Cardio or Strength Training for fat loss

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Mikele17
Mikele17 Posts: 22 Member
in Fitness and Exercise
I know it is important to incorporate strength training and cardio to lose weight without losing muscle mass. I am 185 pounds and my first goal is 165 pounds and ultimately 155 after gaining some muscle. This all depends on how I look as I progress. My appearance is more important than any numbers to me. But because my main concern is losing fat now, should I be doing more cardio than strength training? I currently have 106 lbs of muscle. I have been working out 5 days a week. How many of these days should be utilized for strength training? Any advice is greatly appreciated.

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  • Nikki10129
    Nikki10129 Posts: 292 Member
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    You should be doing both.
    Cardio helps you create more of a deficit in order to lose more weight, but you lose both muscle and fat doing cardio, strength training helps preserve the muscle you have (though you will inevitably still lose some during weight loss). The numbers most likely will not go down as quickly, but you will notice changes in inches and your body, just maybe not your weight
  • jacksonpt
    jacksonpt Posts: 10,413 Member
    edited December 2015
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    weight loss is a function of calorie deficit. Where that weight comes from will vary greatly.

    Get enough protein and sufficiently stress your muscles to help prevent/minimize muscle loss. Most commonly, this means heavier lifting and higher intensity cardio... but any strenuous exercise will certainly help.

    What types of exercises you do and how often is largely up to you. If I were to make a very general, blanket recommendation, I'd suggest 3-5 days of heavy lifting depending on the routine, 1-2 days of plyometrics, intervals, or whatever cardio you enjoy, and 1-2 days of rest/active recovery as needed.
  • Mikele17
    Mikele17 Posts: 22 Member
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    I currently do about 60 minutes of cardio 5 days a week.In addition to that, I do spin classes three times a week and I was thinking of adding body bump to my routine. I eat 130 grams of protein a day. Thanks for your recommendation.
  • Mikele17
    Mikele17 Posts: 22 Member
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    _nicolemarie_ wrote: »
    You should be doing both.
    Cardio helps you create more of a deficit in order to lose more weight, but you lose both muscle and fat doing cardio, strength training helps preserve the muscle you have (though you will inevitably still lose some during weight loss). The numbers most likely will not go down as quickly, but you will notice changes in inches and your body, just maybe not your weight

    Thank you for your post. I will keep this in mind when I weigh in
  • cwolfman13
    cwolfman13 Posts: 41,874 Member
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    both...for fitness.

    weight loss happens when you consume less energy (calories) than your body requires to maintain the status quot. you can do all of the exercise in the world, but if you are eating too much, you're not going to lose weight. diet for weight management; exercise for fitness.

    I ride roughly 80 miles per week...sometimes more, sometimes a little less. I also lift 2-3x per week...i do some hiking, swimming, a jog here and there and am in general pretty active outside of my office. I have lost weight, maintained weight, and gained weight doing all of those things. The difference between losing, maintaining, and gaining had nothing to do with exercise and everything to do with how much I was eating.
  • jacksonpt
    jacksonpt Posts: 10,413 Member
    edited December 2015
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    Mikele17 wrote: »
    I currently do about 60 minutes of cardio 5 days a week.In addition to that, I do spin classes three times a week and I was thinking of adding body bump to my routine.

    That's A LOT of cardio... as much or more than I do, and I'm an endurance athlete.
  • BusyRaeNOTBusty
    BusyRaeNOTBusty Posts: 7,166 Member
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    I would add a real weight lifting routine. Body bump is really just more cardio, cardio with weights, but really still cardio. I'd recommend the book New Rules of Weight Lifting for Women, even if you ultimately don't do the routine, the information is good for those who are hesitant to get into weight lifting.

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