Cardio vs Weight Lifting=Both?

[Clover]

I am a weight lifter (if you want my stats, look at the end of the topic). I am overweight, and I am about to give up most of my weight lifting, for straight cardio. Biking, Swimming, and Running/Walking, being the major norm. I do eat un-healthy, but I am working on that, and I know I will see results, even if I don't eat healthy, cause I haev nearly all my life never done a serious workout, or been active. I work on my farm, but that isn't really hard work, it's tedious, but easy after a while.

My goal is to go from 204 (last I checked) to 165. Ya, major drop, but that's a long term goal. I am wanting to really, just get my BF done a lot, cause I wouldn't mind being 204 with a body fat of like 16%.

My main things about health to do are: Lower calories around 1,200-800. Decrease meat consumption by 1/2, and Increase my Vegetable/Fruit intake by 3x.

Weight Lifting Stats:

Benchpress (Wide arm): 200 Max
Incline Bench Press (Wide Arm): 185 Max
Shoulder Press (Wide Arm): 120-130 Max
Back Shoulder Press (Wide Arm): 110-120 Max
Legpress: 400 Max
Dumbell Curl Up: 40 Max
Dumbell Press: 55 Max

I have done others, but them are my main.

[redblackmask]

See, lifting heavy weights and being overweight is NOT a good thing and will actually increase your body fat over time. Try these stats:

Benchpress (Wide arm): 120 Max
Incline Bench Press (Wide Arm): 135 Max
Shoulder Press (Wide Arm): 80-100 Max
Back Shoulder Press (Wide Arm): 70-90 Max
Legpress: 250 Max
Dumbell Curl Up: 30 Max
Dumbell Press: 35 Max

Try this for a while, AFTER you do your cardio workouts. It might seem like a weak workout, but go on a low carb, low sugar and high protein diet (maybe combine with creatine) and do your cardio and you can convert the body fat to muscle.

[Clover]

See, lifting heavy weights and being overweight is NOT a good thing and will actually increase your body fat over time. Try these stats:

Benchpress (Wide arm): 120 Max
Incline Bench Press (Wide Arm): 135 Max
Shoulder Press (Wide Arm): 80-100 Max
Back Shoulder Press (Wide Arm): 70-90 Max
Legpress: 250 Max
Dumbell Curl Up: 30 Max
Dumbell Press: 35 Max

Try this for a while, AFTER you do your cardio workouts. It might seem like a weak workout, but go on a low carb, low sugar and high protein diet (maybe combine with creatine) and do your cardio and you can convert the body fat to muscle.

No Creatine. Tried it.

I will not lower my Benchpress that much. I will lower it to 160, no less. You do know, it's the norm, that a IBP be at least 15 pounds under what your regular Bench is right?

[redblackmask]

No Creatine. Tried it.

I will not lower my Benchpress that much. I will lower it to 160, no less. You do know, it's the norm, that a IBP be at least 15 pounds under what your regular Bench is right?

All I was doing was suggesting that you should lower the weight, because lifting heavy weights while you are overweight and then trying to lose weight will NOT work.

And as for the creatine, it worked for me. Low carbs, low sugar, high protein. Lots of cardio, high reps but low weights. Try that for around a month or two. And THEN if you want to pack on extra muscle, use the creatine then.

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[redblackmask]

And that's not my regular workout routine, that's what I recommended for you.

[Yanal]

I have been in a similar situation last year because my friend was 197 and wanted to drop down to at least 180. Now that is not a long term goal because he wanted to complete his desire in one month. Some of you might think one month is really long but no for my friend it was just a few days. Guess what? He actually completed it on time for the running marathon and got the Most Improved Student award.He only worked on Cardio for 3.5 weeks out of his time deadline which was 4. Cardio is the biggest thing that can drop your weight. You should only work on Cardio until you reach about 165 then start working on both of them but give more attention to Cardio because as another brother posted weight lifting will make you look fat even though you are string because you have extra meat on your bones and if you work out before Cardio makes it go away it will bulk up and look even more fat. Just keep working and inshAllah Allah will help you. Ameen.

[Clover]

I am a fighter, I can't just not use weights, and I will lower my weights, but not that low. I do high reps right now, I was just showing my max's.

