Is weight lifting / free weights the only way?

There are a number of cardio machines that would also assist in the outcomes you list. Examples: rowing machine, skierg, stair machines and elliptical machines. My gym even has a seated elliptical by Octane Fitness that will do the trick.

If you want muscle definition or some serious gains, you are going to need to pick up some dumbbells. You can do some body weight lunges or some body weight squats without weights for your butt but using weights will get you to your goal a lot quicker. I hate to say it but you are probably going to have to learn to like them.

I've found cardio did really tone my legs/bottom (running/cycling/walking), but it took the weights to give me better looking tummy area ( I have a 4 pack, the once longed for 6 pack is not happening because I enjoy my food too much and don't care enough about achieving them).

I am not overly fussed on lifting either but it has grown on me plus I know its good for my bone health and will help as my body ages, the pros outweigh the cons so I stick with it...however I've found I can maintain my muscles on 15 mins x 3 times a week.

I mostly stick with upper body and very little lower body as I have hip and knee issues and they worsen if I do too much lower body. Planks have turned out to be a no no as well, and I was really good at holding them too for quite a few mins at a time but I paid for it for days afterwards. I push my body to a certain extent but I'm not going to live with pain if I don't have to.

I used to hate lifting weights also. I went to a trainer for 2 years just 2x a week and learned the right way to do things. We became good friends and I didn't mind going because we would chat a lot, but honestly, he didn't really push me like a trainer should. Then my 3rd year of lifting, I went to a different gym where the owner taught me a few things and I worked out on my own. He would mix up the exercises but I still wasn't really feeling like I was making progress. In November I started a glute workout on my own (How to build a better butt - or something like that) -- I did a couple months but didn't have the right eqpt for the remaining weeks so then I started another strength training plan and I'm now on week 8 of it. OMG - I'm addicted now. I can really see the results! This is from Betina Gozo and it's a 12 week program she wrote for Women's Health. I did have to pay for it ($20), but it's been worth it! I've increased the amount I've been lifting so much! More in these 8 weeks than the whole 3 years prior. But the reason I'm addicted is because I can really see the results and because I am finally writing down what I lift, I can see on paper the increases I've made.

Also I run 3-4 times a week for an hour. And I ride in a cycling club on Sat/Sun for about 2-3 hours each day. TBH, the lifting has hurt my cycling. If I have a leg day on Friday I just can't go the speeds I used to on the bike. My legs are too sore! So I need to make some decisions ... do I want to keep increasing the weights or do I want to improve cycling.

Just wanted to share that it is possible to turn a cardio maniac like me into someone who loves lifting.
The only thing I am really struggling with is getting rest days in with all of these exercises I want to do and what am I going to do after week 12 of my current program!

Progressive resistance (either with weights, bands, bodyweight etc) while you lose will be the most optimal way of retaining as much muscle as possible. However, different types of cardio can also stimulate the muscles, although it won't give you the exact same results. In the past, I achieved great results at one point doing plyos, interval training, kickboxing, but it was different compared to the results I achieved lifting.

So it depends on your goals and expectations, if you don't want to lift, don't, but you may have to adjust your expectations of your aesthetics as a result.

ChristyU74 wrote: »

For me, there are just so many benefits to strength training, other than looking "toned." Like a poster above said, building muscle will help you keep bone mass as you age, you will burn more calories even at rest. See article for some of the other benefits. Personally, I have grown to love lifting, and would rather do that than cardio. Give it a chance! There are so many great things about strength training and lifting!
https://www.everydayhealth.com/fitness/add-strength-training-to-your-workout.aspx

You are right! I forgot to mention that besides getting toned and seeing the results, I need to do this as a woman in my 50s!

z3dreamer wrote: »

There are a number of cardio machines that would also assist in the outcomes you list. Examples: rowing machine, skierg, stair machines and elliptical machines. My gym even has a seated elliptical by Octane Fitness that will do the trick.

I found that the seated elliptical isn't worth the bother - if the OP can manage an hour morning and evening of other cardio, that machine will probably have few benefits.

I wonder what it is about strength training you do not like? Doing something you do not like or enjoy doing certainly is the wrong exercise for you to be doing.

There are plenty of ladies out there with the most amazing genetics and they have body types that already look like they spend hours in the gym. I think comparing yourself to your friends that just run and dance can be defeating.

In closing, I love what strength training does for me so I love that aspect of strength training alone. I get very little body composition changes from running like I do each week. I built enough muscle in my legs, glutes and core to sustain the ability to run, but outside of running if I wanted body composition changes I needed to do something different. Running is/was only going to do some much for changes in physique. Our bodies need to be challenged to grow or change other wise we keep doing the same thing expecting different results. Best of luck!

I feel the same way about "cardio." That being said, I also want my cardiovascular system to be fit. So I do 20 min of intervals at the end of my lifting sessions - I find that the intervals make that 20 min less boring, I cover more territory in less time, and can easily monitor improving aerobic fitness. All this is to say that if you are "results" driven, you may need to incorporate less favorite options to get the result you are after.

Rowing will build muscle, if you do enough of it, but it's a much slower route to the goal, plus progressivity quickly becomes very technical, and eventually probably impossible except via increased volume.

Rowing is also not balanced - lower body push, upper body pull. (Decent core work bidirectionally in one plane of motion, though, for machine or sculling, with a second plane if you sweep . . . but most people who sweep only sweep on one side, which is also unbalanced). That lack of balance can be an injury risk. In practice, shoulder injuries seem to be the most common rower injury potentially related to unbalanced development. (Other injuries happen, like ribs, but probably for other reasons.)

While obese, I started rowing a lot, and developed enough muscle to lose perhaps a couple of pants sizes via recomposition (lose fat, gain muscle) . . . took around a decade for the whole process, though, and - since I was still obese (fat!) - none of it showed until I lost weight. "Toned" - if I'm correctly interpreting what y'all mean by it - hides under a fat layer.

when I started strength training, I started with P90X, its a good mix of strength/cardio, and thats where I learned to enjoy strength training and lifting