I have a friend who weighs 115kgs (253 pounds) and is 175cm tall.

I suggested that he starts eating healthy etc.. and starts weight lifting along with doing cardio.

Now where we live, a lot of people disagree with my opinion, they believe that weight lifting is a "no no" for a guy that weighs this much, and that he should only do cardio until he loses a lot of his weight.

What do you guys think would be better for fat loss along side a decent healthy food plan:

cardio+weight lifting or cardio alone?




Thanks!:)

Weight lifting - unless there are any medical conditions preventing him from doing so (being overweight isn't one of them).

If he didn't do any resistance training and just did lots of cardio, he'd lose way more lean body mass than he would with resistance training, and it could also slow down his metabolism. Weight would then stop coming off and as a result he'd probably give up and most likely gain all the weight back (and more).

It's great that you want to help a friend out, but does HE really want to make the change?

He does want to lose that weight.

The thing is, every person he knows has warned him to stay away from lifting - he has no medical conditions mind you- including the trainer at the GYM (which was pretty disappointing to me).

I have been reading these forums for years now and I absolutely believe that lifting is the way to go, however, I'm going be showing him this thread when we're done in order for him to know why that is. So keep your opinions coming.

And thanks for reading and replying.

It sounds like your friend is being given advice by a bunch of armchair experts. Unless there are preexisting medical conditions or a high risk of injury there's no real reason I can think of to not just get going with resistance training. Also it's probably important to mention that there is a large cardio element to lifting if your routines are planned that way.

It is a bit sad that even the trainer advised against it. Were there any reasons given to back up the "advice" given by all these people (aside from the weight issue)?

Were there any reasons given to back up the "advice" given by all these people (aside from the weight issue)?

No..not really. Weight lifting is some sort of taboo or something to them.

Well, that seems pretty silly to me.

Lifting does two important things in regard to weight loss. First, it burns calories, and produces EPOC (excess post-exercise oxygen consumption, a fancy way of saying, you keep burning calories at a higher rate for awhile after yoo lift). Second, it build muscle, which is hungry tissue: it consumes calories.

Of course he should be lifting!

Watch any episode of biggest loser....

Watch any episode of biggest loser....

What he said...:nod:
:D:bb::bb: Lift, lift, lift!

I see people at the gym doing cardio like there is no tomorrow but their bodies haven't changed enough for me to notice for the past 6 months (since I joined the gym).

There is this one lady in particular I often see sweating away at the eliptical machine as I walk out of the locker room and head toward the weight training area. 45 minutes later, after I'm done lifting and heading back to the locker room, I'll see her on the same machine looking very sweaty with a red face. This has been going on for the past 6 months....and I don't ever remember seeing her lifting weights. As dedicated as she is to doing cardio, her body hasn't changed much at all.

On the other hand, there are a few women that I see regularly in the weight training area have noticeably improved their bodies during the time I've been there.

When I started dedicating myself to fitness about a year ago, I made very little progress when limiting myself to just cardio and dieting. It was only after I started resistance training (with intensity!) in addition to cardio and dieting did I start seeing some noticeable progress in my fat loss.

It really is no contest.

The thing is, every person he knows has warned him to stay away from lifting - he has no medical conditions mind you- including the trainer at the GYM (which was pretty disappointing to me).


What kind of trainer is this person? A seal trainer? Or a dog trainer? :confused:

I'd ask to see their credentials.

What kind of trainer is this person? A seal trainer? Or a dog trainer? :confused:

I'd ask to see their credentials.

Haha.. you know the sad thing is, he wasn't the first trainer to say this. I've had another trainer a few years back say the exact same thing and they're both working for the same gym, only different branches.



Thanks for laying down your opinions guys, you've been great as usual.

What kind of trainer is this person? A seal trainer? Or a dog trainer? :confused:

I'd ask to see their credentials.

My doctor once tried to tell me I shouldn't lift weights unless I was 'training' for something.

I got a new doctor.

In regards to the OP....I started lifting at 260 lbs. Didn't 'hurt' me.

Well, that seems pretty silly to me.