Creatine made me sick at my stomach, and made me really gassy. I felt sick as a dog.

I agree with the low-sugar, Sugar is a killer lol.

[Yanal]

Being a fighter has nothing to be with this. And as I told you before weights will only make you look fatter if you do not work on Cardio first and foremost. Eating healthy is also a great factor but try to avoid this foods/drinks: Gatorade(any sport drink e.g red bull) try and eat low sugar foods if you absolutely need to. Try eating a lot more vegetables more then the Nutrition Chart tells you for your age. Most importantly keep this routine going and keep getting motivated by a fact in life(no offense) that you are a bit over weight.

[Clover]

Being a fighter has nothing to be with this. And as I told you before weights will only make you look fatter if you do not work on Cardio first and foremost. Eating healthy is also a great factor but try to avoid this foods/drinks: Gatorade(any sport drink e.g red bull) try and eat low sugar foods if you absolutely need to. Try eating a lot more vegetables more then the Nutrition Chart tells you for your age. Most importantly keep this routine going and keep getting motivated by a fact in life(no offense) that you are a bit over weight.

If your fighting, and you bench 150, your hit is not going to be as strong as a guy who benches 230. Unless you follow a style of fighting that doesn't require power.

I know, I haven't had any fat comments for a year and a half (probably cause most of them seen me get into it before lol, but I lost a lot of the chubbyness, I went from Large shirts being tight, to Medium shirts being normal) if you haven't been fat before then you won't get the shirt reference.

[Yanal]

Actually I do,I have a best friend who is also my neighbor who is fat so I get it.

[Clover]

Actually I do,I have a best friend who is also my neighbor who is fat so I get it.

lol

You haven't been through it firsthand is what I meant. Maybe I should have said that.

[redblackmask]

I practice Aikido, Shadowhand, capoeira and Taekwondo. All of these don't require me to have brutal strength to execute these arts correctly, which I have before.

I myself haven't been that big before but have always had strength on my side. You seem to be focusing too much on heavy weights and just body image, you need to focus on cardio, diet, tactic, speed and a light weight workout.

[Yanal]

^ you have much experience mashAllah.

Btw how come he is a full member with 43 posts?

[redblackmask]

^ you have much experience mashAllah.

Btw how come he is a full member with 43 posts?

Some of my posts got deleted, along with others man.

[Clover]

I practice Aikido, Shadowhand, capoeira and Taekwondo. All of these don't require me to have brutal strength to execute these arts correctly, which I have before.

I myself haven't been that big before but have always had strength on my side. You seem to be focusing too much on heavy weights and just body image, you need to focus on cardio, diet, tactic, speed and a light weight workout.

Have you ever been in a street fight? Have you ever been jumped before? If you have, I seriously doubt all 4 of them would save you, but if you do heavy weights, and learn to take punishment (ab punches, medicine ball drops, and others) you can last a long time, cause your body is as hard as a rock, and can hold off most hits.

I am not saying that's good, but I am not going to give up all my weight power, just to lower my weight, I will lower my weight either way.

[Abubakar]

Have you ever been in a street fight? Have you ever been jumped before? If you have, I seriously doubt all 4 of them would save you, but if you do heavy weights, and learn to take punishment (ab punches, medicine ball drops, and others) you can last a long time, cause your body is as hard as a rock, and can hold off most hits.

I am not saying that's good, but I am not going to give up all my weight power, just to lower my weight, I will lower my weight either way.

First of all you should be avoiding street fights if you can.

If you have to fight then we are all equiped with different strengths and weaknesses and its best to play your own strengths not someone else's.

The downside of heavy weights can be a lack of stamina but if you are a farmer you probably have better stamina than someone who just trains on heavy weights.

I have always tended to overweight but although I have kept it in check to some extent, I know I will always carry a bit too much.

[Clover]

First of all you should be avoiding street fights if you can.

If you have to fight then we are all equiped with different strengths and weaknesses and its best to play your own strengths not someone else's.

The downside of heavy weights can be a lack of stamina but if you are a farmer you probably have better stamina than someone who just trains on heavy weights.

I have always tended to overweight but although I have kept it in check to some extent, I know I will always carry a bit too much.

I fight cause I can.

