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Originally Posted by Aquila King
Don't get me wrong, it will definitely burn calories and help you to lose weight. And it's certainly useful for staying in shape. But if you're trying to lose weight, the best thing is to build muscle.
Now, if you don't really want to build any more muscle then yeah, stick with cardio. But what people don't seem to understand is that fat is basically your body's fuel, while muscle is the engine. The bigger the engine, the more fuel you burn through at a faster rate. Therefore by building muscle, you burn fat a lot quicker.
Trust me on this, I've been overweight for years now (and it got even worse over a year ago when I went on some medication). I spent a long time doing cardio workouts, running on a treadmill, very slowly getting results. But any real weight loss was barely noticeable. It was when I got fed up with it all and started pumping iron that I'm now finally getting results and fast!
It just seems to me that people greatly over-emphasize so many cardio workouts for losing weight, when they'd really be better off doing some push-ups or something to build muscle.
Idk, that's just my 2 cents worth for the day.  |
I do about 10 minutes on the rowing machine for cardio warmup, and it also mobilises all the muscle groups and joints. I also use it as a mobility drill emphasising dorsi flexion (ankle movement) and scapula retraction.
I train for strength, so it's all barbell - squats, deadlifts, benchpress and overhead press, and other exercises mostly for back.
You're obviously doing he right thing because you are losing fat, and using muscle to work is indeed the 'calorie burner'. Weights provide that intensity and lifting is probably the best fat burner, though high intensity interval cardio training is also excellent.
Building muscle mass... for a new beginner they can build some muscle, gain significant strength and lose fat at the same time, but that's short lived and probably won't be possible after 4-6 months. Building muscle requires a caloric excess, eating more than you burn, so the process of building muscle unfortunately also involves putting on fat.
So, we can only 'burn fat' with the muscle we currently have, and aren't actually building more muscle to burn more fat all at the same time.
After you come down to being lean and cut, if you are interested in continuing with muscle and strength building, you'll need to go on cycles of 'bulking' and 'cutting' - eating a lot to 'bulk' muscle and strength, then eating less to 'cut' the inevitable fat, but getting a lot of protein and eating really clean is the critical thing.
Well, you're doing a great job, and what a positive way to move forward.