Lift and/or Cardio?

Redneck001 · 2015-07-28T18:48:28+00:00

Count your calories. You can't outrun your fork.

Here's the thing: You can spend 5 hours per week doing cardio and burn 1,500 calories. Or you can just eat 1,500 calories per week less. And spend your 5 hours doing something more productive.

I'm not a big fan of cardio, mainly because I don't enjoy it. The calorie burn is not significant enough for the time spent, imo. I'd rather just eat less.

stonepimpletilists · 2015-07-28T18:34:00+00:00

Cardio is the diet buffer in diets. weightlifting increases metabolic inefficiency, causing burn for the other 23 hours of your day.

why not both?

BluepillProfessor · 2015-07-28T21:17:12+00:00

Definitely cannot outrun a donut.

Do heavy cardio, start your 5 X 5 program. Do more heavy cardio.

You are not going to lose that weight by cardio alone. /r/keto

TrainingTheBrain · 2015-07-28T18:18:57+00:00

Start with your body brother, run the damn PFT and pick up your old Devil Dog gear and run a CFT, Grenade and all.

RobbingTime · 2015-07-28T18:25:34+00:00

I would think a mix would be good, the cardio to help lose the weight, the lifting to have the muscles you want in place once they become visible.

generic_name · 2015-07-29T00:06:40+00:00

Do you like cardio? If so do some cardio. If not just start lifting regularly and start eating better/count calories. That will easily get you where you need to be. If you enjoy doing cardio or HIIT then incorporate it in.

Something that worked well for me to cut down was doing chest/shoulders Monday and Friday, lower body/back on Wednesday, and 8x200m runs on Tuesday and Saturday with a 1 mile warm up and a 1 mile cool. That provided a good mix of weights and some cardio. Rest on Wednesday and Sunday, or add some more easy running on Wednesday.

This is the workout I followed: http://www.mensfitness.com/training/build-muscle/the-andre-johnson-workout

I've done it a few times for 6 week cycles and I really like it. I like the way I look when I do it (lots of chest and shoulder volume), and I don't feel too burnt out to run afterwards.

Sha11owBay · 2015-07-29T01:40:24+00:00

/r/keto helped me lose 30lbs in 3 months. Started at 292 and am currently at 259. Works real well and can help you start to get to where you want to be.

Sepean · 2015-07-29T07:29:43+00:00

Cardio is for fun. If you don't like it, don't. The only thing cardio is good for is aiding in your calorie deficit, but most people find it much easier to just eat a little bit less.

You must lift though, or dieting will eat your muscles away. Remember to get enough protein. Proteins also leave you feeling full for longer.

Count calories. Just eating something different won't help at all if you don't get in fewer calories. Count calories. Notice what foods leave you feeling more full per kcal and try to stick to those. Cutting weight is a lot about figuring out how to make it endurable, because it sucks. It sucks big time. If you just eat spaghetti your gut will be screaming for food all the time.

I strongly recommend a keto diet. It is much more pleasant and it lets you drop weight much faster. It is fairly annoying to cut out carbs like that when you're eating with others, but with the amount you have to lose I'd give that a go. Note that keto requires strict compliance. Get too many carbs and you drop out of ketosis, which sucks; without ketogens you will feel miserable from the blood sugar depletion, and the ketosis process is major source of your calorie burn.

throwaway-chemist · 2015-07-29T17:04:43+00:00

Graduate biochemist/amateur powerlifting enthusiast/strength and conditioning student/longtime lurker here.

TL;DR: Keto > lifting > calorie counting > cardio

A few people are mentioning keto. Go for it; it will yield many other health benefits for you in addition to relatively easy weight loss (due mostly to greater satiety and the thermogenic effect of fat and protein). Check /r/keto (and /r/ketoscience if you're scientifically inclined) for more info. It's also nice because you'll probably feel full before you hit your calorie goal. If you wish to count calories - and I certainly would - don't use the easy-bake calculator from MyFitnessPal. Start here.

