Weight training or cardio? which burns more fat

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EmilySpeight1
EmilySpeight1 Posts: 3 Member
in Fitness and Exercise
Just wondering which burns more fat? Training with weights or cardio?
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  • Mycophilia
    Mycophilia Posts: 1,225 Member
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    Cardio. Unless you're freakishly strong, like pro powerlifter strong.
  • hamlet1222
    hamlet1222 Posts: 459 Member
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    weight training adds muscle to your body, muscles burn calories 24/7 even when your asleep. I recommend doing a bit of both.
  • EmilySpeight1
    EmilySpeight1 Posts: 3 Member
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    thanks!
  • 19gabriela01
    19gabriela01 Posts: 2,090 Member
    edited October 2015
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    Well I get my heart rate pretty high and sweat more than while running with squats and deadlifts. Or combined deadlift + front squat = one rep with lighter weight around 20, 30 kg. And these movements I make faster than whith heavier weights
  • EmilySpeight1
    EmilySpeight1 Posts: 3 Member
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    thanks!
  • Stoshew71
    Stoshew71 Posts: 6,553 Member
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    Simply put: Burning fat is a function of taking in less calories (by eating) than the amount of calories you body needs to do what it normally does.

    Cardio: makes your body require more calories to do the the particular workout. It depends how much activity (quantity measured by minutes per workout multiplied the times you do it per week) with intensity (how hard or fast you do cardio) and how much fat weight you are carrying as you do it.

    Training with weights: If you are doing this while in a calorie deficit (and assuming you eat enough protein) you will maintain muscle mass. So what someone said above is wrong. You won't burn any more calories 24/7 if all you are doing is maintaining muscle mass.

    However, if you eat at a slight calorie surplus combined with strength training and enough protein intake, you will increase muscle mass. This will increase your overall BMR meaning, your body will require more calories overall 24/7.

    Long story short, your question does not have a simple answer. The best answer that can be given starts with, "it depends...".
  • rileyes
    rileyes Posts: 1,406 Member
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    Weight training can make you appear slimmer --retains LBM. You may like timed circuit training with weights for your goal.
  • scottver2
    scottver2 Posts: 53 Member
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    Stoshew71 wrote: »
    Simply put: Burning fat is a function of taking in less calories (by eating) than the amount of calories you body needs to do what it normally does.

    Cardio: makes your body require more calories to do the the particular workout. It depends how much activity (quantity measured by minutes per workout multiplied the times you do it per week) with intensity (how hard or fast you do cardio) and how much fat weight you are carrying as you do it.

    Training with weights: If you are doing this while in a calorie deficit (and assuming you eat enough protein) you will maintain muscle mass. So what someone said above is wrong. You won't burn any more calories 24/7 if all you are doing is maintaining muscle mass.

    However, if you eat at a slight calorie surplus combined with strength training and enough protein intake, you will increase muscle mass. This will increase your overall BMR meaning, your body will require more calories overall 24/7.

    Long story short, your question does not have a simple answer. The best answer that can be given starts with, "it depends...".

    Yup...excellent response
  • ColossusCain
    ColossusCain Posts: 124 Member
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    Weight Training will burn more calories and it will do it longer. When you exercise you are putting your body in a state where it will burn more calories. The difference is if you only do steady state cardio your body will return to a state where is burns less calories quicker whereas after a weight training session your body will continue to burn calories at a higher rate for hours after your session has ended.
    The benefits do not end there either. As you build lean muscle you will find yourself burning more calories because muscle needs more calories to maintain. Even though the numbers on the scale will not change as dramatically you will notice that your body actually looks way better, I recommend pictures, a body measuring tape, and body fat tester for you to truly see your changes.
    Now just to slam dunk this I will also include an outside source to back my claims, one of millions out there.

