How do you guys feel about stopping weightlifting and doing strict cardio for a month or two and then starting weights again? I am not losing any weight and I am not getting cut because the fat is hiding the gains I am making. I want to focus on diet and cardio and then get back on weights in a couple months. What do you guys think? I understand some of you say "weights helps you lose weight" but it hasn't been the case for me this past year. Plus, I am spending too much time on weights compared to cardio. I have been gaining weight. Have any of you quit weights for a couple months to take off the weight? I want to be lean and cut. I am currently 195 and my goal is 175 to 180.
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Stoping weights to lose weight (then back on weights again)
- Thread starter Falcon25
- Start date
I think your diet is probably a key factor. If you continue with weights but reduce your food intake you should lose weight.
But upping your cardio would help as well.
I wouldn't recommend going off the weights for too long.
I thought I read somewhere once that even if you keep your diet the same (i.e. enough protein) but stop lifting weights, after about 3 weeks, muscle will start to disappear.
Alternatively, if you want a drastic solution, break your arm (http://www.sosuave.net/forum/showthread.php?t=181439)).
It worked great for me, I have went from 185 pounds down to 165 pounds in 6 weeks. Unfortunately most of the weight I've lost was muscle....
But upping your cardio would help as well.
I wouldn't recommend going off the weights for too long.
I thought I read somewhere once that even if you keep your diet the same (i.e. enough protein) but stop lifting weights, after about 3 weeks, muscle will start to disappear.
Alternatively, if you want a drastic solution, break your arm (http://www.sosuave.net/forum/showthread.php?t=181439)).
It worked great for me, I have went from 185 pounds down to 165 pounds in 6 weeks. Unfortunately most of the weight I've lost was muscle....
I'd definitely advise against stopping weight training. I agree with runner83, in that this is probably a diet issue - it almost always is. In the short term nothing really makes a difference to weight like a correct diet.
Let's look at all the angles. First, unless you're bulking (eating more calories than you need to maintain your weight) your weight is not increasing due to weight training. In your first year, with a good diet you can expect around 2lbs a month of muscle growth (http://www.bodyrecomposition.com/muscle-gain/whats-my-genetic-muscular-potential.html). If, as I hope, you're on a cut (eating less than maintenance calories), the reason you lift is to try to minimise muscle loss whilst you lose fat. If you're a beginner you may make a small muscle gain whilst losing fat...but I doubt it'll be more than 1lb a month.
You don't need to over do it in the gym though. 30 minutes with 1 set of compound lifts is really all you need to push yourself if you are a beginner. Until you've been training for 6+ months the benefit of multiple sets are negligible. Either way you don't want you gym time to be greater than 45 mins.
So onto cardio... Steady state cardio (aerobic running) was my bread and butter for a long, long time...but the reality is it doesn't burn an awful lot of calories. An hours worth wouldn't burn off a McDonalds meal for instance. If you're on a cut, then you risk this kind of cardio causing your body to enter catabolism mode - where your body breaks down muscle for energy instead of fat. Also steady state cardio doesn't actually help your heart and lungs as much as you'd think.
A better way is High Intensity Interval Training cardio. This is generally described as sprinting for a period of time until you die, then walking until you recover and repeating. But it doesn't have to be this hard. Run fast for 1 minute (so you can just complete it), then walk for 2 minutes. Repeat 10 times. You'll get a chance to drink some water in the walking period. As you get better, increase your running speed. You'll find this helps your heart and lungs no end, and your generally cardio fitness, as well as burning more calories than steady state (using the EPOC effect) whilst not wasting muscle.
You don't need to do any of this to lose weight though. Diet is king. I'd try tracking and weighing everything you eat and doing the math. When I came out of the Marines I put of 8lbs in a month - and none of it was muscle. I was working out 6 days a week but I wasn't doing anything like I used to. I was however still eating Marine style portions (~5000kcals a day). I had to cut back and start eating for my new energy requirements.
