Cardio or weight lifting? - Weight Loss Message Board

heathcliff · 04-30-2006, 07:11 PM

I came across some other posts in the exercise forum that say weight lifting will burn a lot more calories than cardio. I really don't want to bulk up. So which burns more calories--weights or cardio? I've heard both sides, and really don't know what to believe.

OutToLunch · 04-30-2006, 08:35 PM

Don't believe either. Anytime there are two extremes in a debate, the truth usually lies somewhere in between. In this case, you should be doing both cardio and weight training. Cardio burns fat during the exercise whereas weight training elevates your metabolism and helps preserve muscle so it also burns fat, albeit in an indirect way. Don't worry about bulking up. People act like gaining muscle is easy, but it's not. In fact, if all you had to do was lift weights, everyone would look like a bodybuilder. Whatever you do, don't let yourself be persuaded by the extremists. On one end, you have the weight lifters who claim cardio eats muscle. The truth is it doesn't. What causes muscle loss is insufficient calories and lack of exercise. Also, don't pay attention to the cardio freaks who think weight lifting is for bulking up. It's not. It helps your bones, heart, skin, mind, immune system, and metabolism even if you never gain a pound of extra muscle. In the context of weight loss, it's a must-have cause it protects against muscle loss, which anyone on a diet should be worried about. So perform both. I lift 3 times a week, do cardio daily, and eat a healthy diet. It's allowed me to shed a lot of fat, maintain muscle, and get in the best shape of my life. I'm probably a little over a month from getting a full six pack and it's exciting to have one in my 30s since I never had one in my 20s.

~Tyger~ · 05-01-2006, 02:50 AM

I'm really glad this was posted because I asked EXACTLY this question in the exercise board. I have started a new programme with a trainer (for the first two sessions) where I only train twice a week but there is alot of weight training, and then the time between is for the muscles to repair. I have always been of the thinking that cardio is what burns fat, so I've never really done weights.
Add to that the fact that I'm petrified of looking like a bodybuilder and really bulky, cos I'm female and already have an athletic shape, and I want to slim down and tone, NOT build muscle and look butch.

I'm really hoping that my trainer is right, he basically says exactly what OutToLunch says. My main routine is the weights, but there is 15 mins of cardio in my workout, and then on my non-weight days I have to do some cardio too. But the theory is that its the production of this lean muscle that will speed my motabolism and burn off more calories, and slim me down.

boisecougar · 05-03-2006, 10:05 AM

I would like to add my 2 cents to this discussion. I agree with almost everything OTL said, except for the part that cardio doesn't burn muscle. I have to say that all exercise, even weight training can burn muscle. All exercise is catabolic which means that essential aminos are burned. If you don't have enough aminos in your system while you're doing cardio or weight training, those aminos come from your muscle. The way to conteract this is to have higher protein meals around your exercise. Then while you exercise, the aminos/fuel that you need will be burned from what's in your system.

Even if you do this, I won't say that you won't lose muscle. I'm doing a combo of cardio and weight training and I try to consume a lot of protein. I still have lost lean tissue while losing weight. It's very, very hard not to lose some lean tissue while exercising a lot. I have been in a competition where the objective is to gain lean tissue and lose body fat. Those that haven't been intaking more protein have done great on weight loss, but about 50% is lean tissue. Even with my high protein diet, 23% of my weight loss was lean tissue(muscle). I'm still happy with losing weight.

OutToLunch · 05-03-2006, 11:20 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by boisecougar

I agree with almost everything OTL said, except for the part that cardio doesn't burn muscle. I have to say that all exercise, even weight training can burn muscle. All exercise is catabolic which means that essential aminos are burned. If you don't have enough aminos in your system while you're doing cardio or weight training, those aminos come from your muscle. The way to conteract this is to have higher protein meals around your exercise. Then while you exercise, the aminos/fuel that you need will be burned from what's in your system.

In my experience, muscle loss is more a product insufficient caloric intake, insufficient protein intake, or leaving large gaps between meals. Yes it's true that exercise increases the body's protein requirements, but I've been doing morning cardio for quite a while now and each week, I would check my body fat and lean body mass to see if I'd lost any muscle. In the beginning I did lose some. But I just upped my caloric intake keeping all the nutrient ratios the same. The muscle loss stopped and I was able to keep on doing morning cardio without any problems. In general, if you're losing muscle, always check your diet first before you assume exercise is the culprit.