(I'm going to x-post this btw in LWL)

HELP! I'm in a great debate w/ my DH. Which is better for WL - cardio or lifting?

I have about 30-35 lbs. to lose total. I really want to lose 20 by the end of Sept. for his 10 year reunion. DH says I should do all lifting, that cardio is "pay as you go" for calorie burning. I read somewhere though that cardio is best for weight loss. He's NOT HAPPY if I try to keep a happy medium - like 30 min. cardio and 30 lifting 4x a week.

Thoughts/feelings appreciated.

TIA

--Sara

I could be wrong, but I think it's best to do both. Cardio is what's gonna burn the fat for you. And weight lifting will help with the toning. I know I've been losing by doing both.

the more muscle u have the more fat you will also burn...

but u need CV fitness too... and if u altarnate in your session eg CV, wts, CV wts you can get good results.... as ur metabolism is increased..

See my post in the LWL forum...

A balanced combination of both gets results faster. I do cardio everyday and on Tuesdays and Thursdays I do resitance/weight training. Make sure you give your muscles a day or two to rest between lifting sessions so they can build new cells safely (because you're splitting cells apart with lifting) so you don't strain your muscles. believe me I've been there and it is not fun- I couldn't exercise for a week. good luck!

Thanks ladies. It sounds like I'll need cardio to lose weight, and lifting to help get the "toned" look. I have noticed in the past that a mostly-cardio workout helps me lose faster, so I'm going to try to find a balance between them (and he'll just have to deal with my workouts being longer than 30-45 min. so I can fit both cardio and weights in).

Thanks for the advice,
Sara

Do BOTH! Cardio is important but in truth some people can actually get their cardio in while lifting by doing circuits, they don't stop in between sets or different exercises. This will really rev up your heart and it will be like an aerobic workout mixed in (but I really believe that it can be much harder for beginners to take advantage of properly).
The question I got is do u wanna gain a bit of mass like 5 lbs? Doing so will increase your metabolism even when u aren't working out (which means u burn more calories throughout the day even when sedetary). This is why it is esp. important to lift as u have less to lose or only a little to lose. 30lbs to lose is a lot but not huge, so lifting would help u lose this much quicker than just doing an aerobic workout alone (which u should do too, by the way). If u only want to tone then lifting will help u burn calories "during" the workout, and gain strength (not muscle, just power) in whatever the lift is targeting.

I, think sometimes some are afraid to gain a few light pounds of muscle but they shouldn't be cause it will help u greatly. Unless u gain a lot of muscle there is no way u are gonna have those very obvious bulges of muscle, so don't worry so much about gaining a few pounds of muscle.

So, I'd go with a mix of both to really get the advantage, esp. since doing to much lifting (if u go with trying to gain some muscle -it's this or tone) will only hurt. U need to take a day off in between your lifting days, this is why it would be great to add in cardio - burn some extra calories, instead of just sitting around (remember it will help u increase ur fitness level too). Lastly, do compound lifts, which incorporate more muscle in the lift. Deadlifts, bent-over rows, and squats. Remember things like push-ups are good, they are a bit like the bench press, but ur using ur own weight, and they are difficult because controlling balance and form become big factors.

Which is better in the end: that can come down to interest, goals, what works on ur body, and the realization that u gotta use both most of the time because ur body gets used to workouts very quickly.

Cardio is good for the stamina too. This way you will actually have more energy to do the weight lifting and everything else for the rest of your day. Both are beneficial and they go hand in hand. Cardio strengthens our heart and that is our most important muscle.

Good Luck!!!!

What does it matter what HE thinks, do what works.... Which is both.

Also "weight loss" and "fat loss" are different

Both. Cardio helps burn fat and weight lifting helps you to keep and add your lean muscle which make you burn more calories. Lifting also make you leaner.

From the last article I read it was cardio. Though you should include both.