Lifting Weights or Cardio For Fat Loss
Lifting Weights or Cardio For Fat Loss
Being a “runner” for most of my life, I always thought cardio was the key to fat loss and looking lean. I thought without cardio I would never get that six pack I always wanted and look my best. So I ran…a lot. I became a pretty decent runner, but still never had the exact body that I was looking for. I still had plenty of stubborn belly fat that just would not go away. I also didn’t have the six pack and muscle definition I wanted and I really wasn’t sure why.
Occasionally, I would go to the gym and lift weights. Your typical bro workouts: Bench Press, Leg Press, and of course lots of Biceps and Abs. A couple of years ago during the winter, I took a break from running (too damn cold to run in the northeast) and started lifting weights consistently. Over the next couple of months, I finally started to see the changes I was looking for: more definition, increased strength, and muscle.
The even crazier thing that happened was I actually got better at running by not running as much. Because of the strength training and the increased strength, my runs became easier even though I have not been running as often. What an added bonus!
You might have been like me when you first started trying to lose fat, you went straight to cardio to burn off those extra pounds. You hopped on the elliptical or treadmill and started doing hours of cardio per week. The problem is that you really don’t burn as many calories as you think by doing cardio. Let’s do some simple math to prove it.
You burn ~100 calories per mile when you run. If you run 10 miles/week that means you are burning 1000 calories/week from running. That means over the course of the month you would burn just over 1lb of fat (~3500 calories/lb of fat), but there are a lot of “ifs” with that and most of them are tied to your nutrition. We won’t go into detail about nutrition in this article, but at the end of the day everything is tied back to your nutrition. If you want more specifically about the nutrition of fat loss check out these two articles.
The Key To Successful Weight Loss
The major hurdle here is that 10 miles/week is a lot for someone who is not accustomed to running so you won’t be getting those numbers for at least a couple of months. You might be thinking, “But John the cardio machine at the gym said I burned 500 calories the other day”. Sorry to sound like Maury but that was a lie. Those numbers are just estimates that can be wildly inaccurate for many people. The only way to properly measure how many calories you are burning is to measure your oxygen and carbon dioxide levels with a mask and fancy equipment.
The inaccuracy of these numbers is why I tell my clients to not focus on the calories burned per workout. Every workout you do will burn calories, but the overall amount is negligible towards your actual goal. The calories you burn during your workout honestly don’t mean anything. The goal of your workout isn’t to burn calories, but to get stronger, improve your overall fitness, and feel better.
This is one of the main reasons why strength training is preferred workout methods to losing weight. Strength training helps you focus more on how you feel, the exercises you are doing, and the strength you are gaining. Cardio can do some of these things, but it’s easy to get focused on the calories you are burning and the distance you are going instead of what you are gaining from the workout.
Like I previously stated, nutrition is where you are going to get almost all of your fat loss results, but strength training is where you build the body and mind that you want. Strength training helps you build the definition in the areas that you want; arms, legs, butt, chest, etc. It helps you build a stronger and maximal self.
By building more strength and muscle you are helping your body actually run more efficiently. Additional muscle on your body will take more energy each day for your body to maintain. That is why adding a bit more muscle on your body, I’m talking ~5lbs, can be a complete game changer to maintaining your fat loss long term.
And I know you might be thinking this so let’s nip this in the butt now: You will not look “bulky” with some additional muscle. This muscle will help you keep the fat off your body and help you build the definition you are looking for in your body. This won’t make you bulky I promise.
Cardio has a place in your program and offers tons of other benefits, but in terms of fat loss it is not as effective as weight lifting. Lifting weights takes less time overall, creates more opportunity to burn fat overall, and it is awesome to pick up a weight that weighs just as much as you do!
Now that you know that lifting weights is the way to go, let’s see what a fat loss lifting program would look like? To begin, lifting 3-4 times per week and splitting that up with a push/pull split is a good place to start. This allows you to hit each body part at least twice per week causing increased strength and muscle growth.
Here are some programs to help you get started with weight lifting:
Want a specific fat loss lifting program designed just for you and your goals? Want to end the cycle of program hopping? Then apply now for the MaxU Transformation Program. You will get everything you need to succeed in your fat loss goals. Apply today because spots are limited!
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