Lifting does two important things in regard to weight loss. First, it burns calories, and produces EPOC (excess post-exercise oxygen consumption, a fancy way of saying, you keep burning calories at a higher rate for awhile after yoo lift). Second, it build muscle, which is hungry tissue: it consumes calories.

Of course he should be lifting!

Not to mention the other health reasons besides weight loss. Everybody should do some kind of resistance work for bone density and to prevent muscle wasting as we age.

I lost 86 pounds by lifting weights and doing aerobics. If I had it to do all over again and could only do one or the other, I would choose the weightlifting.

Do your friend a favor and get him into a good weight program. It works. :)

What kind of trainer is this person? A seal trainer? Or a dog trainer? :confused:

I'd ask to see their credentials.

:lol: !!

Ok so it's been almost a month, he lost around 3kgs he's currently doing a 3 day split.

Monday: Chest/Tri
Tuesday: Cardio
Wednesday: Shoulder/Legs
Thursday: Cardio
Friday: Back/Bi
Saturday: Cradio
Sunday: Rest

He started with 15 reps/ 4 sets of each exercise and changed to 3 sets two weeks later, . However he kinda hit a plateau, it's been more than a week and he's still keeping the same weight.


Now I think his diet is not exactly "good". He had subscribed to this diet shop, they bring him three meals a day along with a couple of snacks (a fruit and some type of sweets). And they only feed him 1800cals (I personally think that's too low for a guy his weight/height).

So I want your feedback regarding his diet, exercise (reps and sets) and the range of calories he should be aiming at.

Thanks.

Weight training first and foremost.

Some low/moderate intensity cardio can be added if he especially enjoys cardio or if his ability to recover (mentally or physically) specifically from weight training prevents him from getting enough exercise per week.

At 253 lbs (now minus the 7 or so lbs he has lost) he should be at 2500 calories or so, maybe going as low as 2000 on rest days. I would caution him about the role of macronutrients in these meals - he needs protein, and a lot of it, if he wants to gain muscle while cutting. Have him check the ratios of protein:carbs:fats - he should be getting 200+ gm of protein each day as a minimum, and keep his carbs about the same, and fats low. This is basically what people here call a 40/40/20 split. For 2000 calories a day, this means 200 gm protein (800 calories, or 40% of total), 200 gm carbs (another 800 calories, or 40%), and 45 gm of fats (at 9 cal/gm, this provides the remaining 400 cals).

In answer to the original question....


The term "cardio" is not just reserved for going ballistic on an eliptical.

There is more than one way to skin a cat (or should I say other edible animal)....

I would have him doing some eliptical work....but I also would have him doing a circuit type program using light dumbells and bars to start with.

This could all be lumped under "cardio".

Circuit intensity can be varied from little effort to excruciating....depending upon reps,rest and speed.

The goal would be to 'jack' the metabolism. But I'd put him on heavier iron and a program after awhile.

Your friend may find this article on t-nation interesting:

The Hierarchy of Fat Loss (http://www.t-nation.com/readArticle.do?id=1526539)

Perhaps also consider getting him to switch to a three day full-body routine, rather than a Push/Legs/Pull split. This opens up more opportunity for him to do some of the heavy compound exercises that will burn more calories (i.e. Snatches, Cleans, Squats & their variations, Deads & their variations). Like Hevy suggests, he could start off fairly light and doing them in a circuit fashion (along with other exercise) -- providing good 'cardio' and giving him a chance to get his form down on some of the more technical lifts. Two birds, one stone and whatnot.

a pound of fat burns 2 calories at rest or as a part of your BMR. It has been said that a pound of muscle burns as high as 100 calories to as low as 14 calories a day at rest. I use 37.5 as my decided number of calories burned after comparing studies, but who cares it is a hell of a lot more than fat. It also takes up less than 2/3 of the space that a pound of fat does.

Muscle makes you stronger and you look better, too. I could talk about it for hours. You build muscle more effectively and efficiently with weight training. Cardio builds little if any muscle. You want to build muscle not lose it.

The word is getting around, spread it. Lift weights, every man, woman, and child, any age. Cut the rest time between sets to 60 sec or less and you will increase heart rate and breathing for the cardio effect.

Tell your friend to sign up here.