Cardio alone?

eringrace95_
eringrace95_ Posts: 296 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
Do i HAVE to do strength training in order to lose fat? I have been doing exclusively cardio since May 2022 and I've lost 34 pounds but I've found my weight has plateaued in recent months and I'm wondering if it's because I'm only doing cardio?

I am weighing and counting everything and I've been in a consistent deficit.

Replies

  • sollyn23l2
    sollyn23l2 Posts: 1,751 Member
    No, you don't. Strength training, while good for you in terms of muscle maintenence, will not noticeably affect weight loss.
  • eringrace95_
    eringrace95_ Posts: 296 Member
    sollyn23l2 wrote: »
    No, you don't. Strength training, while good for you in terms of muscle maintenence, will not noticeably affect weight loss.

    Thanks for the reply! This is good to hear, but I just have to try to switch some things up to break my plateau
  • sollyn23l2
    sollyn23l2 Posts: 1,751 Member
    eringrace95_ wrote: »
    sollyn23l2 wrote: »
    No, you don't. Strength training, while good for you in terms of muscle maintenence, will not noticeably affect weight loss.

    Thanks for the reply! This is good to hear, but I just have to try to switch some things up to break my plateau

    Have you readjusted your calorie intake? I generally recommend including more veggies as a way to make meals a bit lower in calories.
  • tomcustombuilder
    tomcustombuilder Posts: 2,198 Member
    You don't HAVE to however dieting down is as much maintaining muscle as losing fat. No resistance training and you end up losing a decent amount of muscle when you start getting lower bodyfat
  • eringrace95_
    eringrace95_ Posts: 296 Member
    tomcustombuilder wrote: »
    You don't HAVE to however dieting down is as much maintaining muscle as losing fat. No resistance training and you end up losing a decent amount of muscle when you start getting lower bodyfat

    Good point. I should incorporate some strength training then
  • eringrace95_
    eringrace95_ Posts: 296 Member
    sollyn23l2 wrote: »
    eringrace95_ wrote: »
    sollyn23l2 wrote: »
    No, you don't. Strength training, while good for you in terms of muscle maintenence, will not noticeably affect weight loss.

    Thanks for the reply! This is good to hear, but I just have to try to switch some things up to break my plateau

    Have you readjusted your calorie intake? I generally recommend including more veggies as a way to make meals a bit lower in calories.

    Yeah I have a Fitbit that tells me my exact CICO and I'm consistently under, I constantly update my weight on there as well as eat within my cals
  • sollyn23l2
    sollyn23l2 Posts: 1,751 Member
    eringrace95_ wrote: »
    sollyn23l2 wrote: »
    eringrace95_ wrote: »
    sollyn23l2 wrote: »
    No, you don't. Strength training, while good for you in terms of muscle maintenence, will not noticeably affect weight loss.

    Thanks for the reply! This is good to hear, but I just have to try to switch some things up to break my plateau

    Have you readjusted your calorie intake? I generally recommend including more veggies as a way to make meals a bit lower in calories.

    Yeah I have a Fitbit that tells me my exact CICO and I'm consistently under, I constantly update my weight on there as well as eat within my cals

    Fitbits and devices like that are notorious for overestimating calories burned. I'd check out a couple calorie calculators to double check. It may be that you're not burning quite as many calories as the fitbit is estimating.
  • eringrace95_
    eringrace95_ Posts: 296 Member
    sollyn23l2 wrote: »
    eringrace95_ wrote: »
    sollyn23l2 wrote: »
    eringrace95_ wrote: »
    sollyn23l2 wrote: »
    No, you don't. Strength training, while good for you in terms of muscle maintenence, will not noticeably affect weight loss.

    Thanks for the reply! This is good to hear, but I just have to try to switch some things up to break my plateau

    Have you readjusted your calorie intake? I generally recommend including more veggies as a way to make meals a bit lower in calories.

    Yeah I have a Fitbit that tells me my exact CICO and I'm consistently under, I constantly update my weight on there as well as eat within my cals

    Fitbits and devices like that are notorious for overestimating calories burned. I'd check out a couple calorie calculators to double check. It may be that you're not burning quite as many calories as the fitbit is estimating.

    It's been doing well for me up until the past few months, I've lost 34 pounds with it, I always make sure to leave a couple hundred calories as "wiggle room" to try to surpass any errors
  • sollyn23l2
    sollyn23l2 Posts: 1,751 Member
    eringrace95_ wrote: »
    sollyn23l2 wrote: »
    eringrace95_ wrote: »
    sollyn23l2 wrote: »
    eringrace95_ wrote: »
    sollyn23l2 wrote: »
    No, you don't. Strength training, while good for you in terms of muscle maintenence, will not noticeably affect weight loss.

