I need advice

[Tara426]

I just began body building. I am a 23 year old female. I am 144 lbs and 5'8. I had a baby 8 months ago and I have some fat on my stomach I want to get rid of and a tiny bit of love handles. So my question is should I do cardio too?? I don't want to lose muscle. Will the muscle itself be enough to burn the fat off?

[oregonchick76]

Lifting and a good diet are all you need to reach your desired bodyfat %. Cardio is good for you, and can help increase your caloric deficit, but not necessary. I don't do much myself - about 2-3 sessions of HIIT per week.

[thepowerwithin]

Losing fat all falls back on consistency with a reasonable caloric deficit and, as you probably know, you can't spot reduce. Your primary focus should be on diet and lifting. Doing too much cardio is contraindicated when trying to sustain muscle. Just keep it to a few sessions a week. Sessions should be less than 30 minutes, preferably a couple of those sessions being 15 min of HIIT.

[Valjean]

Even though it I'm just repeating what everyone else is saying, do some high intensity cardio. Every other day, do one "Sprint 8" workout. You can adjust the difficulty to accomodate your fitness level.

http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/phil3.htm

[kristimarino]

I just began body building. I am a 23 year old female. I am 144 lbs and 5'8. I had a baby 8 months ago and I have some fat on my stomach I want to get rid of and a tiny bit of love handles. So my question is should I do cardio too?? I don't want to lose muscle. Will the muscle itself be enough to burn the fat off?

Are you nursing? If so, you probably want to be careful about reducing your calories because your body needs them for your little one (congrats, btw!).

I nursed, remained inactive, and didn't pay at all attention to my diet after my now nearly-9 year-old was born, and I ultimately (and inadvertently) wound up at a lower weight than before I got pregnant. Not that being inactive and inattentive to diet is a good thing. But it's worth mentioning because if you are nursing, give it more time and be super careful to eat enough calories. My weight came off slowly but steadily over the course of a year, and you are at the 8 month mark.

Of course if you aren't nursing, listen to what the other ladies are saying. I'm new to this forum and to weight training effectively, so I don't have many words of wisdom yet in this regard. Best of luck to you!