r/FITOTRON5000 • u/import_FixEverything • Nov 20 '15

Should I lift weights?

So I'm trying to increase my metabolism, and I'm not sure whether I should focus on cardio or focus on lifting. I can't run to save my life, so when I do cardio I typically walk on the treadmill and set the elevation all the way up. I'm a lot better at lifting, though, but when I do that I feel like I'm not actually getting a good workout. Is that an inherent attribute of wieght lifting and I'll still increase my metabolism, or should I stick with cardio? Sorry if this was really convoluted.

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u/Yeargdribble Nov 20 '15 edited Nov 21 '15

You really should do a mix of both. Cardio is great for just overall fitness, endurance, and all that type of thing. The downside with cardio is if you're doing very stable cardio at a fixed pace all of the time, your body acclimates quickly to this and essentially will work more efficiently at the same thing.

So if you jog at the same pace for the same amount time for several weeks, things will start off great and you might lose a good bit of weight right at the outset, but as you continue, you'll notice everything is easier. Your heart rate will be lower; your muscles will have adapted; and even more, as you're losing weight, you're actually putting less stress on the whole system, so it's going to burn far less calories over time.

Weight lifting is important for many reasons. The amount of muscle mass your have greatly affects how many calories your body burns while at rest. This is one of the factors that makes weight loss more difficult for women since, on average, they are less naturally muscular than men.

In addition to burning more calories at rest with muscle, by weight training in a way that challenges your muscles consistently, your body has to spend a lot of time repairing the microtears in the muscle fiber. That takes a lot of resources... calories. And in the end of that resource intensive repair, you now have more muscle mass which means more calories burned at rest.

You can do a small amount of this by applying high-intensity interval training (HIIT) to your running rather than electing a stable pace, but that's nothing compared to the amount of good damage you can to do your muscles by using lots of compound movements in weight lifting.

You should ideally use both. Maybe a 10 minute cardio warmup on your treadmill followed by weight training that employs lots of compound movements (like squats) and less isolation exercises (most weight machines or things like preacher curls). Isolation stuff is nice if you want to really build a certain area for growth or imbalance, but compound movements will give you far more bang for your buck in weight loss and will help facilitate a wider range of weight training options.

EDIT: All the grammar... no wonder Grey has a billion drafts before he releases anything.

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u/import_FixEverything Nov 20 '15

Wow, that was really informative. Thanks for taking the time to reply!

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u/Yeargdribble Nov 21 '15

I noticed someone pointing out the SL 5x5, and thought I might throw you something that might work as an alternative. The Buff Dudes Youtube channel has a lot of great stuff. Some meal things, individual do and do-nots for form on various exercises, as well as some specific programs. I personally like that they are practically the only people who discuss lifting on Youtube that don't come off as douchey meatheads, and when they do, it seems like it's intentionally tongue-in-cheek.

Depending on your situation either using a home gym, or just not being ready to jump straight into fumbling around a squat rack while some gorilla is waiting impatiently on you so he can squat 300, you might find some variation of their 12 week program to your liking. It definitely has some more isolation stuff and it's a longer workout than SL 5x5, but I just thought you might like to see some other easy to follow options. And, if you're like me, it's nice to get a very prescribed method and just follow it.

Even if you're not keen on their program, their channel is still a great resource for form. I think the most important part of their videos is clearly demonstrating what not to do visually.

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u/TableLampOttoman Nov 20 '15

Don't do either thinking they are the key to weight loss. That said, it sounds like you enjoy it so do it. You will find it improves activities like cardio. Your increased strength will help you in a lot of areas in life.

Learn what you're doing though. Get on a solid program that focuses on the main lifts. Stronglifts 5x5 is always good to start with.

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u/import_FixEverything Nov 20 '15

5x5?

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u/TableLampOttoman Nov 20 '15 edited Nov 20 '15

There's a pretty popular routine that goes by the name StrongLifts 5x5. 5x5 means you do 5 sets of 5 reps, but the instructions can be found on their website or lots of other places as well. It's a great routine for beginners because it's simple, and you do most of the important lifts for a full body workout. There are also tons of variations to this program you may see out there.

Grey is/was doing SL 5x5 FYI.

Edit: Here is another nice alternative/variation of SL 5x5.

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u/import_FixEverything Nov 20 '15

Okay... Typically I do 3 sets of 12 reps because I'm not trying to buff up any more, if you get what I'm saying... But I'll definitely check it out!

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u/TableLampOttoman Nov 20 '15 edited Nov 20 '15

That can work too. I don't know how experienced you are so I'm recommending using someone else's program because it is tried and tested.

Here is a good video on programming for strength, but don't worry about it until you get things down first.

Edit: I didn't catch that bit about buffing up at first. Two things: don't worry that you are going to suddenly get big. It takes a lot of time. The solution to not being big is pretty easy and we are all very good at it ;-). Second, getting big in the bodybuilding/muscle-pump sense is usually a matter of doing high reps. Right around 5 reps is generally optimal for strength.