Exercise Routine for weight lost

rvbrandy
rvbrandy Posts: 1 Member
edited November 14 in Health and Weight Loss
My exercise routine involves weight lifting as well as cardio. Every day I do 30 mins of strength training and the other 30 mins in cardio. I first do the strength training. 3 days legs 3 days upper body. But I feel like strength training is working against me.

Do you advise only cardio to lose weight. If I include weight training how much reps and break

Replies

  • ninerbuff
    ninerbuff Posts: 48,989 Member
    You lose weight by eating less than you burn. Even without exercise. Exercise is for fitness and health and it's a myth that cardio is what you do to lose weight. It's starts with how much you're EATING.

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  • nosebag1212
    nosebag1212 Posts: 621 Member
    How can strength training be working against you? That makes no sense.
  • RoxieDawn
    RoxieDawn Posts: 15,488 Member
    I do both but not as a primary reason to lose weight. Exercise for your health.. Cardio for your cardiovascular health and/or cardio specific goals, and strength train to build a little muscle and maintain your muscle mass whilst losing weight. I hope that you will want to continue to exercise after you reach your goal weight.

    You need to cut your calories in order to lose weight, that should be your primary focus and add in the exercise for added benefits to your health.
  • lorrpb
    lorrpb Posts: 11,463 Member
    Strength training is great because it helps retain muscle during weight loss and being stronger is good. Cardio is good because it builds endurance. Weighing and logging food is good because it helps you reduce your intake and lose weight.
  • nowine4me
    nowine4me Posts: 3,985 Member
    Keep doing both, but you might want to consider splitting the days. So lift one day and cardio the next. Build in a rest day too.
  • allieimproves
    allieimproves Posts: 19 Member
    It's actually common that people see a bit of a stall in their weight loss due to exercising. For me, I started my loss with just walking and lost a good amount right away, but when I added strength training, that slowed my pace down. One of my favorite blogs, Runs For Cookies, is written by a woman who lost over 100 lbs. she started by focusing on tracking calories and she didn't start exercising until she'd already lost 60 lbs, which she said caused her weight loss to stall. she wrote an entry about how this was very common and not necessarily a bad thing. Here's the link. I hope it helps!! http://www.runsforcookies.com/2011/12/when-weight-gain-isnt-bad-thing.html

    Keep your head up!
  • ktarver97
    ktarver97 Posts: 3 Member
    True, calorie deficit = weight loss. So, use more calories than you take in and cardio will help you burn calories. However, building muscle = more efficient metabolism. Building muscle increases your basal metabolic rate so you will actually burn calories when you're just sitting around because your body needs to burn calories to meet the muscle energy demands. The more muscle you have, the more calories you'll burn. It takes 6-12 weeks to build muscle mass, so you won't see the benefits of weight loss right away and some people notice an increase in inches. But keep going... it's an investment that pays off!
  • AnvilHead
    AnvilHead Posts: 18,343 Member
    ktarver97 wrote: »
    True, calorie deficit = weight loss. So, use more calories than you take in and cardio will help you burn calories. However, building muscle = more efficient metabolism. Building muscle increases your basal metabolic rate so you will actually burn calories when you're just sitting around because your body needs to burn calories to meet the muscle energy demands. The more muscle you have, the more calories you'll burn. It takes 6-12 weeks to build muscle mass, so you won't see the benefits of weight loss right away and some people notice an increase in inches. But keep going... it's an investment that pays off!

    One pound of fat burns 2 calories per day. One pound of muscle burns 6 calories per day. So for every pound of muscle you add, you're burning an extra 4 calories per day. So if you were to add 25 pounds of muscle mass (which is a lifetime achievement for many people), you'd be burning an extra 100 calories per day.

    It takes a lot more than 6-12 weeks to build appreciable amounts of muscle, and muscle gain is also minimized when in a caloric deficit so you're not going to be building much of it.
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