Strength training instead of cardio

Don't panic! You are doing a good thing. Strength training is important for us especially as we age. Skeletal muscle mass = independence.

Give it some time. Tell yourself you will try this for 12 weeks and see how you feel at the end. Plus, if you're still doing three cardio workouts/week, that's awesome!

You can also try incorporating some quick HIIT routines after your strength training sessions if you really want to feel like you've put in a good workout (though if you're doing ST properly, you already have).

I started strength training in June and am loving seeing definition in my arms and shoulders. I've started varying what I do so I am moving around muscle groups and adding some proper leg days in and fitting cardio in too. My treadmill and Apple Watch give me a good idea of calorie burn for the cardio but I am at a loss for the weights workouts. Last workout was an hour of alternating 3 sets of 15 reps of a weight move, and the same of some abs, back and forth. Minimal breaks. I set the AW to "other" as there is no setting for strength and it pretty much gave me a "long walk" count of 241 cals. How many do we think we burn in an hour of weights?

I also find that I sweat a whole lot more when I'm doing lower body just bc the muscles are bigger.

Congrats on working towards yours goals.

Lifting is really good to help retain muscle as one loses weight they lose fat and muscle.

Keep in mind that sweat doesn't equate how hard you worked.

When ypu get down to around 20% fat perhaps you might start a bulk as you mentioned you'll like to add muscle.

I prefer cardio right now, but decided to pull back on it and really focus more on lifting (I was faffing about with it over the summer a bit when I really got into running) when I was diagnosed with osteopenia.

I've had periods in the past where I was more into lifting before, so I do enjoy it. It's been fun to get back into the swing of it again.

You're doing the right thing. A mix of the two is a good gift to your future self.

I'm 54.

Strength training with weights burns way more fat but cardio burns more calories. That's why it's a great idea your doing both. I'm an avid runner and run 4 days a week but also do cross and strength training two days a week by going to a boxing club. Both work very well.

You might want to try a circuit workout. Basically, jump from machine to machine with little rest time in between and get a full body workout. This should knock your socks off. Just, be careful, because it's easy to overdo it. Give yourself more rest time in between sets at first until you can gauge how your heart reacts to it. Also, going from the leg press machine to the bench press machine, and compound muscle working machines like them will wear you out fast. It takes your heart a minute to catch up, so there is a delayed effect. I recommend a good warm-up before doing that.
Once you got the blast you wanted, you can isolate certain muscle groups and focus on low rep, high weight sets to build strength.

trudiebamford wrote: »

But I'm panicking. I'm used to killing it on my bike or running, and I feel like I've traded down, because although I'm working hard on strength training, it doesn't FEEL as hard as an hour of cardio (I don't pour with sweat, for a start), and I don't get to eat back a load of exercise calories, and......

There's a misconception in the "fitness world" that you have to do cardio because it's the only thing that works for fat loss which is far from the truth. While 30 minutes of cardio will burn more calories than lifting weights, you need to look beyond the numbers...

Cardio is good for cardiovascular health no doubt. You will get some calorie burn after exercising in the form of EPOC (Excess post-exercise oxygen consumption).

Weight lifting is good for stronger bone density & ups your metabolism. Weight lifting increases Hormone Growth Hormone (HGH) which cardio does very little if any to increase. HGH promotes muscle building and fat burning after lifting. Weightlifting is also better for your over-all aesthetics. I personally have a MUCH better physique now doing mostly lifting/some cardio than when I did mostly cardio/some lifting. I could go on with more of the benefits of weight lifting but I think you get the idea.

One big difference between lifting and cardio that I noticed is that there is a lot of "dead" time while lifting. Between waiting your turn, adjusting machines, and rest time between sets, your actual exertion time might be less than you think, With cardio, once you start the exercise, you're hitting it full time until you stop. You can improve your time with circuit training but even so ...

I tend to favor cardio but my goals may be different than yours. My main objective is heart health and that's what cardio is made for. The other side effects -- flexibility, aesthetics, and weight control -- are secondary to me. I do cardio to save my life.