    http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/fat_loss_training_wars.htm
  • Stoshew71
    Stoshew71 Posts: 6,553 Member
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    ColossusCain wrote: »
    Weight Training will burn more calories and it will do it longer. When you exercise you are putting your body in a state where it will burn more calories. The difference is if you only do steady state cardio your body will return to a state where is burns less calories quicker whereas after a weight training session your body will continue to burn calories at a higher rate for hours after your session has ended.
    The benefits do not end there either. As you build lean muscle you will find yourself burning more calories because muscle needs more calories to maintain. Even though the numbers on the scale will not change as dramatically you will notice that your body actually looks way better, I recommend pictures, a body measuring tape, and body fat tester for you to truly see your changes.
    Now just to slam dunk this I will also include an outside source to back my claims, one of millions out there.

    http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/fat_loss_training_wars.htm

    Again, it depends. Steady state cardio for more than 90 minutes can burn more cals than weight lifting (to include the after effect) if you steady state cardio to glycogen depletion. Again, it depends.

    And again, you will not build lean muscle unless you are also in a calorie surplus. So again, it depends.
  • Stoshew71
    Stoshew71 Posts: 6,553 Member
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    ColossusCain wrote: »
    Weight Training will burn more calories and it will do it longer. When you exercise you are putting your body in a state where it will burn more calories. The difference is if you only do steady state cardio your body will return to a state where is burns less calories quicker whereas after a weight training session your body will continue to burn calories at a higher rate for hours after your session has ended.
    The benefits do not end there either. As you build lean muscle you will find yourself burning more calories because muscle needs more calories to maintain. Even though the numbers on the scale will not change as dramatically you will notice that your body actually looks way better, I recommend pictures, a body measuring tape, and body fat tester for you to truly see your changes.
    Now just to slam dunk this I will also include an outside source to back my claims, one of millions out there.

    http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/fat_loss_training_wars.htm

    Funny you use a bodybuilding website to provide evidence that bodybuilding is better than cardio.
    So here is a running website to provide "evidence" that it doesn't matter which one you do. Only because, it depends.

    http://www.runnersworld.com/fridge-wisdom/is-there-a-best-way-to-lose-weight

  • coachjschroth
    coachjschroth Posts: 25 Member
    edited October 2015
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    During a single bout of cardio, more fat calories will be consumed. It's just the nature of steady state cardio which utilizes oxidative energy sources. However, Weight training generally burns more fat calories over time. It's well documented and is a result of EPOC (exess post exercise oxygen consumption). There are many articles out there, including peer-reviewed, that elaborate on it more if you're interested in the research data. This was already mentioned in a post above but the term EPOC wasn't mentioned.

    Also, regardless if your goal is to maintain or increase muscle mass, muscle is a much more metabolically active tissue. It will burn 2-3x more calories than adipose tissue will.

    And finally, it is possible to add lean muscle even in a deficit, assuming the deficit isn't extremely severe. That has also been documented.
  • Stoshew71
    Stoshew71 Posts: 6,553 Member
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    coachjschroth wrote: »
    During a single bout of cardio, more fat calories will be consumed. It's just the nature of steady state cardio which utilizes oxidative energy sources. However, Weight training generally burns more fat calories over time. It's well documented and is a result of EPOC (exess post exercise oxygen consumption). There are many articles out there, including peer-reviewed, that elaborate on it more if you're interested in the research data. This was already mentioned in a post above but the term EPOC wasn't mentioned.

    Also, regardless if your goal is to maintain or increase muscle mass, muscle is a much more metabolically active tissue. It will burn 2-3x more calories than adipose tissue will.

    And finally, it is possible to add lean muscle even in a deficit, assuming the deficit isn't extremely severe. That has also been documented.

    Not only I, but many will be interested to see the documented study for adding lean muscle at a deficit. It's one of the biggest topics here on mfp.
  • coachjschroth
    coachjschroth Posts: 25 Member
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    Sure, I would be happy to provide. Give me a sec and I'll pull up a couple.
  • coachjschroth
    coachjschroth Posts: 25 Member
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    The Effects of Cross-Training on Markers of Insulin Resistance/Hyperinsulinemea by Wallace MB.

