Should i focus more on cardio

rikkejanell2014
rikkejanell2014 Posts: 312 Member
edited November 2024 in Food and Nutrition
Today is day 65 of my Weightloss journey. Down 25 pounds. Went from a size 16 to a 12. Im super excited. I have like 45 more pounds to lose. When i started i would do like 35 minutes of cardio and then resistance weight machines. Because of time i have only been doing cardio for the last 2 weeks. I usually only have and hour in the gym and my goal is to burn at least 400 calories every session. Im at 1240 cal def which im doing great. My question is is good to just focus on cardio right now to burn fat and calories or should i be doing both?

Replies

  • jnducharme
    jnducharme Posts: 83 Member
    Good for you you're really killing it! I would do a combination of cardio and strength. Building muscle is important because muscle burns more calories at rest and it's good for you. The best use of your time would be to do a High Intensity Interval Training (HIIT) cardio workout (such sprints on the tread mill or plyometric cardio circuits) and then strength work after. HIIT cardio sessions are usually only 25-30 minutes long at most and are the most efficient way to burn calories and improve stamina. Here are a couple of links to articles from Bodybuilding.com about HIIT.

    This one is about HIIT generally..
    http://www.bodybuilding.com/content/what-is-the-best-hiit-workout.html

    This one suggests a beginner-advanced HIIT 8week program.
    http://www.bodybuilding.com/content/ultimate-8-week-hiit-for-fat-burning-program.html

    A great way to start off doing HIIT is to follow a program someone has created because you know it will be effective. A couple ones I like are..

    My favourite is Beachbody's Insanity workouts for my HIIT training and it is super effective. This is also a great one because it is HIIT combined with strength so you burn a ton of calories while getting strong at the same time. However, it is a video so not as convenient at the gym.

    Kayla Itsiness' Bikini Body Guide program is similar to Insanity but better if you are workingout at a gym because it is available in PDF format online and you just print the page or write down your daily workout.
    http://www.noholita.fr/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/KI-Bikini-Body-Training-Guide.pdf

    Feel free to add me if you have more questions :)

    Hope this helps!
  • rikkejanell2014
    rikkejanell2014 Posts: 312 Member
    jnducharme wrote: »
    Good for you you're really killing it! I would do a combination of cardio and strength. Building muscle is important because muscle burns more calories at rest and it's good for you. The best use of your time would be to do a High Intensity Interval Training (HIIT) cardio workout (such sprints on the tread mill or plyometric cardio circuits) and then strength work after. HIIT cardio sessions are usually only 25-30 minutes long at most and are the most efficient way to burn calories and improve stamina. Here are a couple of links to articles from Bodybuilding.com about HIIT.

    This one is about HIIT generally..
    http://www.bodybuilding.com/content/what-is-the-best-hiit-workout.html

    This one suggests a beginner-advanced HIIT 8week program.
    http://www.bodybuilding.com/content/ultimate-8-week-hiit-for-fat-burning-program.html

    A great way to start off doing HIIT is to follow a program someone has created because you know it will be effective. A couple ones I like are..

    My favourite is Beachbody's Insanity workouts for my HIIT training and it is super effective. This is also a great one because it is HIIT combined with strength so you burn a ton of calories while getting strong at the same time. However, it is a video so not as convenient at the gym.

    Kayla Itsiness' Bikini Body Guide program is similar to Insanity but better if you are workingout at a gym because it is available in PDF format online and you just print the page or write down your daily workout.
    http://www.noholita.fr/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/KI-Bikini-Body-Training-Guide.pdf

    Feel free to add me if you have more questions :)

    Hope this helps!

    But you cant build muscle in a calorie deficit.
  • SideSteel
    SideSteel Posts: 11,068 Member
    rikkejanell2014 wrote: »
    jnducharme wrote: »
    Good for you you're really killing it! I would do a combination of cardio and strength. Building muscle is important because muscle burns more calories at rest and it's good for you. The best use of your time would be to do a High Intensity Interval Training (HIIT) cardio workout (such sprints on the tread mill or plyometric cardio circuits) and then strength work after. HIIT cardio sessions are usually only 25-30 minutes long at most and are the most efficient way to burn calories and improve stamina. Here are a couple of links to articles from Bodybuilding.com about HIIT.

    This one is about HIIT generally..
    http://www.bodybuilding.com/content/what-is-the-best-hiit-workout.html

    This one suggests a beginner-advanced HIIT 8week program.
    http://www.bodybuilding.com/content/ultimate-8-week-hiit-for-fat-burning-program.html

    A great way to start off doing HIIT is to follow a program someone has created because you know it will be effective. A couple ones I like are..

