Fat Loss for Men - Cardio and Strength???

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Reaper049
Reaper049 Posts: 32
in Fitness and Exercise
So my main goal first is to lose body fat to become thinner, and after iv done this i wanted to build muscle but just a little to make me look more defined. Iv started cycling which i do everyday for at least 20 minutes and I have been watching my diet. My question is do I need to start strength training now already? or lose the body fat and then start my training? also any advantages or disadvantages that comes with either of the methods. Any answers are welcome or if someone can point me in the right direction to find out about this, Many Thanks
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  • Bigpelly8
    Bigpelly8 Posts: 504 Member
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    I did both right away!! I wanted to make sure that I wasn't losing any muscle I had buy just doing cardio. I lift 3 days a week with a lil cardio, and than 3 days of straight cardio for 45-60 mins. Find a program you are comfortable with and start the weights right away!!
  • matt3695
    matt3695 Posts: 7
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    I would start strength training as well. Building muscle can also help you burn fat by raising you base metabolic rate because muscles uses more energy than fat.
  • taunto
    taunto Posts: 6,420 Member
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    strength training with cardio will give you alot of benefits in terms of weight-loss and inches of fat dropping from your body.

    Cardio is something you should be doing WITH strength training rather than INSTEAD. They both go hand in hand
  • Mercenary1914
    Mercenary1914 Posts: 1,087 Member
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    Start the strength training now....You will lose fat and tone up doing strength training...your diet dictates which direction you go...Whether it's gaining muscle or just cutting fat....BUT!

    When you do decide to gain muscle or bulk up or put on mass...cut some of that cardio out
  • kmoore02
    kmoore02 Posts: 167 Member
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    What they said....
  • dsjohndrow
    dsjohndrow Posts: 1,821 Member
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    You need a mix for the best results. Strength builds muscle which burns fat.

    I do 3 days of cardio which is mostly running, but has been biking, ice skating or rollerblading. I do two days of cross-training which includes strength. But a 30 minute bike ride and 20 minutes of ST 3 times a week is a great start. You can extend your cardio times as you get fit.
  • ROBJ3411
    ROBJ3411 Posts: 72 Member
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    Look you will get alot of different answers on here...Don't believe the"cardio for ripped, lifting for mass"
    I believe that resistence training is a key factor in fitness and it is not an either or with cardio training.
  • EvanKeel
    EvanKeel Posts: 1,904 Member
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    I also started lifting to help maintain muscle. I lift 4/days per week (lower/upper split). On lifting days I'll do 15 minutes of intervals on various cardio machines. On one non-lifting day I'll do approx 45 min of light to moderate cardio.

    And realistically, you could just lift and keep the calories down without doing any cardio, and you'd probably get the physical results you want. I don't like the way I feel when I have to restrict my calories that much, so I do the cardio. Plus it's good for the heart, etc.
  • achief192
    achief192 Posts: 192
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    I lost 30 pounds - mostly from running. But I also mixed in some pushups and light weight lifting on occaion. Now I'm doing more weights and less cardio.
  • shirleygirl910
    shirleygirl910 Posts: 503 Member
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    Find out what your heart rate should be to stay in the fat burning mode. You don't want to burn muscle right now.

    You can actually do both, reduce fat and build muscle, but you can't use the scale as your choice of measure. My husband is doing the same thing. He gets mad when the doctors tell him he's obese because of the BMI, but yet his body fat is very low. He's almost all muscle.
  • Mercenary1914
    Mercenary1914 Posts: 1,087 Member
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    I lost 30 pounds - mostly from running. But I also mixed in some pushups and light weight lifting on occaion. Now I'm doing more weights and less cardio.

    achief192....You are 38 and looking great bro!
  • Roadie2000
    Roadie2000 Posts: 1,801 Member
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    I've done it both ways, for a while I did hours and hours of cardio with some heavy lifting and lost a lot of weight, but I just looked skinny and not toned like I wanted. Right now I'm doing mostly heavy lifting and haven't lost as much weight, but my physique looks much better to me. The amount of weight you lose will still depend a lot on your diet though.
  • Reaper049
    Reaper049 Posts: 32
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    Thanx for the all the responses guys, Iv been doing more reading around too, and from what I read, It seems I should do both. I'm a beginner so what kind of strength training should I be looking at? I'm talking about specifics here because I haven't done any before.
  • DarthH8
    DarthH8 Posts: 298 Member
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    Trust me on this one, strength training now. I just got done with a solid year of nothing but cardio, lost a good 60 lbs. But a lot of it was muscle, don't make the same mistake. If you do cardio only, make sure you eat a minimum 1g of protein per lb of bodyweight. If your body dosn't have the protein in the stomach the only other place to go is muscle, and it will I guarantee it.
  • Dan112358
    Dan112358 Posts: 525 Member
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    I lost 70 lbs, most of which was fat but I definitely lost muscle in there as well. I'm now focusing more on strength training. This took me over a year by the way so don't look for overnight results with regards today loss & your muscles will not fall off if you skip the weights for a day or two.
  • rileysowner
    rileysowner Posts: 8,155 Member
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    As has been said, do both.
  • Dan112358
    Dan112358 Posts: 525 Member
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    Here's my experience:

    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/584983-gym-results-why-do-i-strength-train
  • BrettPGH
    BrettPGH Posts: 4,720 Member
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    I lost a lot of weight through cardio. I was not happy with the way I looked.

    When I started strength training I started seeing really great results and only wish I had done it sooner.

    If you're looking for a program I recommend Stronglifts 5x5. But any good program is going to have you doing compound lifts, squats, bench, deadlifts, etc.
  • erickirb
    erickirb Posts: 12,293 Member
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    I am cutting now and only do 20 min of cardio one day/week. For fat loss cardio is not needed and doing a lot of cardio may actually help your body lose a higher % of lean muscle vs. fat. The best way to lower BF% is to have a moderate caloric deficit 10-15% below TDEE, if you have a lot to lose 20%. (this deficit can be diet alone, lower TDEE, or a combo of cardio and diet, higher TDEE) and strength training to retain the lean muscle you already have.

    If your deficit is too large you will be using energy to fund your cardio, instead of repairing your muscles, this can lead to a loss of lean muscle mass.
  • Chris_acc_can
    Chris_acc_can Posts: 83
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    You can go straight into weight training right away and get the desired effects. What you want to do is make sure that when you are lifting weights you are working in the higher range of your target heart rate.

    To do this you will need to increase your intensity. This is done by increasing reps (typically 10-12 reps), and decreasing rest periods (rest periods vary by what you are trying to accomplish, for you keep yours to 1 min). You can also introduce super sets, giant sets and drop sets to increase the intensity and really get the sweat flowing. Finally you can do dynamic exercises. Instead of doing a leg press do a walking lunge with a shoulder press, instead of a squat do a squat jump etc...

    You can get a great cardio workout with weights, too many ppl think they must do cardio, not knowing they can get a great cardio workout and do weights at the same time.

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