Hey everyone

Recently I've come across some very interesting and varying information about cardio vs weight training to weight loss and I was curious to know what you opinions are!

Now, I haven't spent as much time as I'd like figuring out what is medically accurate... and even what I have read seems to contradict itself... that's why i'm asking for opinions!

I've heard that

- cardio is the best for weight loss because it gets your heart going and makes you sweat

- cardio is only for what it stands for :cardiovascular. It only benefits your heart and won't affect your weight loss

- cardio is not effective for weight loss because the amount of time you spend versus the amount of calories burned it not enough

-weight training is best for weight loss because for every pound of muscle your body puts on you burn x amount more calories doing nothing (it raises your base metabolism level)

Recently I started working through the C25K program. I am currently on week 3. My problem is that the "jogging" parts puts my heart rate just out of my target heart rate zone. The thing is, ANY amount of jogging will do this. Just walking will put me there. So do I stop the program and switch to just walking and then focus on weight training... or do I continue working through the program (which i'm starting to enjoy... its just so gratifying to actually be able to do it!) and slowly start to incorporate the weight. Either way I'm going to do some of both, I guess I'm trying to figure out what will work best for me. And before people suggest it, at my next visit with either one of my docs (the surgeon or my PCP) i'll be asking about the whole Target Heart Rate and what is healthiest for me.

So, what are your opinions on the cardio vs weight training? And, when you do cardio, do you make sure you stick within your target heart range?

Thanks! (sorry for the length... its been on my mind for awhile).

Hmmmm I'd do both to be honest.

Cardio while awesome for the heart, gets the blood flow happening & is great for the weight loss, just make sure u mix it up (which is partly why c25k is so awesome with its stop starts)

Weight lifting, also great because the more muscle u have = the more fat u burn

Target heart zones are annoying, yes when u push past a certain level u go into the fitness zone but that's still great! If u think about it cardio = fat burn so if your in either zone it's fine.

I'd stick to the c25k, it gets results & ull be running 5k like its nothing within a few months. As you get fitter your heart rate will drop while u excercise as well as everyday (this bits annoying) and you will sit within fat burn more often.

Any excercise is good, but just mix it up as much as possible otherwise your body gets used to it and u don't have as many results

Good luck!

Ditto - I do both. Even my trainer at the gym says its important to do both for weight loss and just to be healthy even after you're at goal weight.

As I understand it Cardio burns calories in real-time, ie you only burn while you're doing it. So you run for x minutes you burn 1000 calories.

Weights will make it so that the same amount of cardio in the previous scenario now might burn 1100 calories. Plus just breathing and moving will burn maybe 5500 calories a day, instead of 5000 which would be like an extra pound loss per week...

So it basically will help to increase the metabolism, while the cardio will help increase immediate calorie burn. Plus it doesn't hurt to build up your heart muscle.

All i have to offer is what i've experienced in the last four months. Which is this: I was doing cardio, then some pretty aggressive weight training.

My weight stalled at the usual three weeks where most of us DO stall....well, it lasted for six weeks. I think what was happening, is that I was building muscle as I was losing fat, so it looked like I was stalled out. I'm all about the scale, so I could not have that. For a time, i have been doing cardio only and slowly increasing my time. I can do 45-60 minutes on the elliptical now.

I just went in for my four month follow up and the PA told me to do some strength training twice a week with very light weights and very high reps (up to 60) so I will not be a frail thin person. This way of strengthening will not add bulky weight to my muscles, just make them strong and add some burn to the metabolism.

So far so good.

DOing both is best. I have a personal trainer and she insists that I do cardio 3-4x per week and weights 2-3x per week, depending on how many days a week I want to work out. You dont want to just do cardio, you will loose all of your muscle and then be left with just skin.. weights make your metabolisum faster too. Anything is better than nothing though..

I do weight training first and cardio afterwards. This is how I was taught at the gym I started going to several years ago. They have had trainers come and go, so I've had sessions with several personal trainers. They have always said to do weight training first, and cardio afterwards.

Weight training is a really good way to help the skin issues. I have a lot of muscle on my thighs, so I don't have loose skin there.

how are you breathing? My trainer told me breathing was the most important thing to being a good runner. If you control your breath, and breathe properly your heart rate could change. I am a mouth breather due to enlarged tonsils and a deviated septum, so I struggle to get enough air while running.

You dont want to just do cardio' date=' you will loose all of your muscle and then be left with just skin.. [/quote']

Not true. You need a certain amount of muscle just to do the cardio. Now, I agree that doing both is great, but there have been plenty of very healthy athletes in the world who never lifted weights. Remember weightlifting only just became an acceptable form of training in non-contact sports. Up until 1980, weightlifting was considered a huge NoNo for baseball players...for example. Now Danica Patrick lifts weights just so she can turn a steering wheel (nothing against Danica).

And for those of you who say that adding muscle burns more calories...it does....but it's not as easy to add muscle as you think it is, especially on restricted calories.. It's kinda like going on a diet, you lose 10 pounds right away, then it gets a lot harder....same with adding muscle. It's definitely easier for some than for others.

Thanks for the input everyone!