Please Scroll Down to See Forums Below This might be impossible to answer, but i was wondering if u are trying to gain strength and loose fat if it is better to run and work out or just work out. So if i dropped my calorie intake from 2500 to 2100 while on a diet should i run still or not to try and gain strength or should i just leave it at 2500 and just run and burn 400 cal.? I know u really shouldent run or not run for more than 30 min. and keep your bpm below 140 when trying to gain strenth, but would running to loose weight be better than cutting calories to loose weight or both?
cardio & weights
- Thread starter tay1506
- Start date
First of all, gaining a good deal of strength and losing fat at the same time is a hard goal to accomplish. Just a fair warning. However, it can be done. Look into timed carb diets/calorie and carb cycling diets(same thing really). Also, IMO one should always do some form of cardio. Its important to work your most vital muscle, your heart.
I guess this really doesnt answer your question of whether or not to drop calories or do more carido for your goal....
I guess this really doesnt answer your question of whether or not to drop calories or do more carido for your goal....
M
*MissFit*
Guest
well what do u currently look like r u obese?
putrefied_dead
New member
i'd say... on the workout front, u could do plenty of sprints rather then slow cardio. if u can get to a track then do some sprints with small gaps in between till your really winded and then some more. if u cant get to a track, then u'll have to do it on the treadmill. do that after each workout (weights). i suggest this because.... how many sprinters have u seen who are not ripped. agreed, they are also on AAS but even then, i'd say the nature of their training would make them pretty ripped anyway.
tay1506 said:
Fat loss starts with diet.
1 - How much do you weigh?
2 - How often do you weight train?
3 - How often do you plan to run?
Generally speaking it's better not to have a massive drop in calories off the bat - I mean where do you go from there when you stop seeing results?
You don't neccesarily have to start a cutting diet, running and weight training all at the same time and by that I mean you could start with the diet and the weight training and then start with the running after you start to see a slow down in your fat loss.
I'm fond of HIIT (High Intensity Interval Training) 20-30 min tops 3 days a weeks for cardio.
Guinness5.0
New member
I totally 100% agree wtih this - don't pull all the tricks out of the hat at once.velvett said:
I actually managed to lose fat and maintain bodyweight at the same time w/out gear or cardio. It's slowed recently and I'm adding cardio now (along with AAS
). But you can definitely gain strength while losing fat - there's lots of nueral adaptations that your body will make, especially if you are somewhat new to lifting.
Cynical Simian
New member
Bump to what Guinness said about gaining strength (not muscle mass, as some previous posters seem to have interpreted it) being quite possible while hypocaloric, especially if you're new to lifting. Regarding your original question, you'll get superior nutrient partitioning with cardio (especially HIIT) + higher calories than with lower calories alone.
ok well heres me i weight 150 - 155 (depends on water i drink 3 gallons a day) and im at 12% bf and i want to get to about 5% (about 140 - 145lbs.). Im 5'7" and i bench 260 and squat about 260 to let u know how big i am.
Right now I do cardio about 45 min mon., wed., & Fri., and i lift about 2 hours a day mon - saturday. I think my maintenance level is about 2400 - 2500 cal. and i was going to cut and drop it to 2100. However i was still wondering if it is better to burn 400 calories in running or in eating less which will promote more fat loss while still gaining strength and i expect to be putting on around .25 lbs. of muscle weekly while loosing 1lb. of fat? Oh yeah and i know about eating enough protein and everything ill be eating 200 calories of protein and taking in 15% fat while dieting so the rest is carbs.
Right now I do cardio about 45 min mon., wed., & Fri., and i lift about 2 hours a day mon - saturday. I think my maintenance level is about 2400 - 2500 cal. and i was going to cut and drop it to 2100. However i was still wondering if it is better to burn 400 calories in running or in eating less which will promote more fat loss while still gaining strength and i expect to be putting on around .25 lbs. of muscle weekly while loosing 1lb. of fat? Oh yeah and i know about eating enough protein and everything ill be eating 200 calories of protein and taking in 15% fat while dieting so the rest is carbs.
Cynical Simian
New member
Cynical Simian said:
tay1506 said:
Um, unless you have an odd definition of "better", your question has been answered.
woops must have gone right threw that so ur sayin up the calories and do more cardio? Because everyone that i have heard says don't do cardio at all if your going for just strength and size because you will get much better results without it. If you have shorter rests and keep your bpm up i know that works your heart enough all by itself.
Guinness5.0
New member
Dude WTF are you asking? 
Your first post says you want to cut, now you're asking about bulking
Your first post says you want to cut, now you're asking about bulking 
swordfish151
New member
LOL...you can loose body fat and gain strength at the same time...i know..i did it while on the 5x5 (not on the program now)...basically if you want to loose bodyfat do the cardio on an empty stomach in the am, then lift in the PM...you say "i lift for 2 hours" like its the time that matters...its not how long your in the gym...but how you handle it in the gym that counts...your diet is the key to you getting leaner...while i was dieting...i was doing cardio ED for 45min in the am on an empty tank...doing the 5x5 (which was lifting 3x/wk) and on the days that i was no lifting..i did an extra cardio session in the PM...believe it or not..i still gained on the squat...alot thought that all that cardio would not help...but i just blasted through...came down leaner and dropped a considerable amount of bodyfat....but you have to be DEDICATED as well...
swordfish151
New member
oh and all this while on 1800-2100 cals a day...it sucked..but it can be done..just make sure your protein intake is high...1.5g per lbs.
DZLS
New member
i feel if you are doing cardio, make sure to still train with the weights... you might want to do them at separate intervals though... cardio AM, train PM...
i wouldn't cut the calories without at least first trying to add the cardio in... if you are not seeing the results you want, then start to cut some calories...
i wouldn't cut the calories without at least first trying to add the cardio in... if you are not seeing the results you want, then start to cut some calories...
I dont want to bulk i want to loose fat while gaining muscle which i know it is possible because i have done it many times i just can't get below 10% bf. Back when i was about 14 i lost 65lbs. in 1 month and a half and now im 18 forgot to say that. I just couldent eat more than 300 calories a day and i got adicted to it and got down to 95lbs.,but i still dident loose the fat around my lower abs and love handles or pecs. Thats really all i need to loose besides that im probly at about 6% bf everywhere else. I would also think that working out for 2 hours would not be good as u are deplenishing your body however i usually work out for 2 hours, but i also take 3-5 min breaks between sets to get my strength back to 95%. I would think the shake would help alot. I used to run and do cardio am and lift pm, but i got a new job workin from 2:30 tell 10:30 so its gona be hard to do that unlease i go to a new gym or somethin. When i started back in the gym i decided to eat healthy and i would only eat 2000 cal. and i dident realize how much food it was if its chicken and oatmeal and things like that and i dropped about 5lbs. of fat and put on about 5lbs. of muscle maybe more the first month. My mom then refused to buy food for just me and started buying pizza and stuff so i ended up putting back on the fat. Im also currently doing cardio 3x a week for 45 min.
putrefied_dead
New member
vin01 said:
after around 45 mins for most, the cortisol levels start to increase more rapidly. some ppl can push that envelope to around 1hr. but by and large anything more then that and cortisol is high enough to start to have a regressive effect. for those that say that they work out for 2 hrs, i'd like to ask them whether they believe that they were truly going balls to the wall or whether the intensity started to drop?
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