Weights v Cardio

There is a bit of debate as to which is more effective for fat burning – lifting weights or intense cardio exercises. The theory is that building muscle by lifting weights leads to a faster metabolism but cardio obviously gets your metabolism up too, so which is best?

I read this recent article where there tested the weights versus cardio theory. Twin sisters went on separate training programs, one did pump classes 3 times a week while the other ran on the treadmill.

Karen pushed herself in pump classes. Body pump is a weight-training class done to upbeat music. It’s great for people who want to lift weights but can’t afford a personal trainer.

And Kathy mixed it up with intense cardio. She ran on the treadmill until she was out of breath, then continued walking — repeating this sequence for a total of 30 minutes. Cardiovascular training is beneficial for heart and lung fitness.

The twins both trained three times a week for eight weeks and ate the same diet. We tested their progress with a body-composition test in week one and week eight to determine how much fat they had lost, and how much muscle they’d put on.

Surprisingly, the girl doing the intense cardio lost more body fat. Well, I found it surprising, I would have thought building muscle was key in increasing your metabolism and burning fat.

At the end of the eight weeks, Karen’s total body fat percentage was 32.1 percent (a drop of 2.4 percent or 1.5kg), and Kathy’s was 31.6 percent (a drop of 4.4 percent or 3.4kg).

It comes down to the intensity of the activity you’re doing — so the higher your heart rate while exercising, the more kilojoules you’re likely to burn.

Potentially, Kathy was working much harder on the treadmill than Karen was during her pump classes.

High-intensity work-outs continue to burn fat even after you’ve finish exercising. This is due to the fact your metabolism is still raised after training while your body uses energy to try to cool itself down and recover.

So if you want to burn fat, intense cardio is the way to go…

So while weight training is important, it looks like I’ll have to step up my cardio if I’m going to lose weight in the long term.

Pilates

I started getting into pilates this time last year and I really loved it. I used to do it twice a week and after a month or so I noticed a huge difference in the strength of my abs and general muscle tone.

Unfortunately, as with my other exercise routines, I got out of the habit of doing it and am back to square one

So this week I started taking classes again. My gym offers floor pilates classes and I was able to start with the beginners class earlier this week. I had forgotten just how difficult pilates is when you first start. I was sweating after a couple of minutes! I admit I was quite sore the day after but was feeling up to my second class this morning. I’m loving it again!

If you can’t get to a class, you can do pilates at your home. This video shows some basic pilates moves to get you started.

Exercise Plan

Last year I was able to lose 20 pounds by making a few small changes to my diet, taking acai berry weight loss supplements, and exercising 4 times per week.

My exercise program consisted of 60-90 minute cardio sessions (usually on the step machine or ‘the wave’ machine) followed by 20-30 minutes of weights or classes such as abs, stretching, or pilates. It was a lot of exercise but I really enjoyed doing it. Even though sometimes it was a struggle to get to the gym, I always felt better after my workout.

Unfortunately I had a leg injury and wasn’t able to workout for about 6 weeks. That really got me out of my routine and so for the last few months I’ve only been going to the gym once or twice per week – no where near enough. I’ve lost a lot of my fitness and have a gained around 5 pounds so I know it’s time to get back to work!

Tomorrow (Monday the 13th April) that’s all going to change. I’m going to start a new program as suggested by a friend of mine who is a personal trainer. The plan is:

• 20-30 minutes in the sauna
• 45-60 minutes jogging on the treadmill
• 6 times per week

He assures me that I can lose 20 pounds by doing this and he even showed me some before and after photos of his clients who lost a lot of weight on this program.

He claims going in the sauna before your workout gets your metabolism going and then you burn more when you start working out. I don’t know if there’s any science behind it but I’m going to try it and see for myself.

I will also lift light weights a couple of times a week and do some stretching or pilates classes when I have time.

I want to lose 20 pounds before summer and this is how I plan to do it.