weights VS Cardio?

Kimia

Hi All,

Have just started trying to get fit and I find the different advice very confusing.

My gym instructor told me to lift heavy weights (on machines) in order to burn body fat, but friends (who are also in gyms) have told me that this is only going to 'bulk me up' and make me bigger. I'm a girl so I don't want huge arms - just toned.

Another personal trainer at the gym told me that Cardio was useless for burning fat and to concentrate on heavy weights. But I always heard that Cardio was the best!

Very confused - please please help!!!

g'em

Kimia wrote: »

Hi All,

Have just started trying to get fit and I find the different advice very confusing.

My gym instructor told me to lift heavy weights (on machines) in order to burn body fat, but friends (who are also in gyms) have told me that this is only going to 'bulk me up' and make me bigger. I'm a girl so I don't want huge arms - just toned.

Another personal trainer at the gym told me that Cardio was useless for burning fat and to concentrate on heavy weights. But I always heard that Cardio was the best!

Very confused - please please help!!!

The personal trainers are right.

You could train all day, every day, but you will never bulk up. You need testosterone to build substantial muscle which you, as a girl, don't have.

What you will do is increase your lean mass slightly - muscle, being more metabolically active than fat, raises your metabolism even when resting.

The result is that you burn more calories all the time and you improve your body shape by giving it more "tone".

For a great bum squat and lunge, for good arms and shoulders do benching and pressing, for a shapely back do chin ups and rows/ deadlifts.

scquinn

I agree I lift heavy all the time and im not after bulking up at all but I am firm all over

Kimia

Thanks for replies!

Great so I'll keep doing my heavy weights. What about the Cardio? Is it not worth it? I was going to do 20mins of cardio as well as the weights.

rubadub

If you see a photo of a woman you consider toned, then 99+% of the time she is lifting heavy weights.

If you insist on cardio do it after the wieghts, or maybe a 5min warmup before the weights. This way your muscles are still full of energy and you can lift to your best ability, and stimilate them a lot more. Then when you do the cardio your muscles are zapped of energy so you should be more likely to burn fat. Many do not bother with cardio on the same day.

Acoustic

but why look toned if u cant even run to garden gate ???

surely cardio is a must for fitness

copacetic

check out the cycling and running forum for alternative views OP.

injured365

Considering your goal sounds like it is all round physical fitness as well some weight loss i would incorporate some cardio work but at the same time i would limit it to 15 - 20 minutes at the start as a warmup and maybe 5 minutes at the end as a cooldown.
However as it sounds like weight loss is your main goal at the beginning i would concentrate more on the weight lifting aspect rather than the cardio, especially if time is a factor.
Another possibility would be to take up walking or jogging outside of the gym. Seperate out the two aspects of your workout, this should allow ample time for both

scquinn

You can still do some cardio but its not really needed for fat burning. Usually I do a 5-10 minute warm up, a heavy weights session and sometimes 10-15 minutes of HIIT but not always.