A Couple of Beginner Questions

[aaydmc2]

Hey everyone,

I've recently started a new training regimen and have a couple of questions for you. I've read pretty much everything there is to know on this site so I know diet is the main deal (I'm aiming for weight loss btw) and supplement that with cardio and weight training. Anyway, here are the questions:

1. What is the difference between moderate and vigorous weight training? I'm just asking because when I try to estimate how many calories I burn when lifting, I'm clueless.

2. One of the main goals I have is to get rid of some man boobs that I have. I know that fat loss and cardio are the main things to use to get rid of them. However, when I do my weight training, should I workout my chest as well? Or should I skip that body part completely.

Thanks!

 

[Goldfish]

"Vigorous" is a term more commonly used to describe high intensity cardio, rather than high intensity resistance training, as far as I've observed. For weight training, it would more likely be called "heavy," which is usually considered to be about 80-100% of the weight you could lift for a single rep. To be honest, even I'm clueless as to how to estimate the amount of calories burnt during a resistance training session. The textbook details I've read fail to differentiate between the energy expenditure in a maasive movement like a power clean, versus a tiny movement like a bicep curl, so I'm yet to see any reliable information on actual numbers. But I can promise that if you use large muscle groups with moderate to heavy weights, you will burn more calories than if you use smaller muscle groups and lighter weights.

If you're concerned that working your chest muscles would be contraindicative of reducing fat in the area, then don't be. Most people overwork the chest, and thanks to our lifestyles of sitting and slouching, it generally needs much less work than the back to begin with, so it may not be much of a tragedy if you don't train chest, but it's still a good idea to have a balanced program with as much of the body as possible being trained each resistance session - legs, chest and back.