Am I doing the right routine to lose weight?
spizdawg
Posts: 2 Member
So I've been exercising for about a year now. I try to do this at least 4 times a week. My routine is me running to the gym (about 2km) and then doing 30mins of weights for all parts of my body, and then running home.
I haven't noticed an improvement in my fat loss however my muscles are more toned and i'm happy with their size.
Should i start focusiing more on running longer over doing weights?
I know i'm also not losing fat because i still drink and eat quite a bit on weekends but i'm wanting to still continue this as its a big part of my social life.
Thanks so much for any help
Liz
I haven't noticed an improvement in my fat loss however my muscles are more toned and i'm happy with their size.
Should i start focusiing more on running longer over doing weights?
I know i'm also not losing fat because i still drink and eat quite a bit on weekends but i'm wanting to still continue this as its a big part of my social life.
Thanks so much for any help
Liz
3
Replies
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You need to eat fewer calories than you burn. So maybe try eating less. Log your meals for about a week and see how many calories you consume. Then, consume less.
A food scale is helpful in calculating how much you are eating.
"It's very hard to outexercise a bad diet"14 -
You can exercise all you want, but unless it creates a big enough calorie deficit, you won't lose weight. You need to figure out how many calories you need to eat to lose at a reasonable rate and stick to that number for the most part in order to lose.6
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Thanks for your responses. I am aware of the calorie intake rule; i'm rather asking whether focusing more on cardio rather than weights will burn more calories1
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If you want to lose weight, you want to eat in a deficit #1, so less than you burn. I sounds like your weekends might be cancelling out your deficit if you aren't seeing any loss.
Lifting will help you maintain muscle as you lose fat, along with adequate protein. If you do not lift, you will lose fat and way more muscle than you would otherwise and have a softer appearance/higher bodyfat when you get to goal. It also is great for health and strength. I would highly recommend, if not already, to follow an actual lifting program.
You can continue to do some cardio to help burn more calories add to your deficit as well as for health and fitness.
It really depends on your overall goals.7 -
Yes....i'm rather asking whether focusing more on cardio rather than weights will burn more calories
But you may not be as happy with your aesthetic/body composition results as you would be if you mixed in a reasonable amount of strength training (using a well designed program).7 -
Yes, cardio will help burn fat faster than weight related training, but doing weight training can help tone your body and improve your overall appearance, so I would recommend doing both . Hope that helps! 3
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Keep in mind that with increased exercise, usually comes increased appetite. So, if you're not tracking intake, you may likely end up eating more and cancelling out the activity.
Focusing on calories then exercise will get you there much easier.5 -
Thanks for your responses. I am aware of the calorie intake rule; i'm rather asking whether focusing more on cardio rather than weights will burn more calories
Cardio certainly can burn far more calories than weight training but it wouldn't be a good idea to neglect the weights.
To get an idea of realistic numbers for yourself....
Input an hour of "strength training" in the cardio part of your diary to get an estimate and then assuming you can run 6 miles in an hour multiply your body weight in pounds X 0.63 X 6 to get a net calorie estimate.
Exercising to create a calorie deficit certainly can work (assuming you can control your food intake over the course of a week too) but you have to put a lot of hours in or accept a slow rate of loss. Are you prepared to do that?1 -
Yes, cardio will help burn fat faster than weight related training, but doing weight training ......
Not really, depends on the type of weight training. There are multiple studies that show appropriate weight training for weight loss burns more calories and is more effective than the same amount and intensity of Cardio. There is more 'after burn' Also the more muscle you have the more calories you burn throughout the day.6 -
If you're unwilling to track how much you eat, you will likely just end up eating more to compensate for extra hunger from extra exercise and not lose any weight. Are you willing to track your food intake so you know you don't increase how much you eat?
Can you reduce how much you eat on just weekdays compared to the amount now and bank those calories for weekends?2 -
You might also try limiting, but not eliminating, the amount you drink and eat on weekends. You can still have fun with friends with less alcohol or eating less fattening foods.0
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bbturner67 wrote: »Yes, cardio will help burn fat faster than weight related training, but doing weight training ......
Not really, depends on the type of weight training. There are multiple studies that show appropriate weight training for weight loss burns more calories and is more effective than the same amount and intensity of Cardio. There is more 'after burn' Also the more muscle you have the more calories you burn throughout the day.
Care to share these studies?
EPOC (afterburn) is so tiny it's pretty much irrelevant, a small percentage of a small calorie burn (strength training) tends to be a smaller number than an even smaller percentage of a much larger number (cardio).
The amount of calorie burned by adding muscle is minuscule. Even if you manage to add a few pounds of muscle while losing weight it burns roughly 6 cal/lb/day compared to the 2 cal/lb/day for each pound of fat lost.
5 -
I belive you know the answer to your own question. Most of us do...
"I know i'm also not losing fat because i still drink and eat quite a bit on weekends but i'm wanting to still continue this as its a big part of my social life."1 -
Agree with the above you need to create a bigger calorie deficit, I would keep both cardio and weights in and if at all possible separate the two,cardio am weights in the evening as neither session suffers as much in its intensity that way running to the gym if your going to train legs with weights will mean you can’t hit the weights as hard or your run home after0
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