Cardio or Weights???

tony stark

I want to lose weight and tone up. I'm two stone overweight. Currently weigh 13 st should be 11 according to bmi scale. Im 5ft 8. Should I do more cardio to burn fat? I don't want to be bulky just want to be at correct weight with proper muscle tone and strength. Obviously I've lowered my calorie intake to help weight loss. Just confused as I've heard too much cardio cancelled strength training??? I currently run 5km 4 times a week and do three to four weights sessions. Any advice appreciated!! Thanks

Zombienosh

just keep doing both, once you're eating at a loss you're grand.

Vullet93

If you're generally trying to lose weight without muscle or strength loss, just do relatively light weights with high reps, try supersets to keep the calories burning. Cycling and swimming i find are the best forms of cardio. Drink green tea aswell, you'd be surprised how much fat disappears. Keep a high protein diet with lean foods like tuna and skinless chicken also. good luck!

tony stark

I want to still have muscle tone- just not bulky so it's probably no harm to lift normal weights then? Thanks for I put btw!

Edwardius

tony stark wrote: »

I want to lose weight and tone up. I'm two stone overweight. Currently weigh 13 st should be 11 according to bmi scale. Im 5ft 8. Should I do more cardio to burn fat? I don't want to be bulky just want to be at correct weight with proper muscle tone and strength. Obviously I've lowered my calorie intake to help weight loss. Just confused as I've heard too much cardio cancelled strength training??? I currently run 5km 4 times a week and do three to four weights sessions. Any advice appreciated!! Thanks

BMI isn't a great measure for people who train in any way, waist circumference and caliper-based bodyfat measurements are far superior to this as BMI doesn't take muscle mass into account.
"Muscle tone" is just muscle showing through low bodyfat levels and if ya don't want to be bulky then I have some good news: you have to try pretty hard to get properly bulky!
Dropping a bit of fat is fairly easy, decrease refined carbs (bread, pasta etc), increase fruit and veg intake, eat more meat and good fats e.g. nuts, seeds, coconut oil, butter (yeah), eat slowly, drink more water, ditch fizzy drinks, drink more green tea, get more sleep.

What are you doing in your weights sessions? How hard are you running your 5ks?

13st is about 82kg, which wouldn't be a huge amount for someone who is 5'8" provided they're not "skinny fat"

tony stark

Thanks Edwardius. Very informative. Run at speed of 5:30 to 5 minute per km. weights session is twice a week for each major muscle. (inconsistent here over last while as I was sick). Chest: dips 3 sets of 12/ chest fly dumbbell- 10 kg each hand/ push ups 25/20/15( aiming for 3 sets 25). Same type of exercise for each muscle. Normally first set is just to 12 on v heavy weight. Foods the biggest killer for me- biscuits and chocolate. Ive even cut the booze out. Trying tea now to stop sweet cravings away it's tough though. Good to know I won't be bulking up. Maybe I'll cut back weights a little bit and do more cardio to burst this fat off!!!!

tony stark

tony stark wrote: »

I want to still have muscle tone- just not bulky so it's probably no harm to lift normal weights then? ............

Pull ups, dips, press ups etc would be no harm to throw into the mix
Once you get used to pull ups and can do a good few along with dips etc you'll burn a decent lash of calories in a short space of time.

As mentioned to be bulky isn't easy, look at all the people in the gym lifting and not getting bulky

Edwardius

tony stark wrote: »

Thanks Edwardius. Very informative. Run at speed of 5:30 to 5 minute per km. weights session is twice a week for each major muscle. (inconsistent here over last while as I was sick). Chest: dips 3 sets of 12/ chest fly dumbbell- 10 kg each hand/ push ups 25/20/15( aiming for 3 sets 25). Same type of exercise for each muscle. Normally first set is just to 12 on v heavy weight. Foods the biggest killer for me- biscuits and chocolate. Ive even cut the booze out. Trying tea now to stop sweet cravings away it's tough though. Good to know I won't be bulking up. Maybe I'll cut back weights a little bit and do more cardio to burst this fat off!!!!

Ditching booze will definitely help a lot!

I think you should keep lifting and maybe switch one of the cardio sessions out for some interval style running as well, various interweb sources suggest that this is a preferable way to ditch fat due to elevated metabolism in the hours following exercise (I'm not sure what the consensus is on this now). Try starting with 30s fast running followed by 30s rest for as long as you can stand it. You should also train your legs e.g. lunges, squats, step-ups (if you're not familiar with these look them up on exrx.net or get a good trainer to show you the ropes to minimise injury risk). Do these at the opposite end of the week to your interval run to allow sufficient recovery.

Compound exercises such as rowing movements (barbell/dumbbell bent over row etc), pullups&dips as mentioned, overhead pressing and bench pressing will also help to bring about muscular "tone" and stay in the region where 3 sets of 8 to ten reps is challenging (with good form).

If you don't have access to barbells then consider getting a kettlebell, chinup bar, skipping rope and pushup stands, mix things up a little to make it more interesting and, most importantly, be consistent for 6-8 weeks and see if anything has changed, then reevaluate your program accordingly. (I'd do well to heed this myself :P)

tony stark

Fanastic advice. Have that equipment alright better put it to use now.. Must start interval running supposed to be great. Cheers