Definitely lift. You are in a unique position in that you can lose fat and build muscle simultaneously; don't waste this chance to do so. If you're new, Starting Strength or 5/3/1 are what I recommend to my new lifters. In addition, the beneficial effects of lifting have been well-discussed throughout this sub and the other.

If you want to speed up your weight loss or want to add in some conditioning, I suggest Tabata sprints (sprint fast as fuck for 10 seconds, rest 20 seconds. Repeat 8 times) for speed and their greater efficacy than steady-state cardio.

I'd suggest using rage and horniness to fuel your workouts. Envision dat booty. Get mad at yourself for fucking up. Both of these will raise serum testosterone levels for mad gainz.

At work; will happily answer questions if anyone has them.

kurwazinho · 2015-07-28T18:26:46+00:00

You should shed weight and then bulk but what matters most is calories in / out. You can, for example, lose weight and at the same time slightly gain strength by lifting. Cardio will of course give you more calories out so go for it. For nutrition info resources, I recommend scoobysworkshop.com and the book by Mike Matthews called "Bigger Leaner Stronger".

el_superbeastooo · 2015-07-28T18:56:57+00:00

I'd start with both, but definitely a lot of cardio at first. I'm pretty similar in that I was around 260 lb and dropped down to about 185 before starting to really lift heavy and am now at 210. I wish I didn't cut that deep though, looking back at pics of when I was 185, I really looked too skinny. I'm 6"1 for reference. Depending on your height I'd recommend you start lifting heavy sooner than hitting 180.

Look into programs like c25k to get started running and build endurance, then HIIT and tabatas, those really get your blood pumping.

I'm sure some of the pros around here will have other advice, but I thought I'd chime in as another ex-military ex-fatguy.

thisisme0007 · 2015-07-28T19:08:42+00:00

Check out Bootcamphub.com

Personalized body weight intervals, in your living room strength alternating with cardio.

I believe they have a free trial.

watch_ping · 2015-07-28T19:43:05+00:00

You'll lose the weight just lifting but if you do cardio too you'll burn even more calories. It's okay to do both, but if you have to pick always lift over cardio.

mremms · 2015-07-28T20:55:41+00:00

To just burn fat, lift with drop sets, super sets etc. Make sure you work up a sweat and suffer, being a marine you should obvioualy know how to suffer. HIIT cardio too; then fuck your wife.

somethingofvalue · 2015-07-28T23:54:06+00:00

Add me to the commenters recommending calorie counting as your primary technique. The most important thing is consistency with diet. The next most important thing is consistency with exercise. What exercise you do matters less, although lifting will help you preserve lean mass as you lose weight.

enfier · 2015-07-29T03:27:50+00:00

The limit to cardio will be your joints and tendons. Use more than one type of exercise to help the impact. Biking, rowing, swimming and the elliptical all have less impact than running.

Lifting can be done at the same time, but I'd gradually ramp up the workload rather than jumping in to all at once to give your body some time to adjust to the workload.

Caloric restriction or some form of diet will be where you major changes come from. It's a lot easier to skip 400 calories of eating then it is to try to work it off on the treadmill.

SexistFlyingPig · 2015-07-29T05:39:51+00:00

Less food is better than more running.

More running can destroy joints if they have to hold up your 300lb frame. Lifting and eating less will do the trick. Make sure you still get enough protein.

[deleted] · 2015-07-29T07:32:03+00:00

[permanently deleted]

RedPillJax · 2015-07-29T11:49:40+00:00

Lift and eat at a caloric deficit.

I really don't enjoy cardio whatsoever, personally. I'd much rather hit strength goals than cardiovascular endurance goals - and I find if I do heavy compound exercises, my heart rate gets going pretty well anyway.

For cardio (because you can't avoid it completely) I like to do HIIT, which many studies easily found by Google seems to point towards increased fat-burning over standard endurance training.