Well, my main problem is, I haven't done much running in my entire life, and my lungs are very very weak. I get winded from doing a 20 minute brisk walk (this equals a mile usually), but then again, in a fight endurance rarely wins cause fights are usually short, but I am wanting to get healthy, not just fight anymore.

I am going to do this low-carb and low-sugar diet, cause it is a good idea. I just want to get my BF% down a lot. I am going to make sure I do avoid the following permanently:

-Fast Food
-Soft Drinks (I might still do this for the first week or two, but I will eventually get through my Mountain Dew Addiction, and ya I am really addicted, I plan on starting a thing where you drink a gallon of water a day, and work it up to 3 gallons a day, it's a thing I heard that really kicks your Metabolism up, and has no sugar).

[Tony]

stamina and technique will always outdo a heavy strong man. Clover checkout Martial Edge Forum, it was started by a friend of mine called pete mills, its awesome and the biggest martial arts forum in europe

[alcurad]

running is good,
google HIIT, it looks something like this:
http://musclemedia.com/training/hiit_table.asp
hope it helps..

[Tony]

running is good,
google HIIT, it looks something like this:
http://musclemedia.com/training/hiit_table.asp
hope it helps..

HIIT is awsome when training for specific tournaments, the best rule of thumb for a fighter is 3/4 ur max weight for twice the reps with very little rest time, ur control and power will rocket after only a few sessions. The best punch training i found was an adaptation of a bruce lee method, take 5kg weight in each hand and do ur usual empty hand routine, ie straight front 20 times, straight back 20 times etc, go right up thru dbles and triples and back down, then 30 sec 1min and flat out 1mins speed punching. the transformation is awesome and extra control is amazing

[Clover]

running is good,
google HIIT, it looks something like this:
http://musclemedia.com/training/hiit_table.asp
hope it helps..

Ya, I know, HIIT is a little different then just running though, HIIT is running as extreme speed, short distance, that's good for getting a heart pumping exercise. I am talking about HIIT combined with Endurance running, like doing a mile in 15 minutes, and then doing it 13 minutes, then doing a mile and half in like 17 mins.

stamina and technique will always outdo a heavy strong man. Clover checkout Martial Edge Forum, it was started by a friend of mine called pete mills, its awesome and the biggest martial arts forum in europe

Not in a street brawl usually, cause even if you dodge 2/3 the 1 that hits, cause pulverize you. I prefer fight forums based on either street fighting or Tai Chi, and I can't do Tai Chi right now.

[Tony]

Clover its all on thier bud, give it a go. they do interveiws with everyone. kfm, krav maga-which is israeli special forces training, it gives top tips for all fighting. I know what im talking about, i used to be a believer of fighting solves everything. Theres mma. anyway give it a whirl im sure u will get top advice

[Clover]

Clover its all on thier bud, give it a go. they do interveiws with everyone. kfm, krav maga-which is israeli special forces training, it gives top tips for all fighting. I know what im talking about, i used to be a believer of fighting solves everything. Theres mma. anyway give it a whirl im sure u will get top advice

Fighting doesn't solve everything, it doesn't even solve most things, it solves somethings. I know that, and I do fighting cause its a way to relieve stress and stop anxiety, and it's fun if you have rules.

MMA is really good for shows, but I am not a lover of a coach telling me what to do, I prefer to push myself.

~Edit~ I will go to that site, just to check it out.

[Tony]

yes I know that now. well its up to you, all i know is i channeled my savage beast thru training, and of course you have to push yourself till u puke. but i found coaching brought out the things i would have never known about or had confidence to pull off, the few enemies i had made after becoming muslim leave me alone because of this ability. Anyway thought we could discuss a common interest there, peace.

[themuffinman]

first of all fat does not convert into muscle nor does heavy lifting mean more fat. fat and muscle are two entirely different things. when a person is already fat and he starts lifting hard he gains muscle underneath the subcutaneous layer of fat pushing it outward a bit more so it gives the illusion of getting fatter. second i would advise doing both heavy lifting to gain more muscle and try doing a high intensity cardio workout( meaning 2 minutes of as fast as you can run followed by 2 minutes of lower intensity alternating until you complete thirty minutes) in the morning before you eat it targets the fat abit more so you will lose fat without sacrificing muscle. also the only way to lose fat is to expend more calories than you take in having a calorie deficit but not too much as it will cause you to lose muscle as well. there are plenty of sites where you can calculate your caloric needs for the day based on your weight and body fat % and the ideal calorie deficit to lose fat is -200 to -300 calories per day any more than that and you will be sacrificing some muscle as well.

