I’ve read all your anti-aerobic stuff, and I think it sounds good if you are already in decentish shape; however, I’m 5’5" and 200 lbs of blubber. Surely I’ve gotta do aerobics and then move on to resistance work? How exactly is weight training gonna benefit me before I shift the fat?
Please help cos i want educated as well as lose fat.
Thanks guys
I don’t know how it got started that aerobics burns fat but weight training does not. Anyway, you should weight train. Some will say that you should do aerobics as well as train with weights, and others will say you should not do aerobics and only train with weights, but we can all agree that you should weight train. I think we can all agree as well that weight training alone is much better for developing a good looking body than is aerobics alone. Training with weights will help you retain much more muscle while you lose fat than if you did no weight training. You shouldn’t be just looking for weight loss, you should be looking for fat loss. Muscle loss is bad, and if you do not weight train while you diet, you will lose lots of muscle. So my suggestion to you is whatever you do, watch your diet and train with WEIGHTS!!!
Wow! John. First thing you gotta do is start to read and then read some more. Old issues of T-Mag is a great place to start. Do research on “diet” and you’ll come up with a ton of stuff. I agree, at 5’5’’ and 200lbs you’ve got a lot of work ahead of you. It is possible but all things take time. Remember you didn’t get fat in a couple of months and you’re not going to get lean in a couple of months, not if you do it the right way. Also remember that to see “drastic” changes in your body, you’re going to have to make “drastic” changes in your diet and lifestyle. As fas as diet goes, try tapering to make the adjustment easier. Start by cutting man made carbs, anything that’s processed. Try to avoid multiple insulin spikes throughout the day. I say to go ahead and start the cardio but couple it with resistance training. The cardio will boost your metabolism and the weight training will help burn calories at a rate faster than cardio alone. You might think about using a fat burner.Also, record your food intake and plan out your meals ahead of time. Eat at regular intervals, about every 3 hours. I know it sounds crazy but you have to eat to lose weight. I didn’t say eat more just more often. Lots of small nutrient dense meals. Pretty soon, a small meal will make you feel full, but you’ll be hungry again in a few a hours.
Talk to people in your gym, ask them what they do. Remember that different things work for different people.
Sorry for the rambling, but my brain moves a lot faster than my typing fingers. Good Luck!
first of all, you may want to change your name from fat john to something else. It’s just reinforcing you that you are fat, and you don’t want that, especially when the thing you want to get rid of is body fat. To answer your question, the benefit of weight training is losing fat by raising your metabolism. Your body burns calories by trying to maintain that muscle mass you earned in the gym, thus your metabolic rate goes up. The risk of doing aerobics is that you may lose that muscle you spent so much time in the gym working for. Doing aerobics can oxidize muscle tissue for energy. Why would you want to do that? IT just doesn’t make any sense to lose all that muscle you worked so hard for. Since you are heavy, doing aerobics may put a lot of strain on your joints such as your hips and knees. So perhaps you should skip the aerobics and move to resistance work. If you insist on doing aerobics, keep it very light. A brisk walk would do just fine. But I suggest you still weight train to strengthen your bones and muscles, that way when you do the aerobics, your joints wouldn’t hurt so much. Good luck on your journey building a better body, and training for overall good health. I hope the info I gave to you was a little helpful.
First of all, I’m no expert and I can only relay to you what has worked for me. Four months ago I weighed 185 (I am 5’9"). By reading Testosterone, following a high protein, low carb diet, running 4 to 5 times a week, using MD-6, and weight training with a superset program (shifting from one set to another using opposite muscle groups) I was able to drop 20 lbs, all from my gut. I think you’ll find that once you start losing the weight, it will be easier to incorporate weights into your routine. An effective method for me was to take my vitamins and MD-6 in the morning, then go running. If I had time in the evenings, I would lift weights. I feel like a million bucks now, and am starting to ease off of the cardio and working on building more lean muscle. One bit of advise: Keep reading Testosterone! It’s the best motivational material you will need to keep your engine running. And don’t forget the MD-6----it really works.
I think you are exactly right. I had about a 4 year layoff from all exercise and replaced much of my muscle with fat and then some. In my return, just over 1 year ago (I’m 39) I mixed aerobic training with strength training along with a complete overhaul of my diet with great success. I performed the strength training M-W-F, and performed 20-30 minute slow running workouts (10 min/mile pace) T-Th-Su. Once the fat came off, over a period of about 6-8 months, I scaled the cardio back to 20 min only once or twice a week spaced at least 1 day away from strength training sessions. I also upped my calories for a mass-gaining phase this winter. I like running to give me the basic general physical conditioning I will need when weekends and vacations arrive and I want to go out hiking, biking or surfing. Plus, if you can’t run, how ya gonna chase dem girls??? Good luck - Nylo