do I have to lift weights?

B

beaver1

New member
I wonder if anyone can answer this for me.......why lift weights? Besides the obvious - building muscle - I am wondering this because if I am doing 20 minutes on the elliptical, followed by 20 minutes jogging on the treadmill why wouldn't any of that activity be building muscle itself? I'm pushing and pulling with my arms on the elliptical - - doesn't that count for anything?
Thanks, and sorry if this is a dumb question....:p
 
cardio will build little muscle and will burn muscle if you are not eating enough. the main reasons for building muscle through weights include

improved apperance with less loose skin after loosing fat
improved bone density
muscle burns calories helping loose fat faster
improve strength of conective tissue

muscle has a higher mass than fat but takes up less space on the body.

http://www.weightlossresources.co.uk/exercise/weight_training/benefits.htm

Cheers
 
Hi,
Lifting weights is a vital part of a weight loss plan, and it's important fo rall people because our bodies naturally shed muscle mass as we age.
Most women build very little muscle from weight training, simply because we don't have the hormones or genetics for it. Weight lifting builds strength, increases bone density, and improves msucle endurance. An intense weight lifting session actually burns MORE calories than a typical cardio session. And it has a much greater "after burn" than cardio, meaning you continue to burn an increased amount of calories. And if you do build a bit of muscle, your metabolism will be boosted a bit. It takes more calories to keep a pound of muscle going than a pound of fat.
A good weight lifting program will make you strong and help prevent injuries. Make sure you are adequately hitting each muscle group so as not to create imbalances.
Hope that helps.
Sarah
 
thanks

Darn - - - I was hoping to get out of it!! :p Thank you for your help! Everyone is so nice here.
 
well, I lost almost 80 pounds doing nothing but cardio in the last year~
I do 2 1/2 hours of cardio a day~ 5 days a week~ (I used to only do one hour)~ and I also do alot of aerobics and some yoga~ but I've never weight trained much at all~
It'd probibly help~ but I just hate it so much that I try loosing without it~ =P
 
Well, I would answer "you don't HAVE to", but it will help tremendously, not only for loosing weight, but for your health in general. SaraPT and Trusylver are completely right, but I would like to add that "what" and "hows" of the weight training should be customized to your preferences and needs. If you absolutely hate every minute of it, you won't stick to it, so there's little point in doing it. You don't actually have to lift weights or use gym machines to add strength training. You can use resistance bands, exercise ball, or nothing at all (calisthenics), you can try pilates, which is a form of strength training.
Strength training is also a great confidence booster, because you will notice you're getting stronger within first week or two, while it takes much longer to build up cardiovascular system(at least that's the case with me) to improve performance.
Good luck!
 
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