Cardio vs Weight training

[aryan007]

Hi,
I do weight training 4 times a week. height is 5 ft 5 ". body weight is 76 kgs.

I got fat on chest & mid section.

I am on a calorie deficit for months now. I consume 2000 calories a day. But I am not loosing any fat.

So I was thinking of buying a stationary bike. I plan to use it for 45 mins on non workout days.

Is this idea any good ?

[Boss Man]

It might work, but I'd limit yourself to 30 minutes a week, 2 days a week, so you've got one day off.

[ultimatehlth]

Adding cardio is always good for weight loss, but weight training should also burn fat. 3 Times a week focus on doing shorter harder full body workouts. Warm-up, then do 3 circuits of 10 exercises (compound full body movements are best) trying to go through the exercises without rest. When you finish the circuit rest 2 minutes then repeat. Total time 30-35 minutes. Vary the exercises regularly. Do 3 days of cardio on alternating days. Do short sprint session days alternating with longer cardio days. The key is not to let your body get used to anyone workout.
Best,

Personal Trainer Los Angeles - Hollywood

[womensexercise]

The best idea is to do a bit of both.

It mixes up your workout routine so you can avoid getting bored and you get the best of both worlds.

However, I would not recommend doing cardio and weight training on the same day. Try and mix up the intensity of your cardio workouts to keep your body guessing.

http://www.womensexerciseworld.com

[vamp]

aryan007 ...

Everyone is saying a similar thing... up your intensity, reduce your breaks through your weight training.

Calorie counting is all good but 2000 Calories for one meal at McDonald's in a day is not good... What you eat and when you eat it will affect you like how much you eat. Diet (as in what you eat) will make you or break you.

Also, whatever you weight training includes, if it is not challenging you it will definitely not help you achieve results... lifting the same weight, for the same reps every workout does not help gains... each workout there must be an increase... the number of sets, the number of reps or the weight needs to increase. That and compound lifts do more than isolated lifts.

Finally, when Bossman suggested 2 days of 30 min each instead of the 45 minutes, I would hazard a guess he means higher intensity also.... for example, on a bike you have speed, tension and time as factors that can change, increase the time or tension each workout to realize gains while keeping 30 minute workouts.

Best of luck and I hope I didn't step on any toes!

Chris

[jgerard]

Both is key. Not sure what kind of weight training you do, but focus on doing high rep, low weight, weight training, rather than heavy weight every time. High rep, low weight is meant burn fat and tone, rather than simply bulk up your muscles. Since you are looking to burn more fat, rather than get big right away, I would suggest lifting in this manor and also doing cardio at least 3 days a week. Don't be afraid to do cardio before you lift...it is perfectly fine to do so. Riding the bike as cardio is good but I would suggest switching it up since it is easy to get lazy while on a bike. I would suggest jogging/running either outside or on a treadmill, doing stationary or spin bike (spin bike allows you to do sprints which are great), or the elliptical. Another note, just because you are cutting calories does not mean you are eating properly. You still need to make sure you are eating healthy. Fresh veggies and fruits, simply cooked chicken or meats (no sauces/condiments), eggs, oatmeal, etc. Really try to cut junk food out and any foods that have unnecessary bad fat or sugars.

[vamp]

I would beg to differ on the low weight and high reps, it is not specific to burning fat. All weight training burns calories and builds muscle which in turn will then burn more calories. There is no aerobic weight training. Weight lifting is an anaerobic activity. Regardless of light weight/high rep or high weight/low rep. The use of the muscle burns glycogen stored in the muscle it does not utilize oxygen and fat to work. Therefore a moderate weight for an 8-12 rep range would increase strength and encourage muscle growth to increase your daily metabolic rate as well as burn calories. Reducing the break times between sets helps to keep your heart rate up which then allows your body to burn more calories. Also, heavier weight training allow body's metabolism to stay higher for a longer period of time than low weights and high reps, calculating is more calories burned.

[Boss Man]

Agreed. If you work at around 85%-95% of what would be failure on any exercise and utilise anywhere between 8-12 reps, then a muscle buulding and / or repair process would burn more calories.

High rep low weight is the reason why many women struggle to lose some weight, as it simply is very ineffective, especially coupled with one set per exercise, a common way to perform it, but due to some females misinterpretation and predjudices towards lifting higher and incorrect thought on the matter, the idea that a female ends up looking manly doing this, forces the high rep low weight mentality, because it induces unfounded fears of such a transformation; said transformation never occuring.

In order for the female to get big, she would need to consume a lot of calories anyway. You simply cannot expect a female utilising 2,000 calories a day and lifting as I suggested, to get big, but if they ate 3,000+ calories of healthy food and consumed 200g of protein per day, then they could, if they also lifted as I said.

[vamp]

You said it better than me Bossman, lol

[aryan007]

I said before that yet I am on a calorie deficit I am not loosing any weight.
After researching a lot now I think there must be something wrong with daily diet.

I think the culprit here is white rice. In India white rice is the main part of the meal.

I am planning to replace it with another Indian food called roti.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roti

http://caloriecount.about.com/calories- ... ati-i71917

I am going to maintain weight training 4 times a week, training for sarcoplasmic hypertrophy.

I am saving money for a treadmill. Its a bit pricey here, almost double the price of a stationary bike so I am waiting for it. Recently and in the past I have tried high intensity cardio but I was never successful. So I am going for long walks every alternate day and trying to increase pace.

[vamp]

What are you calling a deficit in calories?

[aryan007]

What are you calling a deficit in calories?

http://iifym.com/tdee-calculator/

TDEE is 2399 calories/day
BMR is 1691 calories/day

I am consuming roughly 1300 calories/day. (myfitnesspal)

[vamp]

from your profile... 31, 172 pounds and 5' 5" I calculate

1,755 calories BMR This is the LOWEST your body can live on doing ZERO activity (sitting on couch all day no movement)

Calculating exercise 4x a week it should be... 2,720 calories a day

at 1,300 calories a day you are starving yourself and your body will hold every ounce of fat you have and will not build muscle. I repeat, you are starving yourself and it is highly unhealthy for many reasons, including, Starving!, lowering bone density (make it easier to break bones), lack of proper protein amounts for cellular replication and repair, etc. etc. etc.

You should consume between 2,500 and 2,750 calories a day of healthy lean meats, seeds, legumes, fruits (not juices), vegetables, dairy products and as little processed grains as possible, eat your whole grains.

Although, keeping your calorie count reasonable is important, it is highly important what that calorie count is.

It is guess, although not great at this, but you should be 30% carbs, 30% fats and 40% protein style diet... Bossman may be able to better tell you.

Cheers

[Boss Man]

Chris gave valid rasoning for your circumstances, you are undereating and at least you should aim for the sedentary calorie intake for now of 2,000 a day, then attempt to increase that up after a while to around 2,300 or more.

You may find it takes 2-4 weeks to get the calories up to around 2,000 a day and be consistently eating 2,000 a day, then you'll be ready to aim for more, as opposed to making a jump of 1,000+ a day right now, which your body may not appreciate.

[aryan007]

@Vamp @BossMan

I am actually skipping dinner. If you look at first post I was consuming 2000 calories a day but since I was not not loosing weight I decided to skip dinner.

No problem I will start eating dinner from today only.