Hi Chicks,

I usually frequent the 100 lb club, but I need some exercise advice. I've always believed in the power of strength training when it comes to weight loss. My preference is to do cardio sculpting - lighter weights combined with aerobics. I'm loving Turbo Jam Turbo Sculpt right now. I also have a bunch of FIRM tapes that I would like to get back to (the FIRM offers "heavy" sculpt tapes as well as "lighter" cardio sculpt tapes).

My question is: Is cardio sculpting enough? Or do I need to lift heavy to see optimum results? I mean, when I do Turbo Sculpt, I feel the burn, but I also get a good aerobic workout. Do I need to incorporate heavy weight training eventually, if not now?

Thanks in advance for your advice.

Aerobic Weight Training aka Cardio Sculpting uses weights to give you an aerobic workout. There are a lot of benefits such as you can do low impact workouts while raising your heart rate to burn fat efficiently.

I've always read that aerobic weight training doesn't build muscles although you will experience a general soreness in the beginning. If you want to build muscles to help reshape your body as well as increase your metabolism, you'll need to incorporate weight training with heavier weights than you would find in an aerobic weight training video.

I also agree that you need to use heavier weight and do weight training. It is something that I have started to work on (again). Before having children, I did circuit training more than cardio and lost 12 lbs a month and got an amazing bod-though I was much thinner to begin with.

I recommend any book by Brad Schoenfeld. He trained Miss Olympia and other fitness stars. His newest book, the 28 day body shapeover . It gives a strict diet, which you can follow or not, but the workout is priceless. It even has workouts that can be done at home that yield the same results or similar to the gym.