Let's look at all the angles. First, unless you're bulking (eating more calories than you need to maintain your weight) your weight is not increasing due to weight training. In your first year, with a good diet you can expect around 2lbs a month of muscle growth (http://www.bodyrecomposition.com/muscle-gain/whats-my-genetic-muscular-potential.html). If, as I hope, you're on a cut (eating less than maintenance calories), the reason you lift is to try to minimise muscle loss whilst you lose fat. If you're a beginner you may make a small muscle gain whilst losing fat...but I doubt it'll be more than 1lb a month.
You don't need to over do it in the gym though. 30 minutes with 1 set of compound lifts is really all you need to push yourself if you are a beginner. Until you've been training for 6+ months the benefit of multiple sets are negligible. Either way you don't want you gym time to be greater than 45 mins.
So onto cardio... Steady state cardio (aerobic running) was my bread and butter for a long, long time...but the reality is it doesn't burn an awful lot of calories. An hours worth wouldn't burn off a McDonalds meal for instance. If you're on a cut, then you risk this kind of cardio causing your body to enter catabolism mode - where your body breaks down muscle for energy instead of fat. Also steady state cardio doesn't actually help your heart and lungs as much as you'd think.
A better way is High Intensity Interval Training cardio. This is generally described as sprinting for a period of time until you die, then walking until you recover and repeating. But it doesn't have to be this hard. Run fast for 1 minute (so you can just complete it), then walk for 2 minutes. Repeat 10 times. You'll get a chance to drink some water in the walking period. As you get better, increase your running speed. You'll find this helps your heart and lungs no end, and your generally cardio fitness, as well as burning more calories than steady state (using the EPOC effect) whilst not wasting muscle.
You don't need to do any of this to lose weight though. Diet is king. I'd try tracking and weighing everything you eat and doing the math. When I came out of the Marines I put of 8lbs in a month - and none of it was muscle. I was working out 6 days a week but I wasn't doing anything like I used to. I was however still eating Marine style portions (~5000kcals a day). I had to cut back and start eating for my new energy requirements.
Deadly_Ripped
Master Don Juan
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There is a VERY, VERY strong body of literature out there that makes it very clear that changing your diet, not your level/type of exercise, is the key to changing your bodyweight. (the health benefits of different types and levels of exercise are a completely different story)
Consider that it would take 1 hour of extremely intense exercise to burn 1000 calories (unless you're already at performance level athletics like swimming, rowing, or wrestling, this is not feasible). Consider how easy it would be to reduce the sizes of each of your meals by 200 calories.
You should lose weight relatively slowly to do it healthily i.e. no more than 30 lbs in a year. If you lose 2-3 lbs per month while still exercising then you're doing really, really well... better than most. This gradual weight change will also make it MUCH easier to keep off.
Consider that it would take 1 hour of extremely intense exercise to burn 1000 calories (unless you're already at performance level athletics like swimming, rowing, or wrestling, this is not feasible). Consider how easy it would be to reduce the sizes of each of your meals by 200 calories.
You should lose weight relatively slowly to do it healthily i.e. no more than 30 lbs in a year. If you lose 2-3 lbs per month while still exercising then you're doing really, really well... better than most. This gradual weight change will also make it MUCH easier to keep off.
^basically all of this. I would keep weight lifting and lower calories. Cardio is just one way of lowering calories, another is eating less. Although cardio has a ton of other benefits...Deadly_Ripped said:
If you go to bodybuilding.com there were people who lost over 50lbs by lowering their calorie intake and still weightlifting the same amount but with no cardio. Apparently it can work.
Hey falcon, I think that there is some kind of the disturbance when you leave the weights and than start it again after some time period.... But not do the cardio hard and don't fall your self in problem..... Try your best for losing weight and fat from body....
East bay personal trainer
East bay personal trainer
Last edited:
These changes in weight can harmful for your health. so you should
be care full in maintain your weight, that is good for the health.
baltimore fitness trainer
be care full in maintain your weight, that is good for the health.
baltimore fitness trainer
StateOfMind
Don Juan
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You want hypertrophy.... Not Atrophy.. Lift heavy weights compound lifts and intense sprints.. Eat lean proteins and stay healthy.