[Abubakar]

I fight cause I can.

Well, my main problem is, I haven't done much running in my entire life, and my lungs are very very weak. I get winded from doing a 20 minute brisk walk (this equals a mile usually), but then again, in a fight endurance rarely wins cause fights are usually short, but I am wanting to get healthy, not just fight anymore.

I am going to do this low-carb and low-sugar diet, cause it is a good idea. I just want to get my BF% down a lot. I am going to make sure I do avoid the following permanently:

-Fast Food
-Soft Drinks (I might still do this for the first week or two, but I will eventually get through my Mountain Dew Addiction, and ya I am really addicted, I plan on starting a thing where you drink a gallon of water a day, and work it up to 3 gallons a day, it's a thing I heard that really kicks your Metabolism up, and has no sugar).

Fighting as sport is one thing, and good but street fighting is to be avoided.

As for running, I recommend that you set yourself a distance say 3 miles (if you can hardly run at all then a mile and a half is good beginners distance)and start by running for one minute and brisk walking for the next, running for the next until you have completed the distance. Same again for the next run, start at 2 runs a week for the first two weeks and then increase to 3 a week for three weeks and then if you wish 4 a week.

The second week run for a minute and a half and brisk walk a minute, repeated until you complete the distance. The third week run a minute and a half and walk for half a minute. The fourth week run a minute and three quarters and walk 15 seconds. The fifth week run the whole lot.

The sixth week extend the distance for two of the four runs and run them at an even pace. The other two reduce the distance and sprint 30 seconds then jog 30 seconds.

Obviously all this depends on your level of fitness but it gives you a rule of thumb and a pattern to build on.

[AbdullahSyed]

I am a weight lifter (if you want my stats, look at the end of the topic). I am overweight, and I am about to give up most of my weight lifting, for straight cardio. Biking, Swimming, and Running/Walking, being the major norm. I do eat un-healthy, but I am working on that, and I know I will see results, even if I don't eat healthy, cause I haev nearly all my life never done a serious workout, or been active. I work on my farm, but that isn't really hard work, it's tedious, but easy after a while.

My goal is to go from 204 (last I checked) to 165. Ya, major drop, but that's a long term goal. I am wanting to really, just get my BF done a lot, cause I wouldn't mind being 204 with a body fat of like 16%.

My main things about health to do are: Lower calories around 1,200-800. Decrease meat consumption by 1/2, and Increase my Vegetable/Fruit intake by 3x.

Weight Lifting Stats:

Benchpress (Wide arm): 200 Max
Incline Bench Press (Wide Arm): 185 Max
Shoulder Press (Wide Arm): 120-130 Max
Back Shoulder Press (Wide Arm): 110-120 Max
Legpress: 400 Max
Dumbell Curl Up: 40 Max
Dumbell Press: 55 Max

I have done others, but them are my main.

I have been lifting weights for about 4 years now. You do not need to do crazy amounts of cardio to lose weight. The best solution is to lift weights and have a calorie deficit. You should be consuming 2200 calories a day all of it should be from healthy food. You will drop about 10-15 pounds a month. But remeber once you hit 190 X 11 = New calorie deficit times your weight by 11 some suggest 10 but thats way to low. You will lose some strenght in the process but you can build muscle too. I use to be 5'11 195pounds 25% body fat. After, I lost my weight I was 5'11 153 pounds 5.25% body fat. Now I am 165 pounds 5% body fat. I want to be 170 with 5% bf then I will just maintain it. There are way too many crazy people on the net. They will say things like you can gain 50pounds of muscle in 3 months its all lies. Thats possible you can gain weight but its mostly FAT. After, you lose your weight dont go on crazy 4000 Calories bulk up phase. Its better to start by 15X your body weight then if you dont gain any weight add 500 more calories. When I was 5'11 155pounds i had a V shape. You dont need to be 250 pounds to look big. Remeber if you do too much cardio you will lose muscle its better to do 3X to 4 X a week then after you reach your goal weight drop your cardio to 2X or and skip some weeks without any cardio. Weight lifting is the way to go CIRCUIT training.

