Workout right after elliptical ?

[FiFtHeLeMeNt80]

Hello Guys
Currently my main goal is to lose fat so I have concentrated on cardiovascular training. as I have some past knee problems because of treadmill, I am doing elliptical now and try to exhaust myself on it on a daily basis. I started with 30 minutes per day and I currently can hit 90 minutes. and I am happy with my progress and I can see results.
After I lose some more fat I am going to start to workout to train my other muscles. my body has a great potential for bodybuilding. for now a beginner program will work for me.
My question is that what is the proper way to do it ? is it OK if I start to workout right after my elliptical workout (when I finish my elliptical workout I am almost exhausted) ? or you recommend to rest for 30 minutes ? or more ? or may be one day cardiovascular training and another day normal workout ? I do not want to burn my muscles or hurt my body with nonsense heavy program.
I would appreciate your help and recommendations.
Regards

[JamesMontana]

For your purposes: warmup on elliptical, lift heavy, finish with cardio.
Note: cardio =/= fat loss. Proper diet does though.

[FiFtHeLeMeNt80]

For your purposes: warmup on elliptical, lift heavy, finish with cardio.
Note: cardio =/= fat loss. Proper diet does though.

Thank you for your reply. I am also on a diet I am not saying I am killing myself, but I try to avoid fatty food elliptical has helped me a lot with my daily energy and also with my mood. I feel more energetic now.
So do you think it is better to start working out right now ? I still have a considerable amount of fat in my body. you can still call me a fat person or I wait until I lose more fat by cardio and then start lifting ?
Also which technique do you recommend for my needs ? short sets and heavy lifting ? or long sets and lighter weighs ?
I appreciate your professional recommendations

[Znik]

For your purposes: warmup on elliptical, lift heavy, finish with cardio.
Note: cardio =/= fat loss. Proper diet does though.

Good advice.
Would start with weight lifting as soon as possible , I didnt start with lifts untill late in my weight loss and i've lost alot of lean mass instead of fat because of it.
Check out the workout section of the forum and get a Starting strenght program or similar.

By stimulating the muscles while losing weight you most likely reduce the muscle loss from the cut. And get some nice beginner gains at the start with is a great motivator

[Yodums]

Thank you for your reply. I am also on a diet I am not saying I am killing myself, but I try to avoid fatty food elliptical has helped me a lot with my daily energy and also with my mood. I feel more energetic now.
So do you think it is better to start working out right now ? I still have a considerable amount of fat in my body. you can still call me a fat person or I wait until I lose more fat by cardio and then start lifting ?
Also which technique do you recommend for my needs ? short sets and heavy lifting ? or long sets and lighter weighs ?
I appreciate your professional recommendations

Cardio expends energy, but so does working out. If your diet is in check, then you will lose weight. Period. I would look into a program called "Starting Strength" for beginners looking to work out.

Whether you want to do cardio or lift weights is up to you.

[JamesMontana]

Thank you for your reply. I am also on a diet I am not saying I am killing myself, but I try to avoid fatty food elliptical has helped me a lot with my daily energy and also with my mood. I feel more energetic now.
So do you think it is better to start working out right now ? I still have a considerable amount of fat in my body. you can still call me a fat person or I wait until I lose more fat by cardio and then start lifting ?
Also which technique do you recommend for my needs ? short sets and heavy lifting ? or long sets and lighter weighs ?
I appreciate your professional recommendations

Yes, start weight training now. I would suggest reading the sticky's in the nutrition thread as well after having read your "I try to avoid fatty food" statement.
Choose a beginner's program in the sticky's of the Workout Program section- that'll also tell you the rep/set aspect. AllPro's Beginning or Starting Strength are good choices.

[repsandsets]

If weight loss is your goal, and you're happy doing long cardio sessions on the elliptical, then I'd put those in at the start of your workout, while you're fresh. Like any exercise, you should aim to gradually progress your cardio work over time, either by increasing the resistance, RPM or both.

I totally agree that adding weights to your workout makes sense. If weights are new to you, or you haven't done them for a while, I'd start with resistance machines rather than free weights, and work in the 12-15 rep range, to ensure you've mastered good technique before you up the weight.

