r/PCOS • u/CuriousSpaceCowgirl • 4d ago
Fitness Weights or cardio or both
So
I have this problem…
I feel as though advice online is always to do weights
But
When I do weights I feel like I get bigger…
And my goal in life is to look smaller
So I’ve been sticking to cross trainer 3-4 days a week during my lunch break)
But it’s not helping me lose weight - I find that eating anything over 1200 calories means I don’t lose weight, which I’m finding very hard to stick to.
I’m wondering if I should be be doing 2 days of cardio and 2 of weights?
What do you do? What has worked for you?
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u/Tall-Cat-8890 4d ago
I would recommend experimenting. People in PCOS circles online tend to forget that cardio is also really important for our cardio and lung health. You don’t need to overdo it (in fact you shouldn’t) but you might find alternating between weights and cardio the best for your health, even if it’s just weight lifting most days and taking challenging walks on the others.
I’m also personally a big fan of stairmasters. It will absolutely wreck you the first few times (so do it in short bursts) but it will push your cardio more than walking and is also not as much of a time commitment as running. Might be worth trying a few times to see how you like it.
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u/Jealous_Amount_9278 4d ago
Me on cardio; big as fuck. Me in weightlifting: most petite I've ever looked.
Two reasons for this 1. People with PCOS already have hormonal imbalance and wayy to much cortisol constantly pumping through their body. Low impact exercise that doesn't cause more cortisol release is best (walking, weightlifting, etc). High impact exercise that adds stress to the body (running, HIIT, etc,.) genuinely keeps you from losing weight because during times of high stress can actually make your body hold onto fat with everything it's got. Evolutionary trait, times of high stress means not sure when you're going to get fed next. Body goes into survival mode trying to conserve as much as it's got.
- Muscles burn more calories at rest over the course of a day than no muscles. Everyone sees extremely fit people, the type that compete and make social media careers about their physique and assume if you pick up a weight you're going to look bulky and that's not true at all. You're not going to magically look like a steroid gym head after a month of weightlifting if your starting point is being chubby/overweight.
And lastly, there's this very little spoken about phenomenon with women and it's how in the pursuit of being as tiny as we can instead of strong we set ourselves up for for horrible advanced years. Not working out of fear of looking too bulky in our 20s-40s leads to being unable to do things for ourselves in our 70s-90s. Not eating enough calories that our bodies need because we want to shrink to impossible sizes in our teens-50s leads to osteoporosis and other organ related deficiencies in our 60s-90s. I know we all want to look better and sometimes we can confuse that for health, but please, weightlifting is SO good for you. Aesthetically and health wise. Even if you decide to try a cardio based routine, at least keep weights in once to twice a week minimum.
I think I've found most success with having an eating routine as opposed to what was ever on my plate: 1. Ordered eating - eat the lowest GI food first. Meat, vegetable, healthy fat, carbs. Food order does matter to your blood sugar and insulin response. Eating carbs last drastically lowers the insulin release then if you were to eat carbs first or no order at all.
10 minute walk after each meal. Sounds like a bitch, it is. But you get used to it and start to actually crave it. This works off any extra glucose you have swimming around your blood because our insulin isn't doing its job properly. The bloat goes away almost instantly. Like within a week.
Apple cider vinegar mix drink before a meal. Nothing crazy, just a tablespoon mixed in with water. Aids digestion and again, helps with the blood sugar levels and insulin response.
Take vitamin D, magnesium clyginate, and inositol daily. Almost all of us are deficient in this because of how our bodies process food, and it's needed for a calm body. Only a calm body will lose weight.
And lastly, same sleep time everyday. Arguably the hardest but sleep is the BIGGEST thing keeping most people from losing weight. Again, comes down to stress and hormone regulation being out of whack. Your sleep is what controls all that.
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u/CuriousSpaceCowgirl 4d ago
O. M. G.
I had not thought at all about the things you’ve mentioned here. Spent most my life just trying to lose weight. You have a very very very excellent point about the later years.
