Can you lose weight by doing cardio only?

[81cep]

I have been a free weight person for the last few years, never tried a class before...

I have been slack over the past 6 months and have stopped going to the gym and have let go of myself a fair bit..

Over the past 3 weeks i have been smashing the gym, but instead of weights i have been doing the classes...pump/step/attack/cycle. sometimes even two classes back to back.

I know its only early days but i havent lost any weight. I am following a strict diet that my old p/t wrote me up and am not drinking any alcohol.

My question is, apart from pump class, do i need to be doing a few days of free weights in order to lose weight??

Any advice would be much appreciated.

[MrB1g]

You joined this forum in 2008.


Losing weight = a caloric deficit. That's all.


Is it advisable to perform resistance training? Yes.

[JDkeystone]

Enjoy being skinny-fat if you do!

[81cep]

Thanks MrB1g, yes i joined in 2008 however i have only ever logged on to the site less than half a dozen times.

cheers for the heads up.

[81cep]

Enjoy being skinny-fat if you do!

?? skinny fat lol???

[MrB1g]

Thanks MrB1g, yes i joined in 2008 however i have only ever logged on to the site less than half a dozen times.

cheers for the heads up.

Fair enough.

But yeah look, you can, but without some form of resistance training you're going to struggle to maintain lean muscle mass. The problem with that is if you lose enough muscle mass, your bodyfat % will stay the same, you'll just be lighter. Not desireable at all!

[81cep]

That explains it well.

Cheers

[juliacheh]

Is it possible? Yes.
Is it optimal? No.

[JDkeystone]

?? skinny fat lol???

Optimal scale weight but high bodyfat. Something like this:



That's where zero lifting will get ya (srs).

edit- not sure why the image isn't actually hosting...

[kudostojen]

Optimal scale weight but high bodyfat. Something like this:



That's where zero lifting will get ya (srs).

edit- not sure why the image isn't actually hosting...

great example.

[Rowyn]

You can kill yourself in the gym with hours of cardio and if you manage to create enough of a deficit by doing this without controlling your diet, then yes you can lose scale weight. However, if you aren't watching your total caloric intake (its not just about eating 'heathly' or clean) and accidentally eat more than you expend, you may STILL not drop weight.

Or you can be smart and start tracking your diet to create a modest deficit in the kitchen versus tons of gym time. As Mr Big said, if you don't keep at the weight training, as you lose fat you will lose lean mass too and you will be skinny fat. Which is not what most people want.