    Thanks for the reply! This is good to hear, but I just have to try to switch some things up to break my plateau

    Have you readjusted your calorie intake? I generally recommend including more veggies as a way to make meals a bit lower in calories.

    Yeah I have a Fitbit that tells me my exact CICO and I'm consistently under, I constantly update my weight on there as well as eat within my cals

    Fitbits and devices like that are notorious for overestimating calories burned. I'd check out a couple calorie calculators to double check. It may be that you're not burning quite as many calories as the fitbit is estimating.

    It's been doing well for me up until the past few months, I've lost 34 pounds with it, I always make sure to leave a couple hundred calories as "wiggle room" to try to surpass any errors

    Have you still been losing weight, just more slowly? If so, that's normal and I would just roll with it.
  • JaysFan82
    JaysFan82 Posts: 853 Member
    I was running 5km a day, 5 days a week.

    Resistance training really kicked my weight loss into a higher gear as much as I HATE lifting weights/resistance training. Just find some exercise that you don't hate. I never lift for longer than 30 minutes. Just get my stuff done and get out.
  • tomcustombuilder
    tomcustombuilder Posts: 2,198 Member
    eringrace95_ wrote: »
    sollyn23l2 wrote: »
    eringrace95_ wrote: »
    sollyn23l2 wrote: »
    No, you don't. Strength training, while good for you in terms of muscle maintenence, will not noticeably affect weight loss.

    Thanks for the reply! This is good to hear, but I just have to try to switch some things up to break my plateau

    Have you readjusted your calorie intake? I generally recommend including more veggies as a way to make meals a bit lower in calories.

    Yeah I have a Fitbit that tells me my exact CICO and I'm consistently under, I constantly update my weight on there as well as eat within my cals
    Don’t trust those devices to be accurate go off of real world results. No loss in 4 weeks and you are no longer in a calorie deficit. Losing 34 lbs and your maintenance calories are lower.
  • verysilentscarlett
    verysilentscarlett Posts: 13 Member
    Hey! Don't rule out cardio, but ik what you mean because my ankle has been giving me trouble. Hula hooping and swimming are awesome for cardio. Also look into the short workout videos that are under 10 mins.
  • kshama2001
    kshama2001 Posts: 28,052 Member
    eringrace95_ wrote: »
    Do i HAVE to do strength training in order to lose fat? I have been doing exclusively cardio since May 2022 and I've lost 34 pounds but I've found my weight has plateaued in recent months and I'm wondering if it's because I'm only doing cardio?

    I am weighing and counting everything and I've been in a consistent deficit.

    Are you using a weight trending app like Happy Scale (iPhone) or Libra (Android?) How close are you to your goal weight? If you are within 20 pounds of goal, it's going to be slow, and easier to see with a weight trend app.

    While you do not HAVE to do strength training in order to lose fat, you SHOULD do it for its other benefits.
  • cyndi2012
    cyndi2012 Posts: 65 Member
    You should do what works for you, but I would suggest trying out a strength plan for at least 6-8 weeks and seeing how it goes. Muscle burns more calories! It also protects your joints and helps with a lot of daily struggles like carrying all the groceries into the house in one shot! :smile: Nothing to lose by giving it a go.
  • serpentegena
    serpentegena Posts: 43 Member
    A year or so ago, I had pretty much the same question you're asking. I disagree with some of the opinions here, in my experience strength training is a boon to any fat loss regimen. And it will very likely enable you to break through a weight loss plateau. It did for me, and it's been confirmed by my personal trainer, although I established my weight routine before contacting him. He agrees with me that weight training is complementary to cardio in a fat loss plan.

    It's not only to maintain the muscle mass that is inevitably pared down when eating at a deficit (because the body is dumb and doesn't know that you only want to lose fat, it will gladly eat from your muscle as well).

    It's to gain the additional advantage of at-rest energy expenditure (search for "Exercise and weight loss: the importance of resting energy expenditure " online, Harvard Med has an excellent article). Muscle burns calories to build and rebuild when it's regularly stimulated.

    It's also to get the multiplied health benefits that come with stronger muscles: less pain, less strain, better posture. You can't get that from cardio, in my experience.

    It's also (more trivially) to have a shapely body after losing the fat. A body with toned muscles will generally look better than an untoned one. Of course, it depends on your esthetic preference. But I'm just going through my own list of reasons why I started strength training.

    I encourage you to look up some options for strength/resistance training, I'm pretty sure it will help you break through the plateau 😊
  • jonafitness1
    jonafitness1 Posts: 3 Member
    Strength training for me goes first than aerobics. Because this way we build the muscle . Rather than making the muscle tired
  • tomcustombuilder
    tomcustombuilder Posts: 2,198 Member
    Going in the gym with good intentions and it cardi oh look, weights!

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