Really, you should do whatever is going to be enjoyable to you. If it's enjoyable, it will be less difficult to keep consistent - and consistency in diet and exercise frequency is the key here.

dandar4600 · 2015-07-29T11:56:19+00:00

I lift 3x a week doing Stronglifts 5x5 and count calories. As a hobby I ride my bike about once-twice a week. You can definitely outrun/outride a donut, but it won't be easy. After a 38 mile ride (on rest day) I went to a birthday party, had bunch of food, beer, shots, ice cream you name it. The next morning I haven't gained a pound. Normally a party like that would give me a 2 pound penalty.

But here's the thing, you can't do cardio for more than an hour unless you totally enjoy it. Running for 3+ hours will be a bitch on your knees and hips. Biking for 3 hours will be hard on your ass and you might get sunburned. It is easier to just put away the donut and count your calories.

Lifting will work for you 24/7 because muscles burn more calories than fat. The problem is that when you're cutting you won't build much muscle. You can get some beginner gains but overall you're bound to lose strength, not build more until you're done with the cut and start bulking. The thing with lifting on a cut will help retain the muscles you have and nicely expose them. You would lose more if you just cut and don't lift. So definitely lift.

Leangains helps with gaining muscles on a cut, but you would have to be very exact with what/when/how much you eat on rest/lift days. It's much easier to just eat IIFYM (if it fits your macros.) Meaning roughly 40-50% carbs, 25-30% fat, 25-30% protein. Shoot for a little extra calories on lift days or not. The goal is to be 3000 calories under your TDEE per week. That translates to 2 pounds per week. Safe and slow enough to prevent/help with loose skin. Drink lots of water or black coffee. Stay away from sodas, juices and sugar. If you want milk, stick with fat free milk. This way I lost 45 pounds in 5 months and went from 26% to 14% body fat.

palatalizacija1 · 2015-07-29T12:04:52+00:00

I would suggest kettlebells, especially swings for weight loss. Try simple and sinister program by Pavel Tsatsouline. Do it in addition to heavy lifting and some HIIT in the morning on empty stomach. Intermittent fasting helped me very much in shredding fat.

UEMcGill · 2015-07-29T18:49:13+00:00

You know who does cardio to loose weight? Soccer moms who are skinny fat. They can't understand why all they eat is a half a bagel and one slimy-mocha-basic-bitchachino and still can't loose weight.

Muscle mass is what amps up your metabolism. So lift heavy, maybe add some HIITS. Check out r/keto or maybe r/leangains. The good news is, at 300 lbs you're probably strong as fuck from carrying around an extra man all the time. So hit the weights.

a295225 · 2015-07-29T20:33:42+00:00

I'm going to say it depends....

Do you have a specific reason for doing cardio? Do you play a sport that requires you to have decent cardio? Is your resting heart rate in the triple digits? If so, then do cardio. But at 300lbs, you must do low impact cardio.

If not, then heavy lifting and calorie counting will work to shed the pounds. Lifting burns calories twice. The first time while working out, and second time while the body repairs the micro damage. Also, laying off the booze helps because alcohol goes straight to body fat and will not get metabolized the way your macros will.

nantucketghost · 2015-07-30T02:03:19+00:00

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fdsdfs89 · 2015-07-30T04:44:12+00:00

Are there any major disadvantages to body weight fitness? I know it has an upper limit with how much leverage can be applied, but is it a valid alternative?

Title	Lift and/or Cardio?
Author	Mrpthrowawayway
Upvotes	10
Comments	31
Date	July 28, 2015 5:54 PM UTC (11 years ago)
Subreddit	Posted in /r/MarriedRedPill
Original Link	https://old.reddit.com/r/marriedredpill/comments/3exb5e/lift_andor_cardio/
Archive Link	https://theredarchive.com/r/MarriedRedPill/lift-andor-cardio.201336 https://theredarchive.com/post/201336

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