[AbdullahSyed]

running is good,
google HIIT, it looks something like this:
http://musclemedia.com/training/hiit_table.asp
hope it helps..

HITT is not good if you want to maintain your muscle or gain muscle you will lose strenght if you do HITT. I know this from personal experince.

[Clover]

Thanks for the info. I am wanting to just get my BF% down, I am fine with staying at 204 if I can get my BF% down to like 10-15%.

[AbdullahSyed]

Those of you who are planning on taking supplments the only thing that helped me alot gaining muscle was 50g protein shake I been on a low fat high protein diet for awhile. Its seems to help me maintain my body fat and gain muscle mass.

[AbdullahSyed]

Thanks for the info. I am wanting to just get my BF% down, I am fine with staying at 204 if I can get my BF% down to like 10-15%.

Sorry bro not possible. You need to lose weight in order to lose body fat. The method you are taking about may take you months to lose and gain. I personally would suggest just lose the fat then have a new start. How tall are you anyways?

[Clover]

Sorry bro not possible. You need to lose weight in order to lose body fat. The method you are taking about may take you months to lose and gain. I personally would suggest just lose the fat then have a new start. How tall are you anyways?

I am saying, I do no care being this big in weight, if I could be down in BF%, I'd love to lose weight, just saying.

5"6-5"8. Shorted man in my family :(

[Yanal]

What do you want? Lose weight or get stronger?

[Clover]

What do you want? Lose weight or get stronger?

Lose Fat, I want to get to 160 and just stay there and keep cutting my BF% back.

[Yanal]

:sl:
Losing fat is a much accomplishment which only a few accomplish. To lose fat you should cut eating upto hafl. And buy a thread mill or run daily around a park. Keep a list of your time in one lap and after a few weeks compare you statistics of your first run to your present one.

[AbdullahSyed]

What do you want? Lose weight or get stronger?

Losing fat does not mean you become weaker. Losing fat actually makes you stronger and makes you look bigger. I know guys big guys who have huge amounts of body fat and they are lifting the same weight as me and some of them are lifting less then me. They just look big because they got so much fat covering them. But when they look big they look nasty big.

[Yanal]

^ I just simply asked a question not determining or stating that losing fat causes you to be weak in is vice verca because losing fat gives stamina which supports you through every work out to get in shape.

[AbdullahSyed]

Lose Fat, I want to get to 160 and just stay there and keep cutting my BF% back.

At height 5'8 you would have to go down to atleast 140 bring your body fat level to 7-10% 16% is still way to high. Remeber losing weight you need to have calorie deficit and work out with weights more often this way you will have big muscles after you lose weight. Remeber when lifting weight life BIG not that loser kind of weight you need to lift BIG 6-8 reps per set. When I first started I use to work out 1hr and 30 mins a day. Hour for weight lifting and 30 mins for running. Then, after I lost all my weight within couple months I lost 37 pounds majority being fat. Remeber your diet should be high protein low fat. You need to also remeber one more thing "Guys like big guys, girls like underwear models. Who you trying to impress?" I see guys that lose way to much weight that does not look good either try to keep yourself in moderation. Your aim should be to reach 140 then gain 15 pounds of pure lean muscle which will take you to 155 then you will look big and ripped. Not fat and muscular or skinny and ripped.

[AbdullahSyed]

^ I just simply asked a question not determining or stating that losing fat causes you to be weak in is vice verca because losing fat gives stamina which supports you through every work out to get in shape.

Majority of the guys have the thinking that fat means big I thought your were implying the same thing. My apologies.

[*charisma*]

Well, my main problem is, I haven't done much running in my entire life, and my lungs are very very weak. I get winded from doing a 20 minute brisk walk (this equals a mile usually), but then again, in a fight endurance rarely wins cause fights are usually short, but I am wanting to get healthy, not just fight anymore.

Learn to control your breathing. Inhale through your nose and exhale through your mouth, that's what I do and it makes a BIG difference, and slow down when necessary. You have to maintain a pulse range depending on what your burning zone is, so running harder and faster doesn't necessarily mean it would be better, you could tire yourself out very badly, so just take it easy and as long as you put forth the effort, you'll see the increase in your lungs' tolerance.