Guys...do you lose weight faster doing more cardio or more h

zebra1965
zebra1965 Posts: 17 Member
edited September 30 in Health and Weight Loss
I'm hardly doing any cardio. About an hour a week total between riding a bike and indoor eliptical. 3 days a week I'm lifting heavy, hard, and low reps. I'm dropping an average of 4 lbs a week though. Does anyone hit a plateau like this, or should I just keep what I'm doing and enjoy the weight loss? Thanks!

Replies

  • liftingbro
    liftingbro Posts: 2,029 Member
    I'm hardly doing any cardio. About an hour a week total between riding a bike and indoor eliptical. 3 days a week I'm lifting heavy, hard, and low reps. I'm dropping an average of 4 lbs a week though. Does anyone hit a plateau like this, or should I just keep what I'm doing and enjoy the weight loss? Thanks!

    You don't have to do cardio to lose weight. Just eat the right amount of calories to create a deficit. Sure, cardio burns more calories initially, but most of your weight loss is because of the deficit you create through diet.
  • lucky1304
    lucky1304 Posts: 57 Member
    I'd keep doing what you are doing (of course, I'm not a man!!). I'm lucky to hit a pound in a week!
  • kylies1219
    kylies1219 Posts: 80 Member
    bump
  • 27strange
    27strange Posts: 837 Member
    Interested in reading the responses to your post.

    I am opposite of you. I do hard cardio daily (running or elliptical) and do minimal strength training - some body resistance workouts and a JM dvd with the wife daily. I am also losing around 4lbs a week. I am thinking I need to add more strength and cut back on the cardio a little but I don't know what the best balance would be. I don't want to give up on running 6 days a week because running is what I enjoy.
  • pudd1e
    pudd1e Posts: 11 Member
    You're losing 4 lbs a week? And you want to lose faster!? It may just be me, but your pace sounds breakneck as it is. Mcrow24 has it right - it's all about calorie deficit. In any case, it seems to be working for you, so I wouldn't change a thing.
  • MsCandyLynn
    MsCandyLynn Posts: 123
    All i do is Cardio for the time being, I may do a few crucnches here or there, and will eventually add more weight training in, but im avg 3lbs a week so i guess it depends on each individual as to what will work best for them
  • Hernandezedw
    Hernandezedw Posts: 284
    Do what you've been doing. If you're losing, you're on the right track. If you happen to plateau, change it up. Why fix something if it isn't broken.
  • coltrane23
    coltrane23 Posts: 30 Member
    You may lose more weight if you do more cardio, but you're likely to lose muscle mass, too. I know I did. I lost a lot of weight by doing lots of CrossFit metcon workouts, high-rep w/ low weights, but now I'm hitting the heavy weights to regain some of the muscle mass I lost along with the fat. If I had it to do over again, I'd have done more heavy lifting and less metcon, but I would have done both--just with more balance between the two.
  • tropicalicyicy
    tropicalicyicy Posts: 83 Member
    bump!
  • jessicahelene
    jessicahelene Posts: 77 Member
    Both. Either. But there are great health benefits to both that you can't get by just doing one. I am a mostly cardio kind of girl but my weight loss initially slows down and then increases rapidly from adding in heavy (well.. you know. heavy for me. not really heavy.) lifting.

    ETA: I read your profile and it sounds like your non-weight loss-related goals are related to being in shape with your cardio. (Not being out of breath climbing stairs, running, etc...) and these won't come with lifting alone.
  • joejccva71
    joejccva71 Posts: 2,985 Member
    The optimal weight loss is 2lbs per week. Anymore than that and you will start burning some muscle alot with the fat, and then you will plateau most likely.

    Losing weight is about DIET first, then exercise.
  • katheern
    katheern Posts: 213 Member
    Yeah as others say, it sounds like you are doing a good job. In general it's good to mix it up anyway, though so maybe throw in an extra 30 min of cardio?
  • zebra1965
    zebra1965 Posts: 17 Member
    Thanks for all the replies! I feel great on the weight loss I've accomplished already, and am amazed at the pace. First and foremost, logging what you eat and staying under calorie goal is essential. Then the exercise. In the past, I've always done cardio 1st, then if I had time I did a few weights "casually". Obviously, this other method works great for me. When I do ride my bike (6 miles before work today!), I have SO much energy, which I'm sure has to do with dropping the extra weight, and the cardio effect during lifting. So for me, I'm going to keep focusing on weights first, and fill in with cardio as I have time. Gotta say, this is fun!
  • alyssamiller77
    alyssamiller77 Posts: 891 Member
    First off, as others said, if what you're doing is working (which it sounds like it is) then why change a thing. The two pounds a week thing is a guideline (and a very important one) but everyone's body is different. There's no magical line in the sand that if you loose 2.3 pounds (or 4) a week that guarantees you'll have issues.

