Yup, intervals. My bike has an interval setting, so I just do that. An 8 minute cycle has three spikes and one 'hill', but in essence, it's spring, jog, sprint, jog, etc, for periods of 1-2 minutes each. The highs are supposed to be all out, maximum effort.

Cheers,

Friday

From all I've read, if you are into body shaping / building .. do the weights first. You need focus and intensity to gain. And as a plus, I've read that cardio after, low intensity on the same muscles you worked, is a plus afterwards as it stimulates healing. Use cardo after weight for body sculpting. And well, for other sports .. I CAN see how cardio may come first.

I think you really have to examine your goals and your current fitness level when assessing whether to do cardio or weights or both.

I agree weight training is useful and important, and I agree most women don't get big.

However, the fact is, most of us do experience a stall on the scale when we start lifting. And depending where you are mentally and physically on your journey - that can be depressing and make it seem as if LC isn't working or whatever.

To be frank, at 215 lbs, all I was interested in was getting some weight off. I needed to see the scale move to stay motivated. Once I started losing weight, my interest in exercising just naturally increased.

I started with walking, then some easy day hikes, etc. When I hit the gym for weights, the scale stopped. I got demotivated. This may be a faulty attitude, but it's reality for many.

So I went back to mainly cardio. More pounds come off. Soon I realize I will NEED to do weights to have the body I want and ensure I don't lose any more lean muscle mass.

Now I do weights, and also look for ways to blend cardio/resistance training, such as through biking.

My point is that it seemed to be a natural progression. Don't get me wrong - I'm not trying to discourage anyone who is already active or motivated to be so.

But if you are, or were, really overweight and a couch potato to boot, don't feel like you have to be superman. If doing weights and cardio is uninteresting or too hard for you - then don't do it.

Just try to keep progressing all the time - even if you have to start at square one, keep your eye on square two.

There is no finish line with exercise. WE will all have to keep up with it forever and keep upping the intensity/changing things up to get results/maintain.

So there's time. Do the best you can, try to challenge yourself, and keep yourself interested.

Most importantly, try to find something you enjoy. Otherwise it will be too hard to be consistent.

Like eating, there is no one plan for everyone. Listen to your body, and do what's best for YOU.

I break mine up. I do a 30-40 minute session of (depending on the day): Cardio/HIIT/Power walking in the morning and a 30-40 min session of Weight Training/Pilates/Other (also dep on day) in the evening. I do the Pilates/Other on HIIT days, and the weight training in the evening of the Cardio or Power walking days. Some of this is based on my work schedule, but I alternate Weight days and HIIT no matter what.

So far so good!

I was doing BFL so HIIT one day, weight training the next day back and forth 6 days a week for 12 weeks. I just finished my first challenge and have started a new program of warming up with weights (first set a little light, next 2 sets heavy) 4 times per week - Monday chest and biceps, Tuesday back and triceps, Wednesday 45 minute bike "random" at a level 8, Thursday legs, Friday shoulders and abs, Saturday 45 minute treadmill HIIT. On weight days I follow up the weight training, which takes about 1/2 hour, with 25 minutes HIIT on the elliptical - start at level 6 for 1 minute, then level 7, level 8, level 9, level 10, then back to level 7 but reverse direction on the treadmill, level 8 next minute, level 9, level 10, level 11 - switch direction again and go back to level 8, then 9 then 10 then 11 then 12, then switch and go to level 9, 10, 11, 12, 13 - this takes 20 minutes and is a really great workout - follow up with 5 minute cooldown - burns about 370-400 calories according to the equipment - I'll let you know if it help speed up the fat loss. This program feels really good so far - I plan on keeping this up for about 6 weeks, then maybe going back to another BFL challenge.

I personally do not feel that there is one ABSOLUTELY correct answer to this question. Instead, I believe the correct answer is dependent on one's personal fitness and diet goals. Let me tell you why...

