Exercise help

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RichardCh
RichardCh Posts: 52
in Health and Weight Loss
I have been going to the gym regular for the last few months and lost quite a bit of weight through it and it been fine. But recently my friend who around a stone lighter than me wants to focus more on weights and less on cardio and I find I still want to focus on cardio.
My question is do you think It would be good to change one of the 3 times I go a week to doing weights or should I keep doing what’s working.
I currently doing;
• 3255 Calories through mainly running over 3 seasons
• Around 400 through racket sports once a week
• Around 150 through 15mins of weights a week
Anyway I said I wanted to lose more before focusing on weights and building muscle so we agreed to leave it a month. Thanks any advice will be appreciated.

Replies

  • RedheadHen
    RedheadHen Posts: 249 Member
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    I have heard many, many times that it is good to some form of strength training while trying to loose weight. Some say muscle burns more fat, but there seems to be conflicting numbers on how much more. But I'm not sure you really want to replace a whole session with weights! I mean if your routine is working for you ... then keep it for a while longer. Maybe add some more mins of weight gradually. You can always do some form of weight training at home with things around the house if you don't have weights.
  • NNsMomma
    NNsMomma Posts: 18 Member
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    Well, you should up your weight lifting for sure. 15 minutes a week isn't really enough. The more muscle mass you have, the higher your resting metabolism will be, plus, more muscle mass will help tone you and keep you from sagging after all that weight loss. Building muscle has long term benefits like increasing your bone strength.
    A good tip is to lift weights which will raise your heart rate, then follow with some cardio.
    But, whatever you decide, you seem to be doing great! Kudos to you!
  • bkelley32148
    bkelley32148 Posts: 279 Member
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    Adding weights in can have great benefits like improving bone denisity on top of increasing your calorie burn. If you are unwilling to give up your cardio one of those days perhaps you could add a short weight training session in. Just an idea.
  • meggers123
    meggers123 Posts: 711 Member
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    People often exaggerate the amount of calories muscle burns. The difference in calories burned per pound is slight (fat: 2 calories, muscle: 6), so that's an extra 4 calories per pound of fat you turn into muscle... not that much.

    This article is an interesting take on it: http://www.runnersworld.com/article/0,7120,s6-242-304--7753-0,00.html

    As long as you are losing, I don't think you need to do weight training if you don't feel like it. Later you may change if you want to tone up more.

    If you ask 100 people, there are going to be 100 different opinions on the "right" way to lose weight. I tend to fit in a bit of weight training in with cardio (HIIT or circuit training), but do what works for you.
  • RichardCh
    RichardCh Posts: 52
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    Thanks a lot FP's I consider doing some more and see if it helps!

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