To begin this discussion, I’d like to clear up a common misconception when it comes to fat loss.
Weight loss (lower number on the scale) does NOT equal fat loss.
If you starve yourself for nutrients (going vegan, etc.) you will most definitely lose weight. A good chunk of that weight will be muscle tissue and, while you did “lose weight” you’ll end up looking and feeling worse than before.
The goal is not just weight loss, but FAT LOSS and muscle gain to go with it. As you begin to lose fat and build muscle, you body will begin to metabolically reset and you’ll feel better, look better, have more energy, along with a host of other benefits.
So, you may ask, how do we go about getting this fat loss and muscle gain? You must use a combination of diet, weight training, and some cardio.
You’ll notice I said *some* cardio.
I can already see all the “park at the closest parking spot to go walk on the treadmill” warriors coming out of the woodworks to tell me cardio is the only way for fat loss.
That, my friends, is a giant load of crap.
The best way to lose FAT is through basing your training around weights and creating a caloric deficit through the diet. You do not lose fat through exercise, you lose fat through a energy (calorie) deficit. People love to say cardio makes you lose weight because it burns calories. That is true. It also breaks down muscle tissue for energy (your body doesn’t “need” the extra muscle tissue to walk on the treadmill) so you’ll end up looking skinny fat and weak. Not exactly what we want out of our training.
On the other hand, if you use weight training as you exercise of choice, not only will you burn more calories in a shorter period of time, you will also build muscle. Not only will more muscle make you look better, it increases your base metabolic rate which means you will burn more calories at rest.
Yes, this means you’ll look better, burn more calories at the gym, AND continue burning more when you’re sitting on the couch afterwards. Low intensity cardio does not do this.
With this, weight training will do nothing if your diet is not in check. You can burn 1000 cal in the gym but if you get home and have 6 beers and some ice cream you aren’t going to lose any weight. You must be in a caloric deficit with the proper ratio of macronutrients determined by your current physiological state. Simply stated, diet is the key in successful weight loss (or any physique goals for that matter).
This is not to say that cardio is useless. I am a large proponent of daily walking (this has become recently popularized with the 10,000 steps a day thing) but, for the love of god, skip the treadmill and go take a walk outside. Sprints and HIIT training are also a favorite of mine as short high intensity bouts of exercise have somewhat the same effects as weight training on the metabolic level.
To drive this point home, go look at your world class marathon runners (slow steady state cardio) and then look at a world class sprinter. I’m willing to bet you’d rather look like the sprinter.
To summarize: weight train for exercise, diet for caloric deficit, HIIT cardio as needed, and don’t circle the parking lot looking for the closest spot to go walk on the treadmill.