    Cardio burns more calories instantaneously, but building muscle mass burns more calories over the long haul. Muscle is what drives your metabolism. Bulding, maintaining and fueling your muscles is what your metabolism is all about. So by building more muscle mass you are increasing your body's demands for fuel. So while you may not burn as many calories in that actual act of lifting weights as you would for the same amount of time in cardio, your body will burn more calories in the 48-hours following than it would have had you done that amount of time in cardio.

    I mix my workouts about 50/50 most days. I'll do about a half hour of high-intensity cardio followed by a half hour of quick paced high intensity lifting (circuit style lifting, changing muscle groups often, higher weight, lower reps).
  • zebra1965
    zebra1965 Posts: 17 Member
    First off, as others said, if what you're doing is working (which it sounds like it is) then why change a thing. The two pounds a week thing is a guideline (and a very important one) but everyone's body is different. There's no magical line in the sand that if you loose 2.3 pounds (or 4) a week that guarantees you'll have issues.

    Cardio burns more calories instantaneously, but building muscle mass burns more calories over the long haul. Muscle is what drives your metabolism. Bulding, maintaining and fueling your muscles is what your metabolism is all about. So by building more muscle mass you are increasing your body's demands for fuel. So while you may not burn as many calories in that actual act of lifting weights as you would for the same amount of time in cardio, your body will burn more calories in the 48-hours following than it would have had you done that amount of time in cardio.

    I mix my workouts about 50/50 most days. I'll do about a half hour of high-intensity cardio followed by a half hour of quick paced high intensity lifting (circuit style lifting, changing muscle groups often, higher weight, lower reps).

    I like your anology on the calorie burn in 48 hours--makes a lot of sense. One other big thing...gotta drink a lot of water!!!
  • msiamjan
    msiamjan Posts: 326 Member
    This is probably a stupid question, but if you do a lot of cardio-doesn't that build muscle as well?
  • zebra1965
    zebra1965 Posts: 17 Member
    This is probably a stupid question, but if you do a lot of cardio-doesn't that build muscle as well?

    I'm not sure...but I've never seen a muscular marathon runner...
  • PalmettoparkGuy
    PalmettoparkGuy Posts: 212 Member
    Everybody hits plateaus no matter what you do. Expect it, its a normal event.
  • msiamjan
    msiamjan Posts: 326 Member
    This is probably a stupid question, but if you do a lot of cardio-doesn't that build muscle as well?

    I'm not sure...but I've never seen a muscular marathon runner...

    Haven't seen many chubby ones either. The heart is a muscle. Runners must have strong leg muscles. Oh well, I guess it doesn't really matter--I was just wondering how resistance training is different.
  • complejo
    complejo Posts: 36
    I do cardio 5x a week... I do strength training 3x a week where I try to up my number and then 2x a week I do light weight toning where I just do a lot of reps with light weights... I've lost an avg of 2 pounds a week, but I feel great and I feel stronger so this has been working for me.
  • zebra1965
    zebra1965 Posts: 17 Member
    I've added 30min intense cardio twice a week, and feel great. I also get my HR up to 140 during warmup before lifting, then try to keep it up during weights. It's amazing...I could barely handle 10 of walking just 7 weeks ago, now my energy and stamina is incredible! Best part is I look forward to tomorrow's workout...
  • complejo
    complejo Posts: 36
    Yeah man, cardio is great. What I do to keep my cardio challenging and make me feel accomplished is make sure to do a variety of routines and try to push myself a little harder every time. I went from barely being able to do a minute at 6 miles an hour to being about to do almost 2 full miles at that pace and I am now working on slowly upping that too.

    On the elliptical I up my resistance from time to time or do a hill climbing or other challenging routine for a change of pace and challenge.
  • zebra1965
    zebra1965 Posts: 17 Member
    I started do less weights, and more cardio, and my weight loss stalled. No losses for a couple weeks. But this week, I changed back to heavy weights/low reps, and already seeing losses...gonna stay with that, as it works for me...
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