It’s a lot easier to lose fat
first and then gain muscle. Yes you can do both at the same time, but it’s
hard. You want to give yourself the best chance of success, so focus first on
losing the fat and then building the muscle.
I like to call it your
foundation—if you build a great (low body
fat) foundation, it’s easier to stack muscle (lean or bulk) on top of it down
the track. If you’re overweight right now, you’ll have quite a bit of
subcontinous fat covering your muscles anyway, so why not get rid of it first?
In my experience, the best way
to lose fat is not to do cardio. Slow
cardio (walks, treadmill, bike, etc) burns up fat but also muscle. Cardio is
great for your heart, especially HIIT, but isn’t necessary to lose fat.
There’s a bunch of research
online about cardio versus lifting weights for losing fat, but I prefer to use
diet and weight training (moderate weight, high rep—if you’re female, you won’t put on bulk) to lose fat.
Control your calories via food
(a 500 calorie deficit per day based on your BMR) and keep your metabolism burning
using weights.
When you think about where
most people come undone, it’s normally not in the gym. It’s relatively easy to
workout 3–4 times per week for most people. It’s the food temptation that’s the
hardest. I’ll talk more about that below.
To build your foundation, you
first want to get your BMI (Body Mass Index) into the normal range, at around
20. You can calculate yours here. Once you’ve done that, you’ve got a foundation
on which you can start to build some good, lean muscle quite quickly.
You've hit that magic number at last; now what do you do? The goal is to lose the extra weight and never find it again. Unfortunately, only about of third of dieters are successful at maintaining their loss. Seasoned dieters know that keeping it off takes vigilance, and for some folks, that's more difficult than the actual weight loss.
Maintaining weight loss requires continued modification of your lifestyle. If you go back to the habits that caused you to be overweight in the first place, weight gain is inevitable. Permanent weight loss calls for healthy eating and exercise routines, just like the ones you developed while you lost the weight. Many people relax their vigilance too much after they lose weight, then gain it right back. You can relax a little once you've reached your goal -- but only a little.
Practice Makes Perfect
The more you practice something, the easier it becomes. It takes time to etch those healthy habits into a routine. Be patient with yourself, and don't let all your hard work go down the tubes. Know your weaknesses and be prepared. You will be tempted by certain foods and in certain situations, but if you keep your resolve strong, you can overcome temptations. Moderation is a great approach in those tough situations.
One of my favorite strategies for weight maintenance is to assign a day of the week when I let myself indulge -- a little. This day cannot change from week to week; otherwise, you could find yourself with more than one day "off" every week due to circumstances. On that designated day off -- mine is Saturday for obvious reasons -- I give myself permission to indulge in my favorite foods, within reason. A small piece of cheesecake is fine, but not the whole cake! It's basically controlled cheating. Works like a charm for me, and it may work for you, too. Just knowing that I can loosen up on Saturday helps me stay on top of my game all week.
Successful Losers
We can take a page from people who've succeeded at the weight-loss game. The National Weight Control Registry (NWCR) tracks people who've lost at least 60 pounds and kept it off for a minimum of five years. Here are some of the things they do:
Write it down. Journaling your food intake is a powerful tool to keep you on track.
Eat light and right. Most successful losers follow low-fat diets -- no gimmicks, special diet foods, or magic pills -- because they simply don't work for the long term.
Exercise daily. Walking is the preferred activity, and these folks build it into their day, making it a must-do just like brushing their teeth. NWCR members engage in about an hour of exercise per day.
Start the day with breakfast. All the research supports the role of starting your day the healthy way.
Weigh in regularly. If they gain a few pounds, they immediately make adjustments to get back to their healthy weight.
According to the NWCR's James O. Hill, PhD, the longer people keep the weight off, the easier it becomes to maintain the loss. Successful losers find pleasure in their new lifestyles and it no longer feels like a chore to live a healthy life. It needs to be a way of life, not a diet. And weight maintenance does get easier over time. If you can hit the two-year mark, chances are, you're golden.
Stay the Course
Keep your motivation high and don't let setbacks get you off track: If you fall off the wagon, just brush yourself off and return to your winning ways. If you can learn to think like a thin person and act accordingly, you'll stay thin forever. And the more you practice, the easier it becomes. By the time you get to the maintenance level, chances are you have identified patterns, techniques, and skills that have proved to be helpful in keeping you on track.
Reward yourself. You should be commended for making healthy changes in your diet and exercise routines that not only serve as an inspiration to your friends and family but also have tremendous health benefits
Research has shown that keeping in contact with the people or programs (like WebMD's Weight Loss Clinic) that helped you lose the weight is linked to long-term weight maintenance. It makes sense to stay connected with the people who helped you succeed in the first place. So stick around and let us help you maintain your weight loss!