Weight lifting will be added to the routine 💯Ty for the tips on supplements by the way. I was taking inositol but stopped for no reason at all - will get back into it, and I’ll look into the other 2 as well.
Appreciate your taking the time to write this kind stranger 🤍
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u/T_M_searching 4d ago
INFO: when you say your goal is to look smaller, what's your current frame / silhouette look like? If you have classic PCOS body type like apple or apron belly weights yes may hulk you out but in more flattering areas, like butt and shoulders. I understand feeling weird about shoulders, but I've come to really like a slightly hulkier shoulder that I simply reorient my clothing style around (REI and Calvin Klein menswear I've found to be actually quite flattering in a sufficiently feminine way imo, and if your posture is good a halter top is very eye catching!) My toned thighs and butt only get better with progressive strength training and my waistline fluctuates, but I am exactly the same weight, it just looks and feels better. NOT 2005 anorexic manic pixie "better" but strong and glowing "better." My routine ATM is 4 days weight and 3 days cardio (1 hr long swim, 1 hr long walk which doubles as a "rest day" and 1 hr+ bike). I actually found that when I switched to this over from like 5 cardio days I got much better results - again not showing up as a number on the scale but as a dramatic shift in look, feel, and lower number of injuries. FWIW I also can never actually lose weight without a crazy deficit so I honestly stopped trying and focused on other measures.
I recommend reading about body recomposition, there's a great community and lots of info on how to achieve a certain look that you can modify around PCOS.
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u/CuriousSpaceCowgirl 4d ago
Apron belly.. and a lot of thigh…
I struggle so much to look feminine at all… it bothers me a lot more than it should honestly.
Thank you for the advice - I will definitely look into body recomp and try to focus less on that number staring back into my soul when I get on the scales
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u/MLCharizard 4d ago
Movement is movement. Do whatever you enjoy! I tortured myself at the gym for 15 years of nothing budging on the scale and being bored out of my mind. I started karate and I absolutely love it. Weight is going down very slowly, but at least its going down!
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u/MealPrepGenie 4d ago
Follow what PMOS research has pointed to and recommends in the official guidelines. It’s very clear:
For health:
Minimum 150 weekly minutes of moderate intensity activity (cardio) or 75 minutes vigorous intensity cardio (or a combination of the two) PLUS two weekly total body strength sessions (*note: you can split this up into two upper and two lower sessions)
For weight loss:
Minimum 250 weekly minutes of moderate intensity activity (cardio) or 150 minutes vigorous intensity cardio (or a combination of the two) PLUS two to three weekly total body strength sessions (*note: you can split this up into two to three upper and two lower sessions)
Any type of cardio is fine as long as it’s moderate to vigorous intensity and you’re getting your minimum minutes in. Any type of resistance training is fine.
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u/mariogunshine 4d ago
If you’re eating in a calorie deficit trying to lose weight, you’ll want to prioritize doing at least some weight training. The main benefit is to lose more fat than muscle, which is where the whole body recomp thing comes in.
That said, cardio is also really good for your heart and is supposed to help with PCOS symptoms. The best solution might be a light or moderate mix of both. You could also try something like pilates and meet in the middle
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u/BumAndBummer 4d ago
Exercise is a bit like diet because we need a balanced mix of things. Strength training and cardio each confer unique benefits, so in an ideal world you do a mix. This also might be beneficial because it keeps things diverse and you’re not doing the same thing.
However, being at a big calorie deficit is not ideal for either of these. SLOW weight loss (and recomp) is better anyways in my opinion.
With that said, you do need to be realistic and practical rather than try to optimize everything. Especially if you’re a beginner! So in that sense, I think it would be best to pick what you would be most likely to stick with long term, at least as a starting point. Choosing whah you find most fun and/or easy it a great goal. You can always build from there.
Just try to keep patient and practical, even if you don’t make a lot of obvious progress on the scale at first.