There's no need to rest more than a couple of minutes between your cardio and weights. You'll want to be warmed up for the weights anyway. But make sure that your overall workout time doesn't exceed 90 minutes for cardio and weights combined, to ensure you're not overtraining.

Finally, as the other posters have said, diet is key to weight loss - and it's worth reading up more on this. It's not so much about avoiding fatty food as it is watching your overall calorie consumption, and ensuring you have a healthy balance of fat, carbs and protein.

[FiFtHeLeMeNt80]

I appreciate of all your great recommendations guys you have been very helpful to me. I added to your reputations.
So I have decided to do a 30 minutes of light elliptical for general warm up + AllPros Program since it seems very popular here + Finishing with elliptical.
There is only one dilemma left for me, Although it is not related to exercise forum but I am sure you can help.
I read everywhere that in order to lose fat I should be in calorie deficit which makes sense. but in the same time in order to gain muscle mass I should be in calorie surplus ! I dont want just to lose my fat, I also want to gain musle mass at the same it. in a balanced way. is it impossible ?! I thought with myself that may be I should add significantly to my protein intake in order to do that and thats what I did. what do you think ?

[repsandsets]

I appreciate of all your great recommendations guys you have been very helpful to me. I added to your reputations.
So I have decided to do a 30 minutes of light elliptical for general warm up + AllPros Program since it seems very popular here + Finishing with elliptical.
There is only one dilemma left for me, Although it is not related to exercise forum but I am sure you can help.
I read everywhere that in order to lose fat I should be in calorie deficit which makes sense. but in the same time in order to gain muscle mass I should be in calorie surplus ! I dont want just to lose my fat, I also want to gain musle mass at the same it. in a balanced way. is it impossible ?! I thought with myself that may be I should add significantly to my protein intake in order to do that and thats what I did. what do you think ?

That's a very good question.

I'm assuming you want to lose weight overall - i.e. although you're looking to build muscle, you want to lose more weight in fat, so your target body weight is lower than it is today.

To lose weight you need a calorie deficit - which can be achieve by changing what you eat, or increasing the amount you exercise - ideally both. You are increasing your exercise volume by adding weights to your existing cardio, so that will increase the deficit.

I wouldn't increase your protein consumption (unless you're veggie) - since most western diets normally contain more than enough protein, and your body will convert excess protein to body fat.

The key thing to ensure you lose fat tissue and not lean muscle tissue is to ensure you're eating a healthy well balanced diet, and that you never drop below your Basal Metabolic Rate (BMR) in any 24 hour period. To estimate your BMR, look up the Schofield Equation on Wikipedia.

Remember also to never workout on an empty stomach.

[mcmoon]

That's a very good question.

I'm assuming you want to lose weight overall - i.e. although you're looking to build muscle, you want to lose more weight in fat, so your target body weight is lower than it is today.

To lose weight you need a calorie deficit - which can be achieve by changing what you eat, or increasing the amount you exercise - ideally both. You are increasing your exercise volume by adding weights to your existing cardio, so that will increase the deficit.

I wouldn't increase your protein consumption (unless you're veggie) - since most western diets normally contain more than enough protein, and your body will convert excess protein to body fat.

The key thing to ensure you lose fat tissue and not lean muscle tissue is to ensure you're eating a healthy well balanced diet, and that you never drop below your Basal Metabolic Rate (BMR) in any 24 hour period. To estimate your BMR, look up the Schofield Equation on Wikipedia.

Remember also to never workout on an empty stomach.

Whats wrong with working out on an empty stomach? I almost do that exclusively and have had no problems what so ever. I used to do IF but it got to the point that it was hard for me to put on weight because I couldn't eat the required calories in the required time window but by no means did training fasted hurt me in anyway. All my lifts improved as well.

[repsandsets]

Whats wrong with working out on an empty stomach?

The issue with doing cardio on an empty stomach is that you can only metabolise body fat in the presence of some carbs. If you don't have sufficient carbs in your system when you do cardio, you'll end up breaking down lean muscle for energy instead (neoglucogenesis), which is obviously not good for body builders.
For endurance athletes looking to train their fat burning energy pathways, it can be legitimate to reduce carb consumption prior to doing long runs - but this is likely to lead to a marathon runner's physique over time.