For twenty years, I have studied and implemented a vast variety of fitness strategies. During these years my fitness goals have varied and have included using fitness training for 1) Weight Loss, 2) Body Sculpting, 3) Body Building, 4) Conditioning (I used to be a professional dancer) and 5) Overall Health. I have attained excellent results using widely different methods. However, I have learned that certain methods are not as effective for certain goals. Now, naturally, when one engages in cardio and weight training with diligence weight and inches WILL be lost and muscles WILL be defined, but I have learned that there are ways to tweak the quickness of results depending on one's ultimate goals. So here are some things that I have learned to be true throughout the years:

1. IF YOUR GOAL IS TO USE CARDIO TO SPEED UP WEIGHT LOSS:

Then the best time to perform cardio is when your glycogen stores are empty, which is:
A. The first thing in the morning on an empty stomach, doing an am workout on an empty stomach will allow you to burn fat at a rate 300% higher than any other method;
B. At a time of day, after you have not eaten for 2- 3 hours at which you will be burning fat at a rate 150% higher than usual;
C. AFTER weight training, because weight training depletes glycogen stores faster and more efficiently than cardio does, therefore if you lift weights and then peform cardio, your body will burn fat and only fat;

2. IF YOUR GOAL IS TO USE WEIGHT TRAINING TO SPEED UP WEIGHT LOSS:

Then the best method is,
A. To lift extremely light weights and do high reps, such as 3 sets of 15 reps. This form of weight training, is usually found in health club classes called Sculpt and Tone or on various home videos. Using this method, you actually will not be sculpting or building muscle, because in order to sculpt muscle you need to lift heavy weights. In this method all you are really doing is burning calories and releasing minimum amounts of testerone. The reason they call it toning, is because you are buring so many calories that the fat around your arms disappear, and you look firmer.

B. If you have more than 15 pounds to lose, do not weight train until you are down to the last 15 pounds, because you will gain weight (muscle weighs more), which will psychologically horrify you, but also your body will demand more calories, and weight training requires that you eat more carbs, because this is essential to muscle recovery and joint health. If you lift weights on the induction phase of Atkins, you risk overtraining and your muscles will actually atrophy;

This is the principle that makes programs like Curves work, because although you may be lifting resistance machines, you are really only doing cardio.

3. WEIGHT TRAINING IN GENERAL

A. Weight training sessions should be no more that 60 minutes, in ONE SESSION, because after 60 minutes the levels of testerone and growth hormones, begin to drop and you will gain you will waste your time;

B. Weight training must be progressive and varied, after several weeks of one training program, your body stops changing; so you must change your program, switch days, switch exercises, tweak resting periods, perform super sets, and compound sets.

Those are the fundamental truths I have learned about cardio and weight lifting.

I have also learned that there are no hard rules about doing cardio and weight training on different days, you can do both on one day, as long as you follow the principles I listed for optimal results. The only rule written in stone is that you should have one full day of rest a week. To me, it is really a matter of how busy and flexible your schedule is and how much stamina you have.

Again, this is based on my personal experience and research over 20 years, it is not meant to be recommended as the only or best way for the members of this forum. (So, please remember that if anyone feels like starting a war with me on here, this is my first post and people seem open minded, but I am on other forums, where people take everything personally!)

what a fantastic post! and welcome!!!

i really have to disagree with the lifting part... training heavy isn't going to make anyone bulky. i don't see the point of lifting if it's not going to be working the fast twitch fibers.

Super post. I agree with many of your thoughts.

I don't think weight lifting bulks up women in the sense of adding a lot more muscle. Most women have to work very hard to add muscle.

I think the concern for many quite overweight people is that even strengthening what you've got without adding a lot of lean mass CAN make you look bulkier because you're pushing out and displacing fat. That can be distressing to someone who is focused on getting smaller.

In the long run, it all works out, of course. I think if you are 140 or 150 lbs or less this is not as noticeable. But when someone is 200 lbs it can be very noticeable.

k.