    My favourite is Beachbody's Insanity workouts for my HIIT training and it is super effective. This is also a great one because it is HIIT combined with strength so you burn a ton of calories while getting strong at the same time. However, it is a video so not as convenient at the gym.

    Kayla Itsiness' Bikini Body Guide program is similar to Insanity but better if you are workingout at a gym because it is available in PDF format online and you just print the page or write down your daily workout.
    http://www.noholita.fr/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/KI-Bikini-Body-Training-Guide.pdf

    Feel free to add me if you have more questions :)

    Hope this helps!

    But you cant build muscle in a calorie deficit.

    That's actually quite complex.

    However the short answer is that it doesn't matter whether or not you build new muscle. Lifting will give you more muscle than you would have if you were to not lift.
  • jnducharme
    jnducharme Posts: 83 Member
    edited February 2017
    I really don't agree that you can't build muscle in a calorie deficit. In a calorie deficit it would be very difficult (probably impossible) to pack on size like if you were looking to bulk up but as my guess is that is not your goal a calorie deficit shouldn't be a problem. I am technically in a calorie deficit and I lift 4-5 days per week as well as do Insanity 5 days/week and even as a pretty fit person I definitely am still gaining muscle while losing body fat. Eating enough protein will help and like SideSteel said..
    SideSteel wrote: »
    Lifting will give you more muscle than you would have if you were to not lift.

  • extra_medium
    extra_medium Posts: 1,525 Member
    Like others have said you're not going to pack on appreciable muscle in a deficit (gain mass and lose mass at the same time) but you'll still notice a difference if you keep lifting. If you don't have time to do a lot of lifting at the gym because you want to focus on cardio, get one of those door frame pull up bars or bands or something for home and try to work it in during your spare time.
  • LiveLoveFitFab
    LiveLoveFitFab Posts: 302 Member
    I try to do cardio in between my weight sets at the gym. I take one minute between sets right now. So I do butt kicks, jumping jacks, high knees...that kind of stuff. It keeps my muscles full of blood, and keeps my heart rate high. I do admit, I look funny compared to the folks sitting on the bench listening to music, but I'm burning more calories. I figure I get about 15-20 minutes of good extra cardio in this way. Plus my ten minute warm up, and I've done a cardio and weight work out in one hour, and definitely burned at least 400 calories.

  • LiveLoveFitFab
    LiveLoveFitFab Posts: 302 Member
    Also, I lift weights while eating a deficit all the time and get strength gains and my muscles appear nicer when the fat melts off them than if I just did cardio.

    There is nothing worse than someone losing a bunch of weight and looking like a sad sack of skin underneath, so keep up with the weights. Your body will thank you.
  • psuLemon
    psuLemon Posts: 38,432 MFP Moderator
    edited February 2017
    LiveLoveFitFab wrote: »
    I try to do cardio in between my weight sets at the gym. I take one minute between sets right now. So I do butt kicks, jumping jacks, high knees...that kind of stuff. It keeps my muscles full of blood, and keeps my heart rate high. I do admit, I look funny compared to the folks sitting on the bench listening to music, but I'm burning more calories. I figure I get about 15-20 minutes of good extra cardio in this way. Plus my ten minute warm up, and I've done a cardio and weight work out in one hour, and definitely burned at least 400 calories.

    By doing so, you can also limit the ability for your muscles to recover between sets. So at some point, you might need to taper back on doing that.


    OP, personally, you should considering have a program that has days with cardio and others with weight training (particularly, one that is focused on compound movements). Additionally, since there really isn't a good way to measure calorie burned, you shouldn't really aim for a goal of burning "xx" calories. Instead, you should concentrate on making improvements in your fitness.

    Also, you are losing over 2.5lbs a week which is fairly aggressive and it may be worth increasing intake and slowing that down, especially you have a goal of maintain your muscle.
  • Lei9785gha
    Lei9785gha Posts: 73 Member
    I think your frame is similar to mine and lifting weights and strength training has slimmed me way down and faster than when I was doing just cardio. I would agree and recommend you do 25-30 minutes of cardio preferably HIIT and then do free weights and strength and even use your body weight for the remaining time of your workout in the gym; I use the gym as well...my profile pic is not as recent im a little slimmer than that middle picture or maybe a lot now but I would owe it all to weights and strength training
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