss.

sijomial · May 2015

Weight loss is nothing to do with the exercise you do - sure it can contribute to a calorie deficit (but that's not how MFP is supposed to work anyway!).

Focus on your calorie balance for weight loss, focus on exercise towards your health and fitness goals.

triciab79 · May 2015

sijomial wrote: »

Weight loss is nothing to do with the exercise you do - sure it can contribute to a calorie deficit (but that's not how MFP is supposed to work anyway!).

Focus on your calorie balance for weight loss, focus on exercise towards your health and fitness goals.

AMEN!

Weight loss is all about the calories. Are you 100% sure you are only eating 1200 per day? If you are eating back what you exercise and estimating what you think you are burning then I guess you are not estimating correctly. Exercise burns far fewer calories than most people think it does.

iLoveMyPitbull1225 · May 2015

DopeItUp wrote: »

100% diet. Cardio and weight training is a matter of preference, enjoyment and fitness goals.

this. weight loss in the kitchen and fitness in the gym.

ndj1979 · May 2015

OP - If you are not losing weight then you are not eating in a calorie deficit, it is that simple. You can't out train a calorie surplus.

ndj1979 · May 2015

WolverhamptonFitness wrote: »

You have to remember - if you are not eating a deficet you wont lose weight. If you are not eating on a deficet and are lifting you will gain muscle. Muscle is 3x heavier then fat.

the bolded part is dead wrong.

cassie858 · May 2015

DopeItUp wrote: »

100% diet. Cardio and weight training is a matter of preference, enjoyment and fitness goals.

Yep - calories in vs calories out. If you are not losing weight then you are eating too much, it's that simple. I also agree with @triciab79 - people vastly overestimate the calories they burn when exercising. Not only that but they often eat more after exercise because they feel that they 'deserve' it.

Emilia777 · May 2015

Agree with those saying that it’s all about the caloric deficit. Your diary is locked - do you weigh all your solid foods including fruit, no estimations based on size, etc? Do you eat back exercise calories?

And you say you want to lose fat and gain muscle (lean is the only kind, I believe). These two goals are contradictory if you want to achieve them concurrently, as you can’t gain muscle while eating in a caloric deficit (barring any noob gains for someone new to weight training). To gain muscle, you need to either eat at maintenance and lift heavy (aka do a recomp) or eat at a surplus and lift heavy (aka bulk) and then cut to lose the fat you gained along with muscle.

In regard of cardio vs weights, I lift 3 x week (barring major soreness) and do cardio maybe once a week. It’s not necessary for weight loss. I would in fact say lifting weights is more useful because it helps hold on to your existing muscle mass.

jacksonpt · May 2015

kristinaljp10 wrote: »

Forgot to post in original. BF: 33%.

According to fitness frog Tdee: is 2013 BMR: 1459
I have been going only by mfp suggestions, perhaps I should try raising my calorie intake?

That doesn't make sense. I suggest you do some reading on calorie balance and weight loss. You need fewer cals to lose weight, not more. It would be like saying your savings account isn't growing like you'd like, so maybe you should try spending more money.

barryplumber · May 2015

Weight loss is 80% diet and 20% excersise. If you could eat food at maintenence level and did no excersise you stay the same, of you excersise and burned 500 calorie a day and still eating at maintenence you should lose a pound every 7 days as every 3500 calories= 1 lb. Some people don't see this because they don't see the lb at the start that pound could be turned into muscle or water weight. If you really want to see results try not eating any salt/sodium for 24 hours prior to weigh-in as it will cause water to be retained. So of you eat at a deflict it's the same 1 lb for every 3500 calories in 7 days.

Chaskavitch · May 2015

kristinaljp10 wrote: »

Forgot to post in original. BF: 33%.

According to fitness frog Tdee: is 2013 BMR: 1459
I have been going only by mfp suggestions, perhaps I should try raising my calorie intake?

I'm going to second what losingitseattle said, you should go look at the Eat More 2 Weigh Less forums, and also maybe the Eat, Train, Progress forums. Your BRM is approximately how many calories your body expends to keep you alive when you're doing absolutely nothing, not even digesting food, so you should probably be eating at least that much. Yes, weight loss is almost solely about calories, but how you look isn't. I bet losingitseattle looks more like what you want to look like than you would imagine, even though she has the same height/weight stats as you, because she has more muscle, and consequently less fat. Lifting heavy (for you) is the best option for building muscle, as well as keeping the muscle you have while losing fat.

I'm 5'5", 138 lbs right now. I am running 10-12 slow miles/week, doing 2 days of tae kwon do (~40 minutes/day), and lifting heavy one or two days a week depending on how much time I have. I can lose about 0.5 lb a week eating between 1900 - 2000 cal/day. It might take some experimenting, but I bet you can eat quite a bit more than you're eating now and still lose weight. Go read some of the stickies on those two forums, there is a lot of info to give you more specific answers there. Good luck!

ndj1979 · May 2015

Chaskavitch wrote: »

kristinaljp10 wrote: »

Forgot to post in original. BF: 33%.

According to fitness frog Tdee: is 2013 BMR: 1459
I have been going only by mfp suggestions, perhaps I should try raising my calorie intake?

I'm going to second what losingitseattle said, you should go look at the Eat More 2 Weigh Less forums, and also maybe the Eat, Train, Progress forums. Your BRM is approximately how many calories your body expends to keep you alive when you're doing absolutely nothing, not even digesting food, so you should probably be eating at least that much. Yes, weight loss is almost solely about calories, but how you look isn't. I bet losingitseattle looks more like what you want to look like than you would imagine, even though she has the same stats as you, because she has more muscle, and consequently less fat. Lifting heavy (for you) is the best option for building muscle, as well as keeping the muscle you have while losing fat.

I'm 5'5", 138 lbs right now. I am running 10-12 slow miles/week, doing 2 days of tae kwon do (~40 minutes/day), and lifting heavy one or two days a week depending on how much time I have. I can lose about 0.5 lb a week eating between 1900 - 2000 cal/day. It might take some experimenting, but I bet you can eat quite a bit more than you're eating now and still lose weight. Go read some of the stickies on those two forums, there is a lot of info to give you more specific answers there. Good luck!

if OP is not logging correctly or is overestimating calorie burns, how is eating more going to solve the problem??

cwolfman13 · May 2015

diet for weight control; exercise for fitness. your ratio of cardio to resistance training should be dependent on your fitness goals, not your weight loss goals. as a matter of general fitness, a 50/50 split is optimal...more specific fitness goals would dictate otherwise.

kristinaljp10 · May 2015

Thank you all for your responses. I do understand that in order to lose weight there needs to be a calorie deficit. I am going to work on being more consistent with weighing and measuring my food. It is good to know that my workout routine actually makes sense. I have always had trouble losing weight and I wondered what I was doing wrong, so it is clear that the problem is my calorie intake only. I didn't think that it was this difficult for others to lose weight on 1200 calories per day, but if I actually stuck to that number I am sure I would see results. Thank you again.

ratio of cardio to weight training for weight loss

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