Weight-Loss Success Story: Tricia Minnick How one reader lost more than 100 pounds to get healthy for herself and her family
Tricia Minnick, 28
Before: 278 lbs
After: 150 lbs
Years of crash diets did nothing to help Tricia Minnick, 28, control her weight, and by the time she got married in 2006, she was carrying more than 200 pounds on her 5'8" frame. In 2007, she got pregnant, and a complication resulted in four months of bed rest—and a 75-pound weight gain. Shortly after Tricia had her son, she and her family moved from Texas to Stuart, Florida. Isolated from friends and extended family, she turned to food for comfort. With the scale stuck at 278 pounds, she says, "I was completely overwhelmed by how much I needed to lose."
The Change
By January 2009, Tricia's doctor warned her that she might need blood pressure medication. And when she found herself breathless trying to keep up with her son, Dash, Tricia realized her weight affected him too. "I didn't want him to face the physical or emotional issues that I had," she says. She gave herself a year to drop 100 pounds.
The Lifestyle
Tricia gave up soda and processed carbs, and filled half her plate with veggies at every meal. She broke out a neglected jogging stroller and started taking her son for walks. She couldn't go very far at first, but by the end of three weeks, she was logging six miles a day and had dropped 20 pounds. Tricia then started using weights at home for 30 minutes twice a week, and by March, at 240 pounds, her blood pressure returned to normal. That September, she met her 100-pound goal but wasn't ready to stop. She began jogging four days a week, and in March 2010, her scale hit 150. "I've never felt better," she says.
The Reward
The woman who once got winded grocery shopping ran her first marathon in November 2010. "Crossing the finish line, I felt as if I could do anything," says Tricia. "I'm healthier and happier than ever!"
Tricia's Tips
Brush your teeth.
"It'll help stop night snacking. Fresh breath makes you less tempted to eat more."
Hit reset.
"If I fell off the wagon, I'd look at the next meal as an opportunity to succeed instead of giving up. As long as you're trying, you're making progress."
Give peas a chance.
"I thought I didn't like vegetables, but I'd only had them canned—mushy and salty. Fresh veggies are delicious!"
Weight Training is Superior to Cardio For Physique Transformation – Here’s Why
If you ask any physique or fat loss expert they will likely tell you that weight training is superior to cardio for toning up, dropping body fat or anything physique related.
However, the general public still believes cardio to be the best solution. This is probably because early research showed cardio burns more fat within the workout; however, they did not account for fat loss over the course of a day, week or year.
Further, this does not account for the overall result, with weight training helping you add muscle, tone up, improve strength and look far better overall. If you really want to improve confidence, (or simply look better naked), weight training, or a combo of both, is going to be key.
Since this initial research, new evidence has further supported the use of weight training for fat loss or physique enhancement. This is because it boosts fat burning hormones, increases your metabolism, improves insulin sensitivity (carb tolerance) and other benefits that cardio simply doesn’t provide (1)!
If you are still on the fence or unsure what’s really best, this article will provide a breakdown of the benefits and review cardio vs weight training for fat loss.
Aerobic vs Anaerobic Training & Energy Systems
Before we break down the unique differences and benefits of weight training vs cardio here’s a brief overview of the energy systems required and how our body provides fuel during cardio or weight training.
In short, cardio utilizes the aerobic energy system as it is performed at lower intensities. This energy system allows you to perform it for prolonged periods of time. In contrast, resistance training utilizes the anaerobic energy system which only lasts 2-3 minutes but provides much more energy in the form of ATP.
Some of these distinct differences between aerobic vs anaerobic energy help explain why weight training is superior to cardio. For example, anaerobic training will burn greater amounts of ATP energy, which is generated from the breakdown of food sources or macros (carbs/protein/fat) through different energy pathways (2).
Benefits of Cardio Training vs Weight Training
Firstly, though, I would like to emphasize that weight training and aerobic training both burn calories and have a multitude of benefits; however, your body responds to these two types of training in completely different ways.
The physiological adaptations associated with aerobic training consist of (2):
Increased cardiac output
Reduced heart rate
Increased stroke volume
Increase in type 1 muscle fibers
Increased mitochondrial density
Increased myoglobin activity.
In contrast, the physiological adaptations associated with anaerobic training consist of (2):
While cardio is still useful for burning calories and cardiovascular health, sadly, it will not help add muscle tone or preserve muscle tone while dieting; in fact, it can actually increase muscle loss if you are not careful.
To optimize our body composition, we want to reduce body fat while maintaining, and in many cases even slightly increasing, lean muscle mass or tone. Resistance training is far superior for achieving this.
Additionally, weight training increases your hormone levels, metabolism and EPOC, carbohydrate tolerance and your resting energy expenditure. All of these will help you reach your physique goals more efficiently and most importantly, help you maintain them.
Weight Training Boosts Your Metabolism to Enhance Fat Loss
Remember, to lose fat efficiently you must be in an energy deficit.
There are multiple ways in which you can enter into an energy deficit. For example, you can increase your physical activity levels or, as most people do with a diet, decrease calorie consumption.
Along with this, another effective way is to increase your resting energy expenditure or the amount of calories you burn at rest!
One of the reasons why weight training is so effective for fat loss is because it quickly increases your metabolic rate, helping you burn more calories that day or the day after. Now, if you perform weight training every day, you will have an elevated metabolism forever (or, at least until you stop training) (3)!