    The caveat to this study is that it was performed on overweight individuals. Athletes respond differently to energy restriction and is what we really are interested in.

    A Systematic Review of Dietary Protein During Caloric Restriction in Resistance Trained Lean Athletes: A Case for Higher Intakes by Eric Helms.

    This one hits a little closer to home for us and it's just a plus that it was conducted by one of the greatest minds in exercise physiology and nutrition.

    What's interesting about this study is the use of different training methodologies and nutritional strategies to *kitten* changes in fat mass (FM) and fat free mass (FFM). Some groups lost both FM and FFM, while some groups only lost FM and either gained or saw no change in FFM. Even more interesting is that the groups which gained FFM had the smallest magnitude of energy restriction and underwent novel training stimuli. This hammers home the point of reducing caloric intake gradually as to maintain the most, or in this case even gain, lean muscle, maintain strength and prevent metabolic damage.

    There are plenty of other articles regarding this subject and some are cited by Eric Helms in his article. I urge you to pursue those references if you would like more information on the topic
  • coachjschroth
    coachjschroth Posts: 25 Member
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    The take away here is that context matters when talking about body composition changes during a caloric deficit. If you've never trained before, are overweight, and decide to utilize resistance training while keeping energy restriction at a conservative rate, than there's a high chance that you will gain lean muscle and lose fat at the same time. However, if you're a well seasoned athlete with several decades of training under your belt and are at a low body fat percentage already, then the best you can hope for is to attenuate losses in fat free mass during energy restriction by keeping protein intake high and being conservative with the caloric deficit. Context is important.
  • singhjagpreet1712
    singhjagpreet1712 Posts: 7 Member
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    High intensity for 30 mins and weight training for 30 mins thats all you need. Muscle increase your motablism level. Muscle need more energy.
  • Stoshew71
    Stoshew71 Posts: 6,553 Member
    edited October 2015
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    ^^^^^
    Thanks for the article. May I counter?

    http://www.fitocracy.com/knowledge/can-i-lose-fat-and-gain-muscle/

    "Does this mean it is possible for everybody? No, it doesn’t, and as I have said many times, what works for one person may not work for any other person.

    If you aren’t in one of the special categories that typically means you have less body fat / weight to manipulate, have more years of experience training, or have reached a limiting factor based on age, training, or diet. Without the use of pharmaceutical assistance, it is tremendously hard to do both at the same time. At this point and in most cases it is the wiser choice to attack one goal and then the other."

    So again, we see yet another case of, "it depends".

    BTW, that article referenced your study as a "magical category":

    If you fall into one of the magical categories, the answer is yes, it is possible and worth trying. One study found that a group of overweight novices lost 16+ pounds of fat and gained nearly 10 pounds of muscle during a 14-week training program [3].

    3.Wallace MB, Mills BD, Browning CL. (1997). Effects of cross training on markers of insulin resistance/hyperinsulinemia. Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise, 29, 1170-1175
  • coachjschroth
    coachjschroth Posts: 25 Member
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    Yes I mentioned that body composition changes will depend on the individual. That's what I mean by context. It was mentioned in my analyses of both studies.

    Also, the article was a good read but that article is purely anecdotal. I would appreciate some peer reviewed sources if we're talking about research.
  • Stoshew71
    Stoshew71 Posts: 6,553 Member
    edited October 2015
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    I am not saying you are wrong. Just that it may not apply to all people. Thanks again for the reference.

    http://spotmebro.com/lose-fat-gain-muscle/

    Interesting article above. His thing is that for very overweight people, he is saying that you can consider the stored fat as part of your energy when considering caloric deficit or surplus. Even tho in diet, you are eating less, you can use your stored fat to somehow come up with an overall calorie surplus.

    But even said all of that, I still think it is a very complicated and preicise ideal to actually achieve the "gain muscle and lose fat". It's possible, but all the planets have to align just right. It's much easier to concentrate on the one and then on the other. (cut and bulk verses recomp for example).

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