Cardio or weight training for weight loss over 40

irejb
irejb Posts: 64 Member
edited November 2024 in Introduce Yourself
I have about 20 lbs to lose and am finding it harder to lose the weight now that I am in my 40's in contrast to when I was in my 20's and 30's.

I've always been more of a cardio junkie, but I read articles stating that women over 40's, seeking to lose weight, should incorporate more weight lifting than cardio.

What's your view or experience with cardio vs. weightlifting for weight loss? Thanks.

Replies

  • CharlieBeansmomTracey
    CharlieBeansmomTracey Posts: 7,682 Member
    irejb wrote: »
    I have about 20 lbs to lose and am finding it harder to lose the weight now that I am in my 40's in contrast to when I was in my 20's and 30's.

    I've always been more of a cardio junkie, but I read articles stating that women over 40's, seeking to lose weight, should incorporate more weight lifting than cardio.

    What's your view or experience with cardio vs. weightlifting for weight loss? Thanks.

    a calorie deficit is \needed to lose weight. exercise is for health and changing how your body looks. weigh training will help you to retain lean mass/muscle while losing but you cannot out exercise a bad diet. Im 44 and look better than I did in my 20s and 30s thanks to weight training.I do cardio 1-2 times a week and 3-4 days of weight training(I alternate days). exercise wont cause weight loss unless it puts you into a calorie deficit.which is why a deficit is better controlled through diet.
  • tecat810
    tecat810 Posts: 4,860 Member
    I do both and have focused on my nutrition, including getting more protein. Once I got this down, I began losing. It took some time to find my stride!
  • irejb
    irejb Posts: 64 Member
    Thank you both for responding. I need to get a handle on my eating habits as well. I do a lot of emotional eating which I'm trying to stop :( Reading both your posts make me realize that I should focus more on my diet than exercise. Thanks again!
  • spiriteagle99
    spiriteagle99 Posts: 3,751 Member
    Do what you enjoy doing. I'm a runner and hiker, because I love to be outdoors. I have no desire to go to the gym, so I don't. I lost weight an maintain it by focusing on my calories. Doing a lot of cardio gives me more calories to enjoy, but I do it because it makes me happy.
  • irejb
    irejb Posts: 64 Member
    spiriteagle99 wrote: »
    Do what you enjoy doing. I'm a runner and hiker, because I love to be outdoors. I have no desire to go to the gym, so I don't. I lost weight an maintain it by focusing on my calories. Doing a lot of cardio gives me more calories to enjoy, but I do it because it makes me happy.

    Thanks. I personally enjoy doing cardio to weightlifting as I get more of a rush; like you, I find cardio does more for my mood than weight lifting. I just get confuse on how much cardio or weightlifting I should do as different weight loss articles say different things.
  • estherdragonbat
    estherdragonbat Posts: 5,283 Member
    edited November 2018
    46 here. I started out with minimal exercise (just a 25-minute daily walk). After about 6 months of reading the forums and realizing that strength training could help me minimize muscle loss during weight loss, I started with resistance tubes and bands and eventually shifted to dumbbells. I don't belong to a gym and don't have a reliable spotter. Plus when I was getting started, I found that working out with anything over 12lbs in each hand was too strenuous, so I've never used barbells. Now that I'm squatting with 30lbs in each hand, if I invest in a bench and rack, it's possible I might give them a try. But that's for down the road.

    What I do find is that the more I exercise, the less stressed I am and the less stress/emotional eating I do. I can't tell you whether weights or cardio work better for that, seeing as I do both. These days, that 25-minute walk is more like a 2-hour walk. I can say that when I don't exercise, I tend to go over my calories.
  • CharlieBeansmomTracey
    CharlieBeansmomTracey Posts: 7,682 Member
    irejb wrote: »
    spiriteagle99 wrote: »
    Do what you enjoy doing. I'm a runner and hiker, because I love to be outdoors. I have no desire to go to the gym, so I don't. I lost weight an maintain it by focusing on my calories. Doing a lot of cardio gives me more calories to enjoy, but I do it because it makes me happy.

    Thanks. I personally enjoy doing cardio to weightlifting as I get more of a rush; like you, I find cardio does more for my mood than weight lifting. I just get confuse on how much cardio or weightlifting I should do as different weight loss articles say different things.

    ignore those articles as most of them are nothing but outdated myths and BS.There are many posts here if you do a search that will inform you of the pros and cons of things and also many have legit scientific links attached to them
  • irejb
    irejb Posts: 64 Member
    Thanks for all your replies.
  • cwolfman13
    cwolfman13 Posts: 41,865 Member
    Regular exercise is going to increase your calorie requirements...but really, weight management is going to come down to diet more than anything. If you're over consuming calories, it really doesn't matter what you're doing for exercise...you're still going to gain weight.

    Regular exercise is about fitness and overall health and well being...burning some extra calories is just a nice bonus. In reality, unless you're really training, the additional calories you burn through exercise pale in comparison to the calories you expend just being alive and then going about your day to day.

    IMO, lifting is particularly important for women over 40 in that it will help you build and maintain bone density to fend off osteoporosis. I'm 44 and I lift namely to help preserve more muscle mass as we start losing it at a faster clip the older we get.
  • PWRLFTR1
    PWRLFTR1 Posts: 324 Member
    cwolfman13 wrote: »
    IMO, lifting is particularly important for women over 40 in that it will help you build and maintain bone density to fend off osteoporosis. I'm 44 and I lift namely to help preserve more muscle mass as we start losing it at a faster clip the older we get.

    This.
    You don't have to become a powerlifter (like me), stick with the basic compound movements, squats, deadlifts, bench (chest), overhead press, rows. They work the major muscle groups and can be done with dumbbells. BTW, I'm 51.
  • paepaesayob
    paepaesayob Posts: 19 Member
    I do both. And depend on what you like! Btw I don't like very skinny. I like get six pack and muscle and butt. It's sexy for me
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