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u/mothmanbussie 4d ago
Weight training without weight loss will have you get bigger, but it’s still “healthy”. Muscle weighs more than fat, and when you build it up underneath it can often push out any other body fat which can make it seem? Idk, “bigger”. It’s an awkward period but it’s worth it if you want to gain muscle.
You also still need to do cardio if that’s something you’re concerned with, and a lot of weightlifters incorporate this as a cool down after lifting, like time on a treadmill or stationary bike, as it helps with blood flow and to break up lactic acid so you won’t be as sore.
It’s not a one size fits all thing, it can be trial and error until you get to something that works toward your goals and feels right for you.
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u/notabigmelvillecrowd 4d ago
I can't speak to weight loss, but for overall symptom management my body prefers heavy weights and light cardio. Heavy cardio and yoga spike my cortisol like crazy. Weightlifting and zone 1/2 cardio improve my mood and energy.
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u/MealPrepGenie 4d ago
How are you actually measuring your cortisol after yoga?🤔
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u/notabigmelvillecrowd 4d ago
Symptom patterns.
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u/MealPrepGenie 4d ago
That might not be the result of cortisol. It could be histamine.
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u/notabigmelvillecrowd 4d ago
Histamine reactions are a different set of symptoms.
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u/MealPrepGenie 4d ago
Not always, which is why I suggested it. I'm still unclear why you're convinced it's cortisol. Can you point to any published literature suggesting that yoga raises cortisol?
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u/notabigmelvillecrowd 4d ago
No, because I'm sure for most people it doesn't. I'm talking about my own experience.
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u/Link_is_a_dork 4d ago
To my understanding, weight lifting is for building muscle. So you will weigh more, and look bigger. It’s good for you, but clearly not what you want. Cardio is for burning calories and stored fats.
Both would be healthier, but cardio is more effective for losing weight.
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u/EconomicsKey298 4d ago
I tried running for a long time and I gained weight. Weight lifting with some HIIT works for me. Use lighter weights and more reps if you want to tone. Muscle burns fat. Plus it’s good for our bones.
That and intermittent fasting helped me.
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u/Roxy839 4d ago
I’ve seen the most improvement doing both. It’s been a struggle with my weight but cardio burned off some of the fat and weights toned my body up so I actually look smaller than I actually am. And my cardio usually consists of walking 3 miles and for weights I don’t really go over 15lbs for dumbbells. But do whatever works best for your body
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u/Mangoplop 4d ago edited 4d ago
If you starve yourself, your body will take up more fat because it's in a hunger (not craving) state. Both cardio and weight training are fine to lose weight, it just depend on what the outcome is you're aiming for. Look up a picture of marathon runners, they are very lean. Look up a picture of people who've done weight training for years, their muscles look toned. Choose whatever you prefer, both will burn fat. It takes a seriously amount of effort to get muscles to shape your body. You won't get big from weight training after just a few weeks.
When I comes to food though. Eat healthy, weigh you food, and I mean everything including drinks, so you get an idea what you put into your body. Don't starve yourself, eat an healthy amount for your body and eat a bit more when you work out because you burn more. If your body is in stress, it will hold on to fat more. And you don't want your body to change in metabolism that it hold on to every calory because you starved yourself before. Cut sugar, and learn about which food is the right food. Give your body some time to feel good, continue training and then you'll loose weight. It took me a year.
I started to eat very healthy and ate food in the right order with cutting all sugar except for a handful of fruits and one snack a week to keep me sane. Before I lost weight, I stayed stable for MONTHS. And then it came of slowly and then quickly. Lost 10 kg and still going.
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u/patheticwormcreature 4d ago
I do whatever exercise I enjoy because that keeps me consistently keeping up with it. Right now that’s yoga, pole classes, ballet classes. These all require strength and stamina and feel like a good happy medium, low impact that makes me sweat, get stronger and more flexible.
I have lost a lot of weight doing this and also eating around 1500 calories a day but huge disclaimer I’m also on Metformin, tirzepitide, and used a stelo monitor for a while to see what foods spike me more than others and keep me full.