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.
Cardio is essential for wl.You can't have one without the other.Lifting will tone
and strengthen the smaller body cardio will give you.It's your workout not his.
IMHO you need both cardio and strength training. I also think a regular program like pilates or yoga where you can stretch, tone, and become better aquainted with your body would be beneficial and enhance all of your effort.
Pilates is awesome,I agree with Jayde.I also like yoga but the teacher at my gym isn't for me.I don't love cardio but i consider it a necessary evil to reach my goal.I use the elliptical machine,burns calories faster than other machines.
Pilates is awesome,I agree with Jayde.I also like yoga but the teacher at my gym isn't for me.
I recently finished a four month yoga class. I did not really care for the instructor... for many reasons.... but I stuck with the class as the time and place was convenient, and I really wanted to learn.
I do yoga at home now. Sometimes on my own.. sometimes with a tape...
Cardio?... variety is the only thing that keeps me sane.
I agree with everyone else--the best approach for weight loss is to include both cardio and lifting. As fitbyforty said, cardio is essential for weight loss. The lifting will help tone, so you'll look better than with weight loss alone.
BTW-the most important thing for weight loss is diet. Exercise alone won't get you to your goal of 20 pounds by the end of September (which is an aggressive goal). You don't mention whether or not you are changing your diet, so I thought I would just throw it out there.
The trinity of weight loss is:
1. Clean eats
2. Weight training
3. Cardio
I agree that there should be an added fourth in there too, Yoga or Pilates , are very important for core and flexibility...
For years I lifted weights only, I didn't like cardio so I didn't do any, or only bare minimum, I didn't lose anything, I was very muscular but I had lots of fat covering the muscles...I started losing weight only after I really started to get serious with high intensity cardio, my cardio of choice is running. In the summer I bike, run and rollerblade. This is what works for me but everyone is different.
This is a real chicken and egg debate. In truth, neither cardio nor lifting is essential for weightloss; weightloss requires creating a caloric deficit. You must eat less than your body can use for fuel.
Losing FATrequires cardio and lifting. If you only decrease the amount of food that you are consuming or only do cardio, you burn more calories. If you add the weight lifting, you build or at least conserve muscle so that when you weigh less, you don't just end up a smaller but proportionally fatter person.
Some people (primarily men) can build the body they want (including fat loss) with weightlifting only. However, If you have 30 pounds to lose, it's going to take a LOOOONG time to lose doing only lifting. Try to find a copy of Dr. Pamela Peeke's "Body for Life for Women". Even if you don't do her program as written, it has a lot of good information about the physiology of weightloss, musclebuilding, and how to put together a program of good nutrition, weight training and cardio that is appropriate for your stage of life.
Thanks ladies. It sounds like I'll need cardio to lose weight, and lifting to help get the "toned" look. 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).
I am trying to eat better than I had too. I have some food issues (bit of COE) but I've noticed when I work out that I have less cravings. Actually, less appetite overall. So I'm hoping that 20 lbs. isn't such a lofty goal (but hey, I'd be ok w/ 15 by then too - any loss is a good loss right now!).
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).
Sara, your husband takes issue if you spend more than 45 minutes? I don't want to give unwanted advice but it seems like this issue needs to be resolved.
I know the demands of being a wife and all that are a lot but you have to take care of you. Perhaps you could begin to work it out by doing activities that are more family oriented rather than "alone workouts". You could bike ride together, or swim together etc etc to get the cardio in.
But in the end you still need "you" time. I wish you the best.
Sara, I agree Jayde, "you" time is extremely important... Afterall that time spent on yourself with make you in a better frame of mind when you spend time with him and the kids (if you have any)...
I'd say I may be unusual but I did lose around 40 lbs in a couple months doing just weights. I had just messed up my knee and walking hurt as well as any type of cardio exercise. I changed my diet and started doing weights. By the time I had lost 40 lbs, my knee had healed and strengthened enough for me to do cardio. It was a frustrating time for me but it did work.
I don't like cardio as much as I like weights but I do both.
Well, he doesn't get offended if I take longer, but here's the deal. We go to the same gym, and he ONLY does weights. We go at like 8 or 8:30 at night (can't go any sooner, we have to be up for work before the gym opens and we have other obligations until then). He gets bored w/ cardio and his routine takes 30-45 min. So I don't want to make him wait, plus if we go at 8:30 then I'd be done after 9:30 if I do a long workout, and then I have to get to bed by 10:30 still so I can get up...life is a vicious cycle.
So unless you have ideas for how to make my husband like cardio, I have to keep my workouts short.
I know it's "me time", but I have part time school, a full-time job, and other things that I have to do. Weekends, I can probably pull off a longer workout, but I like to have one day off of doing all the other crap too and just be lazy. That's my kind of "me time".
Well (up until my vacation last week), I have been doing BFL style workouts. 20 minute interval cardio training, ~40 minutes weight training, alternating upper body and lower body. You alternate which days you do cardio and which days you do weights. You might want to look at Body For Life, either the website or the book to get an idea of how to shorten your workout?
Ok.. I got the wrong idea.. its a matter of going to the gym together. Nelie has some good ideas about working both cardio and weights in. You also might try some cardio with him that is fun..
like bikes.. tennis... etc.
I would do whatever it takes to work the cardio in.. whether I do mini cardio at home .. or some strength training at home it doesn't take a lot of extra home equipment to supplement what you are doing at the gym.
Though you are busy.. you can work more in even if you make them mini workouts... it doesn't have to be done in hour blocks of time.
Better for weight loss?
, are very important for core and flexibility...
