I have about 90 pounds to lose. It is better for me to lose a little weight with just doing cardio and then start doing the weights. Or should I be doing the weights with the cardio.
Do both, since they both help you lose weight in different ways.
Cardio - your big calorie burner also helps condition your heart.
Weights - you also burn a lot of calories lifting weights, but their big advantage is that they help you keep your muscles as you lose weight, maybe even get more muscle. Muscle burns more calories than fat, so you are making your body a more effective calorie burning machine.
Start slow on both, and get a trainer in the gym to help you. It's better to lift light but lift with good form than to go heavier with bad form.
Hello I just started going to the gym and did a little of both. But I ran in to a personal trainer there and was told to consentrate more on cardio. I am heavier then you so I dont know. Good luck to you
I didn't post originally, as Archy said it so well. But when I saw babyfat's response, I thought I would add in my two cents, though it might not be worth even that.
I do cardio seven days a week and strength training three. It's important to take a day off between strength training sessions if you're working the same muscle groups. However, some people will strength train upper body one day and rotate to lower body the next, and I've even heard of people doing left side one day and right side the other. If you rotate like this, you can do strength training every day. There is a lot of cross-over, too, as cardio will build some muscle, and strength training can be cardiovascular exercise too if you are rotating between stations rapidly enough to keep your heart rate up.
I can't afford a personal trainer, but looked at lots of web pages about weight lifting/exercising. I used to do weight lifting in high school, so I had an idea what to do, I started out slow with the weights, ( first 3 lbs) and have moved to 5lbs and sometimes 8 lb weights. I started with each exercise one time, 8-12 movements. Now I do two times 12 movements. I don't do alot of weight lifting , maybe 12 different things, but it is giving me definition in the arms. I also do my elliptical for 40 minutes, but also started out slow with no resistance, and little by little I worked on it. If you can't get your hands on a machine( treadmill, bike or elliptical trainer, there is dancing, running, walking anything to get your heart moving. A personal trainer is nice, but if you can't afford one, it doesn't mean you can't exercise.
And i think it is important to do both weight lifting and cardio, I do cardio 6 times a week and weights 4-5 times a week. cheryl
I also do both. Besides all the great reasons listed by everybody else, I just like the great definition I'm starting to get in my arms and legs. It gives me a sense of strength and coordination that I don't get from cardio. I find it really motivating.
I started lifting about the time I started losing weight. I really think that one of the things that helped me not have excess skin issues was developing muscle at the same time I was losing weight. I could be totally off here, and I do know that genetics, etc. probably played a factor (age definitely didn't!), but I really think that weight lifting right off the bat helped.
Please remember, however, that when you start lifting weight and working those big muscles, you may retain water so the scale may show it. I never work big muscles before a weigh-in for that reason. If you get muscle soreness (which I think is a good thing!), be sure and drink extra water and take extra vitamin C. Are you joining a gym to lift? If so, take advantage of their free personal training session that usually comes with membership. And I highly recommend hiring a personal trainer for as many sessions as you can afford. Besides teaching you good form, they push you to do more, which is often necessary to get us past the mental blocks that keep us from lifting heavier.
Have fun!
Oh, forgot to add that I also do cardio at least six days a week. It definitely burns the fat.
I'm a big girl and I do cario and resistance bands - I love those things! Here's a cool website with little moving cartoons showing how the movements are done! I have to say, I've only been using them a few weeks, but all the aches & pains from my shoulders and neck I've seemed to have for years are GONE!!
I just started yesterday working out at a real gym. My Curves closed, which is a good thing for me. Anyway, I plan on doing cardio 6 days a week and alternately lower and upper body 6 days a week. Man do my arms hurt today!!!
I have a question about the weights. Do I lift heavy for fewer reps, or do I lift lighter for longer reps? I found myself unable to do the full 3 sets of 15 and my boyfriend feels that is because the weights were too heavy and I need to go lower on the weights.
Pita, that sounds like a great program! I like an upper-lower split too, but you may find six days to be too much. It would be OK to drop back to a five day split of three UB days and two LB or even four days of alternating upper and lower. I would personally have a hard time recovering from three leg days a week.
Since you're just starting, aim for the 12 - 15 rep range. Pick a weight that becomes challenging, if not almost impossible, somewhere between 12 and 15 reps. If you get to 15 and can keep going, then the weight is too light and you need to pick a heavier weight for the next set. But, if you fail before 12 reps, then the weight is too heavy and you want to go lighter on the next set.
You say you couldn't make it to 15 -- did you make it to 12? If so, I'd say stick with that weight and just do what you can so long as it's in the 12 - 15 range. Once you can get to 15 fairly easily (and it will happen soon!), then go up in weight.
I use PUSH for my strength training which I do 3 days a week. Then, I do cardio(30 minutes) every day unless I've gotten 100+ minutes. If I have I might give myself a rest day. I know it's best to start strength training with your regimine because then you can "see" results that you might not get on the scale. Like my 2nd week, I knew I was getting stronger because I could hold myself in a hold longer than the week before.
Archy's right. I'm going to hire her to be my personal trainer.
We're moving 50 pound buckets full of dirt today. Upstairs!
Actually that was yesterday, my butt is really sore!
Here's something to think about:
I took my HRM with me on my big leg and butt day (when I do deadlifts, squats, and step ups) and I burn the same amount of calories I burn in a 45 minute aerobics class, and 30 less calories than I burn during my runs. Weights are that good for you!
cardio and weight training
We're moving 50 pound buckets full of dirt today. Upstairs!