Yes, I agree with you about lifting and bulkiness! Many women fear lifting weights, because they think it will bulk them up! This is a myth, because women do not posess the testorene to build bulky muscles.

But, let me clarify my point. There is a difference between toning and body sculpting.

Toning, which allows you to look lean and cut, is primarily a function of diet, and lean body mass, which can be achieved via expended far more calories than your body burns. The point in toning, is not to "develop" the muscle, so much as it is to remove the fat that surronds the muscle, so that the muscle is all that you see. For example, many women have fat on their upper arms that hides their triceps muscles. If you burn enough calories through light weight training and cardio, the fat will disappear, and your arms will look thin. But, if you want to have arms with that show a super developed tricep muscle, than you must body sculpt.

Body sculpting is the process where you lift weights to change the proportion and shape of your muscles, ie, give yourself broader shoulders, to minimize a thick waist, build calve muscles to balance the proportion of one's legs, so that one's thighs look less big in comparison. If that is your goal, then heavier weights must be used. My definition of heavier weights, is a weight heavy enough that causes muscle failure by the 8th or 12th rep. Because muscles can only be developed when you reach a point of muscle failure, because the muscle grows stronger by having to repair itself.

My point in making this distinction is, that I know many women who think that toning and body sculpting are the same thing and they are not. For example, a month ago, a significantly overweight woman at my gym was using a calve press machine and she asked me if it would make her legs thinner. The answer was yes and no, it will make her calves larger, by making the muscle more developed, but she will not see those results until she does the dieting and cardio necessary to remove the fat that surronds the muscle. And in the meantime if she continued to lift weights, her weight might actually, because although she is replacing the fat with muscle, muscle weighs more. This is a sad situation for some people because they get on a scale and their weight hasn't changed with definately effects their confidence in there programs, and confidence in one's program and seeing psotive results even if they are small, is what makes or breaks one's ultimate success. Which is why, I mentioned that for people in this situation, which I assume describes a few people on here, it is better psychologically to put off body sculpting until they are closer to their ideal weight.

with high reps and low weights you are basically not targeting the fast twitch muscles anymore though.

That is my point exactly! All you are doing is burning calories with high reps/low weights! If your goal is to get thin, that will burn the fat. If your goal is to look sculpted and athletic, than heaver weights are the key!

Hmm, I also disagree with being better off leaving 'sculpting' until you are already close to goal. Do you mean this to imply that one should not purposefully add mass until then? Adding muscle raises metabolism and reduces BF% faster than cutting alone, and allows one to see the results faster in terms of clothes and mirror.

Fine tuning, of course, does require that you be able to clearly see what needs adjustment. If you can't see the tris thru the fat, it's hard to know whether or not they need 'sculpting'.

Cheers,

Friday

I agree with you, Goddess. I, too, think the psychological effects must be weighed, too. If you think there is a chance you will get too discouraged seeing yourself seem to get bigger and your weight go up, then wait until you're further along in your weight loss journey.

There are many ways to promote fitness and to get into the exercise game.

And the rules of that game can be very different for each person, depending on things such as your age, your current weight, your goals and current fitness level.

oh.

well you are talking about building up certain parts of the body to de-emphasise others. to do that you need to do heavier weights... and subsequently LBM will burn fat more efficiently also.

also, it's predominantly a high caloric/protein intake that will help a person continue to build muscle. there is no reason to lay off the weight imo.

I don't think Goddess said it was BETTER for everyone to take this approach. Just that for someone who may not be mentally prepared to handle the effects of weight training on the scale or in the mirror in the short term it might be better to wait.

To be honest, this describes me perfectly. I totally understand the benefits of weight training and am now incorporating into my routine. But I just couldn't deal with the temporary scale gain when I was really focused on losing the pounds.

I know other people on the board who have taken the same approach. Other people such as yourself train the whole way and it works for you.

I would have to agree that IDEALLY you're probably right, but in reality that approach doesn't work for everyone.

You always have great training advice, BTW. I have enjoyed your posts!