Additionally, research has shown that as you increase muscle mass your resting energy expenditure goes up. So you begin to burn more calories at rest, without even adjusting your food intake (4)! Remember, this won’t happen from 1-2 LB of muscle, but, after a couple of years and 10LB + of muscle gained, you will see more of a significant difference!
Although cardio training does help boost your metabolism in the short term, this only lasts for a couple of hours after exercise, not for the whole day or even into the next day like resistance training (5).
Here’s a graph to demonstrate this:
Finally, remember, cardio doesn’t help add muscle and can even cause muscle loss when it’s combined with a low-calorie diet!
The Research on Cardio vs Weight Training
One group of researchers investigated the effects of cardio vs resistance training during a low-calorie diet and the effects on muscle mass and weight loss.
Both groups lost a significant amount of body mass (as mentioned earlier calorie deficit is key for fat loss).
However, the cardio group lost 4kg / 9lb of muscle mass whereas the weight training group did not lose any, indicating that all of the weight lost in the resistance training condition was fat mass. In other words, the weight training group lost 9lb more fat and preserved all their muscle mass!
Finally, these researchers also demonstrated that calorie expenditure was significantly greater in the weight training condition compared to cardio, supporting the points discussed in the chapter above.
So is Cardio the Enemy of Fat Loss?
Cardio has an immense amount of health benefits for the body and can still be effective for fat loss when used correctly (7).
Remember, if your goal is to optimize fat loss then you should focus more on weight training and increasing muscle mass and energy expenditure. This isn’t to say the odd bit of cardio won’t be effective. You could still do 2-3 sessions on top of weight training or do a 10 minute warm up and cool down after your main weight training session.
The main point of this article is to clarify that 5x cardio sessions vs 5x weight training sessions will yield very different results over weeks and months on your physique, metabolism and muscle mass.
Ultimately, you will not look or feel the same if you just perform cardio. It’s also worth noting this site is about advanced and optimal results, not ‘average’ results. Sure, if an individual is 40LB overweight and just starting out, even 3 cardio sessions a week will work wonders.
In summary, cardio isn’t bad – it is just that it should be used strategically and, ultimately, should reflect your own personal goals and ideal physique.
What About HIIT Cardio Training?
If you are familiar with HIIT or High Intensity Interval Training you will know it’s a great form of cardio that actually produces results more like weight training.
Dozens of studies have shown that HIIT provides superior results to cardio, and in less time. In fact, research has shown that HIIT increased fat loss by 930% compared to steady state cardio (8).
The key with HIIT training is it mimics weight training by performing short intervals at high intensities. Therefore, if you’re still looking for that fix of cardio or the heart/health benefits that cardio provides, a combo of HIIT and weight training is perfect.
There you have it – hopefully, you can now see why, for fat loss, weight training is the superior choice to basic cardio. Here are a few points to remember:
Weight training creates more fat loss and increases muscle mass & resting energy expenditure / your metabolic rate.
Normally cardio may decrease muscle mass and resting energy expenditure over the long run, especially when combined with a calorie deficit or insufficient protein intake.
If you want to be lean and toned, or lean and muscular, weight training must be your main priority.
Some cardio on the side is still fine, plus HIIT is a very effective add-on to still reap the heart, lung and health benefits of cardio!
References
1.) Donnelly, J. E., Blair, S. N., Jakicic, J. M., Manore, M. M., Rankin, J. W., & Smith, B. K. (2009). Appropriate Physical Activity Intervention Strategies for Weight Loss and Prevention of Weight Regain for Adults (vol 41, pg 459, 2009). Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise, 41(7), 1532-1532.
2.) Haff, G. G., & Triplett, N. T. (Eds.). (2015). Essentials of Strength Training and Conditioning 4th Edition. Human kinetics.
3.) Peterson, M. D., Sen, A., & Gordon, P. M. (2011). Influence of resistance exercise on lean body mass in aging adults: a meta-analysis. Medicine and science in sports and exercise, 43(2), 249.
4.) Hunter, G. R., Wetzstein, C. J., Fields, D. A., Brown, A., & Bamman, M. M. (2000). Resistance training increases total energy expenditure and free-living physical activity in older adults. Journal of Applied Physiology, 89(3), 977-984.
5.) Holloszy, J. O. (1973). Biochemical Adaptations to Exercise; Aerobic Metabolism1. Exercise and sport sciences reviews, 1(1), 45-72.
6.) Wilkinson, S. B., Phillips, S. M., Atherton, P. J., Patel, R., Yarasheski, K. E., Tarnopolsky, M. A., & Rennie, M. J. (2008). Differential effects of resistance and endurance exercise in the fed state on signalling molecule phosphorylation and protein synthesis in human muscle. The journal of physiology, 586(15), 3701-3717.
7.) Warburton, D. E., Nicol, C. W., & Bredin, S. S. (2006). Health benefits of physical activity: the evidence. Canadian medical association journal, 174(6), 801-809.
8.) Tremblay, A., Simoneau, J. A., & Bouchard, C. (1994). Impact of exercise intensity on body fatness and skeletal muscle metabolism. Metabolism, 43(7), 814-818.
