Cardio doesn't do much for me, but weights do

C

cusimar9

0
OK so I've been a little overweight for years (say 10-15kg over 'ideal'), every year I do some cardio and a bit of weight training and I lose a few kilos then I have a few months off and put it all back on again.

I usually do a lot of cardio - last year I ran a half marathon, year before that I cycled across the UK etc.

This year for a change I didn't do any cardio, I only did pull ups and press ups (and a toning belt) and with seemingly little effort I've lost around 8kgs in 4 months. I actually weigh less now than I have in around 8 years.

For an experiment the last two weeks I've done no weights but only cardio, around 4 hrs a week (~5200 calories in 2 weeks). I appear to have gained some weight, between 1-2lbs. My bodyfat monitor seems to confirm this. I'm aching, I'm tired and I've put on weight, fantastic.

Assuming my food intake hasn't changed (which is roughly correct I think) what the hell is going on!?

I'm entering another half marathon in May and I intend to do lots of cycling this summer, but I kinda want to sack it off and just stick with the weights as it seemed to do more for me.

Anyone have any suggestions for what could be happening?
 
Weight training (in your case, bodyweight training) has the benefit of EPOC - cardio doesn't. When you were doing bodyweight training, you were burning more calories after the training. When you do cardio, you burn more calories during the workout but fewer calories afterward. Why not do bodyweight training and cardio?
 
Yes that's my intention I was just confused about how doing just 10 minutes of weights a day could do more for me than several hours of cardio.
 
Its also possible too, in the past, that you weren't eating enough while doing both weights and cardio...but enough for weights alone.

I could be wrong too. Its just another piece of the puzzle to consider as you change training routines and goals.
 
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