Strength vs Cardio when loosing weight

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T_William
T_William Posts: 147 Member
in Fitness and Exercise
So what is the most important, i'm doing mainly cardio to burn high cals and some weights every other gym session so 2-3 times per week ill do weights and each of those days ill also do cardio but ill do cardio 4-5 days in total.

Normal weight session is something like:

45lbs 5sets 10reps Bench press
45lbs 5sets 10reps Seated chest press
50lbs 5sets 15reps Leg Extensions
40lbs 5sets 15reps Abdominal crunch

Does this sound about right for someone trying to loose weight and burn fat?

Replies

  • cabul3
    cabul3 Posts: 210 Member
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    my trainer has me doing minimum 30min cardio 5-6x/wk and weights 3-4x/wk (essentially every other day).

    I LOVE THE GYM! :o)
  • kslindner
    kslindner Posts: 107
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    I saw ur weight loss ticker... WEEEE! I love Deadmau5!
  • Kolohe71
    Kolohe71 Posts: 613 Member
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    Muscle mass increases metabolism. So the sooner you start increasing it, the better off you will be in the long run.

    Check out some of the training plans on BodyBuilding.com. They have them set up by sex, age group and goal (Building Mass or Weight Loss).
  • lpirie
    lpirie Posts: 24
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    cardio is going to burn fat, and lifting is going to build muscle. So both are good for weight loss. I would emphasize cardio at the begining and lifting more towards your goal weight to tone. But strength training is good for your metabolism which is critical for weight loss.
  • PeacefuIWarrior
    PeacefuIWarrior Posts: 1
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    Your best bet is to make your weight training high intensity. That way you will burn a lot more calories during and after the sessions. Incorporate more excercises too. Unless you're training specific muscle groups each day, I suggest you go for a total body workout each time. If you only train chest, legs, and abs, as per your example, you will end up disproportionately built.

    I recommend using the max weight that you can only do 8-10 reps with. If you can't manage 5 sets like this at first it's fine. 3 sets is plenty if you are pushing yourself to the limits all the time. Just be very careful with potentially dangerous exercises like the bench press and squats (unless you have safety bars or a spotter).

    Keys to high intensity weight training sessions are:

    1: Supersets - Pick two exercises for the same muscle group, or for the opposing muscle group (eg: chest and back, biceps and triceps, ets) and do one set of each back to back with no rest in between. This is one superset

    2: Rest times - Keep your rest times to 90 seconds max

    The goal is to get your heart rate up and keep it up throughout your session. Try it out and see how you get on :)
  • Jordyx
    Jordyx Posts: 2
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    You could try doing an upper/lower split for each weight day. This would be more beneficial for muscle mass (first day do upper body weightlifting exercises, second day do lower) examples of exercises could be bench(flat/incline/decline), shoulder press, dumbell flyes, dumbell rows, and for lower you could do squats, leg extensions, hamstring raises etc.

    do a warmup set for each exercise and then do 3 or 4 working sets after that with heavier (although controllable) weight.

    Try to focus on the 3 compound lifts as these use more muscles than isolated exercises (Bench/Deadlift/Squat).
  • tkdgirl23
    tkdgirl23 Posts: 36
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    Weight!! A winner all the time!!.. Cardio a must to get the heart pumping the blood circulating!! but weights.. are awesome,, because the scale may not move right away,..but !! the inches are coming off and that is amazing, because your getting solid.. and thinner.. so don't worry so much about the scale.. weights are amazing on not just your muscles.. but your bones! Later on.. as the thinner you become.. because your eating healthier.. the scale starts to go down.. down down.. enjoy the journey!
  • vjwatts
    vjwatts Posts: 4
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    Anaerobic exercise (such as weight training) helps you to burn more fat during your workout. Keep an eye on your heart rate. Don't let it get too high or you will be using carbs and not fat as your energy source, oh and remember, you won't be tapping into your fat stores until you have done 20 minutes. After that, you are really doing work! :happy:
  • Kolohe71
    Kolohe71 Posts: 613 Member
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    Anaerobic exercise (such as weight training) helps you to burn more fat during your workout. Keep an eye on your heart rate. Don't let it get too high or you will be using carbs and not fat as your energy source, oh and remember, you won't be tapping into your fat stores until you have done 20 minutes. After that, you are really doing work! :happy:
    This is the reason I always use the following program whenever I work out.
    1) 7 minutes light cardio for warm-up
    2) Strength Training for whatever duration I takes to get through that day's Sets & Reps
    3) 30 minutes minimum of high intensity cardio for fat-burn.

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