Tone up now or wait until weight lost?

'Toning' is best done with weights and as soon as possible. You can do a circuit of compound bodyweight/weight exercises such as squats, rows, pushus, deadlifts, lunges, benchpress etc. in order to build lean muscle mass.

As muscle uses more energy than fat you will burn fat faster by burning muscle while losing weight than losing weight first. Also you will look much better this way as you will have definition as opposed to being 'skinny fat'

As little as 15-20 minutes of weights 2-3 times a week alongside a little cardio to burn extra calories will help you shape up and reach your goal!

Why wait?

Everyone should be doing some form of weight lifting, no matter where they are in their journey.

Start toning now!! Muscle burns loads more calories then fat so although the scales might not be moving as much as they would be if you weren't toning (muscle weighs more than fat) the inches will be dropping off. I've started toning now and have done a lot of research so it definitely is the best way to go!

There are so many benefits for adding strength training into your routine. It will not hamper your progress at all. Initially you may find that you don't lose for a couple of weeks but that's just fluid around your muscles while they are getting used to the exercise. You will have lost the fat it just might not show on the scales for a couple of weeks. After a couple of weeks you will probably find that you get a sudden drop of 2 or 3 pounds (or maybe more) as the fluid goes. Having more lean muscle helps boost your calorie burning so in the long run you will lose fat more easily. The more lean muscle you have the slimmer you will look for your weight too as one pound of muscle takes up less space than a pound of fat. Go by your measurements as well as weight. If you don't see the scale moving much when you start strength training you will see those inches coming off.

Strength training can also help protect against osteoporosis, especially while losing weight.

Also, as you are losing the weight you will look better if you have some good muscle tone. You will look even more awesome if you are toned, even before you lose the weight :happy:

Definatly do the weights/cardio at the same time.

I try to do an hour work out twice a week.

Consists of 10 mins Crosstrainer -Warm up
30 Mins weights - Ab crunches on ball, Chest press, Bicep curl, Ab machine, lateral arm raise and pull down. + once week some work on my legs.
20 Mins cardio - Mix it up. I do 1 week bike, 1 week stepper, 1 week cross trainer.

Been doing it for 2 months and overall I have lost approx 5lbs. But my body fat percentage has come down by nearly 2%. I am also a bit naughty and eating well at work but still have 1-2 take aways a week. Yet my body fat is still falling as the lean muscle is going on. Will drop the take aways and fully diet/calorie count when I am a bit lower and need the boost to get through the plateu.

I also walk to get my lunch and back which is approx 2 miles every lunchtime. Thinking about starting running in the evenings in the next few weeks as well. On my 35th birthday in August I could not even chase my girls around the garden for 5 minutes. Now they get tired before me )

I am also chest pressing twice as much weight now as when I started and my lat pull downs have doubled as well.

I am looking a lot slimmer even though I have not actually lost anywhere near my target weight.

I also feel more confident in myself as my belly does not wobble when I walk it looks firmer.

If you start weights/toning now you will be fitter and stronger and able to do more cardio for longer as you lose weight. Make sure you measure yourself as well as weigh yourself because when you do a lot of exercise there can be big changes in your body that don't necessarily show on the scales straight away.

Good luck :happy:

Depends who you talk to as with most of these things.

The plan I am following is to do the warm up which help to burn the water.

I have been told 1st 40 minutes of cardio/exercise is water loss. So I tend to do the 10 minutes warm-up then the weights to get to the 40 minute mark.

Then while the muscles are fixing themselves and burning calories I do the cardio so that the cardio is burning the far and not the water.

Seems to be working.

so my recommendation would be tone class first. This will get you into fat burn. Then cardio to burn more fat. Then when your resting and the muscles are healing they continue to burn calories/fat.

Would be interested to hear others input though.

don't wat! you'll look and feel so much better while doing strength training while you lose! I've also found that the inches are dropping must faster than pounds - thus I can wear smaller clothes than I could at the same weight in the past!

You'll see the most weight loss if you have a good balance of cardio and strength training. Weight training will help you burn more calories throughout the day and during your workouts. Plus, it will help keep skin tight as you lose weight. Try to do 2-3 days/week of strength training. I do one day of legs, one day of arms, and one day of core (which has a little bit of everything).

Like I say I am only going on what I have heard.

May have mis-understood and they were talking about the calories from Carbs. Something along those lines.

Basically I was told you need to get the body into a Fat Burning mode to benefit the most from your Cardio.

Whatever the effect this seems to be working for me. But the general rule of thumb as I see it is perform both Cardio and Weights and you will benefit the most.