Weightlifting more than cardio?

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  • SezxyStef
    SezxyStef Posts: 15,267 Member
    KiwiLifter wrote: »
    I believe that when overweight by quite a bit, the focus should be on cardio oriented activities, but with an element of resistance in them. Workouts should be constructed to safely burn as many calories as possible, without overloading your cardiovascualr system. When the ratio of lean mass to fat starts to shift, more lifting should be implemented. Lifting is where it's at, but bring your cardio and your stability systems up to speed first.

    I think you need to read more.

    When overweight by quite a bit there is a strong chance of gaining some muscle when lifting...albeit short lived gains it is still well worth it.
  • kellylseguin
    kellylseguin Posts: 9 Member
    nfr92xx wrote: »
    kellylseguin wrote: »
    Right now I'm trying to build muscle. I eat lots and workout 4 days a week. 3 days are heavy lifting circuit training and the 4th day is abs with about 20 mins of intense cardio. I am losing inches, seeing muscle build and losing a tiny bit of weight. In my opinion, lifting weights is more important than cardio. I also prefer lifting over cardio and it seems to be working for me. :)

    That's amazing :) thank you! Do you find you don't have as much loose skin from lifting and that everything's a lot tighter??

    Absolutely! My mid section was my problem section. Before I started lifting I had lost weight but still had loose skin / flabby middle. Nothing was helping. Diet and cardio alone weren't doing the trick so I started really pushing hard with weights. I do heavy lifting bootcamps so I still get a bit of cardio without spending hours on treadmills. My mid section is shrinking!
  • cgvet37
    cgvet37 Posts: 1,189 Member
    nfr92xx wrote: »
    Sumiblue wrote: »
    I lost weight (fat) because of deficit but did mostly weight training. I walk for cardio, too.

    How many calories roughly were you eating when you were loosing weight? And what's the best way to ensure you do burn more than you eat?

    I'm on a 2,000 calorie diet, and am in a deficit every day. I'm steady at about 1 lb. per week loss. I train five days a week. The sessions with my trainer are normally thirty minutes, one day a week. The other four days they are at least an hour.
  • MeanderingMammal
    MeanderingMammal Posts: 7,866 Member
    Pascooty wrote: »
    KiwiLifter wrote: »
    I believe that when overweight by quite a bit, the focus should be on cardio oriented activities, but with an element of resistance in them. Workouts should be constructed to safely burn as many calories as possible, without overloading your cardiovascualr system. When the ratio of lean mass to fat starts to shift, more lifting should be implemented. Lifting is where it's at, but bring your cardio and your stability systems up to speed first.

    I'm curious, how does one know when the ratio shifts? I'm about 100 lbs overweight at the moment and have mainly been doing cardio. I'd like to get into the muscle building and fitness along with the cardio at some point. I'm sure I have a long way to go before this "shift" happens though, lol.

    He's talking nonsense.

    Resistance training of some kind has benefit.
  • heavy_heavy_lowlow
    heavy_heavy_lowlow Posts: 45 Member
    calorie deficit #1
    i love cardio, its what helped me bring my blood pressure down. pushed me away from almost having diabetes. it also made me feel better and helped me shed 150 pounds. i did no weightlifting at all. i still dont. like i said cardio and calorie deficit. im allowed up to almost 3,000 calories of those i use like 1700 daily sometimes less. building that muscle mass will prolly tone me up tho but thats not important to me as it is to some. i know some that can lift 350 pounds but cant run half a mile. i know some that can run 7 miles but not lift a 50 pound dumbell. u can do one or the other or both up to you :)
  • sunnybeaches105
    sunnybeaches105 Posts: 2,831 Member
    nfr92xx wrote: »
    sunnybeaches105 wrote: »
    Do yourself a favor and get in the habit of doing both. Strength training will ensure thst you are firm and shapely when you lose the extra weight, and cardio will help ensure that your heart keeps beating though strenuous exercise and life stress.

    I do do both :) I was just wondering if by plateauing it would be okay to just do mainly weights in the gym? I walk a lot outside the gym as where I live is in the country and has some lovely trails!

    If you're plateauing then you're eating more than you think, overestimating your calorie burn, or very likely you lost enough weight to need to reset (lower) your calories goal. I find cardio helps me lose because I stay satisfied with my food intake (because it's higher than if I didn't do cardio). If you're getting substantial cardio activity outside of the gym then yes I'd probably spend more of your time in the gym lifting. Exercise also keeps some of us away from the TV and other things that make us snack. Use the combination that works for you. Again, cardio for heart health (and extra calorie burn), strength training for muscle retention/gain/body comp, and primarily diet for a calorie deficit to lose weight.
  • Sumiblue
    Sumiblue Posts: 1,597 Member
    Deficit is the number of calories under TDEE. TDEE is the total number of calories you burn in a day, including exercise and just body functioning.
    So a 300 cal deficit is TDEE minus 300 calories. When you set your MFP profile to lose a certain amount per week the calorie deficit is built in. You should eat what your calorie goal is, not less. The deficit has already been factored in.
  • nfr92xx
    nfr92xx Posts: 13 Member
    Sumiblue wrote: »
    Deficit is the number of calories under TDEE. TDEE is the total number of calories you burn in a day, including exercise and just body functioning.
    So a 300 cal deficit is TDEE minus 300 calories. When you set your MFP profile to lose a certain amount per week the calorie deficit is built in. You should eat what your calorie goal is, not less. The deficit has already been factored in.

    Thank you so much, that broke it down perfectly! So 1,300 is my MFP calorie goal so that's a reasonable amount? I find it manageable for decent filling meals as well as my exercise!
  • torizia
    torizia Posts: 140 Member
    nfr92xx wrote: »
    Sumiblue wrote: »
    Deficit is the number of calories under TDEE. TDEE is the total number of calories you burn in a day, including exercise and just body functioning.
    So a 300 cal deficit is TDEE minus 300 calories. When you set your MFP profile to lose a certain amount per week the calorie deficit is built in. You should eat what your calorie goal is, not less. The deficit has already been factored in.

    Thank you so much, that broke it down perfectly! So 1,300 is my MFP calorie goal so that's a reasonable amount? I find it manageable for decent filling meals as well as my exercise!

    1300 is the amount of calories that you should consume each day PLUS any which you have burnt through extra exercise. For example, if you burn 300 calories from running, you should eat 1600 calories that day (but be careful to measure and log everything so you know you're not accidentally having more than this) so that you end up with a 'net' figure of 1300 calories. As a previous poster mentioned, this 1300 calories already takes account of the deficit so should result in you losing weight at a steady, sustainable rate :)

    Some people suggest that you don't 'eat back' all of your extra exercise calories (e.g. eating an additional 150 instead of 300) but this goes against the way that MFP works in my opinion!

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