strength training/calories and spark - oh my...

maleficent

maleficent

0
More than one person has expressed the opinion that SparkPeople is an unhealthy way of losing weight because the calorie count is too low and it suggests cardio over strength training...

One of the Spark's Ask the experts mailers (and I just cleaned out my junk mail folder and the title caught my attention is really my reason for the question) was this:

[FONT=Arial, Verdana, Sans-Serif]Question: I read that weight training is a lot more effective at burning fat than cardio, and if you could only do one of the two, you should weight train. Is this true?

Expert Answer:
Weight training is important for a couple of reasons. First, the more muscle you have, the higher your base metabolism will be and the more calories you will burn even at rest. But the actual numbers involved in a whole day of "extra" calorie burning due to extra muscle are relatively small compared to the number of calories you can burn during an hour of cardio exercise.

The second reason is more important. Whenever you lose weight, you will lose some muscle along with the fat. If you don't exercise and do some strength training, up to 30% of the weight you lose can come from muscle loss, and that isn't likely to be healthy over the long haul. Good strength and muscle tone are essential for functional living and health. You can hold your muscle loss down to 3-5% of total weight loss with moderate strength training. Likewise, strength training helps to preserve bone density, balance, and many other important things.

So, strength train each muscle group at least twice a week- this really only takes about 30-45 minutes per workout. Better yet, try circuit training, where you lift weights without resting between sets. This method meets both cardio and strength requirements because you keep your heart rate elevated throughout your workout, increasing the amount of calories you burn per workout.

After you've met your 2 strength sessions per week, focus on cardio if your goal is weight loss. You need the cardio for the calorie burning, and also to build and maintain your cardiovascular fitness. [/FONT]
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For a person (using me as an example ) who has more than just 10 vanity pounds to lose - how much strength training should a person do in a week? How much cardio should a person do in a week?

as for calories being too low - using myself as an example again, who probably has done a lot of metabolism damage over the years by doing various idiotic diets - using the bmr as what my base calories should me - there's no way that i could lose weight on a number that high - my calories tend to stay in the 1500ish range - how do you determine the calories that a person who might have a slower metabolism should have?

i don't have the energy to defend spark people, and while i'd like to give them credit for where i've gotten so far -i've them primarily as a food journal the accountability to something is what's gotten me thus far...(fit day, dailyplate, and countless others woud have reccommended the same suggested calories and served the same purpose)
 
ow do you determine the calories that a person who might have a slower metabolism should have?
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I'm no expert of course, lol, but isn't having a "slower metabolism" a myth for someone who is overweight?
 
If you could list your current stats and diet in as much detail as possible.
Also have you hit a plateau? How long have you been in a caloric deficit?
This will allow for a better answer.
 
Strength training burns more calories (enough intensity) than "cardio." Unless we're talking about interval training however. ST elevates metabolism for up to 48 hours after exercise, where regular old 60 min cardio doesnt. With steady state cardio, all you get is calories burned during exercise, and maybe a couple hours afterward. Interval training also has the same effect.

I bet you could lose weight on 1500 calories, but I understand your uneasiness.

Have a look at this article:
 
well i'm currently at about 1600 calories and losing weight so that'd be a sucker bet :D

my question really wasn't looking for advice for me per se -- I have a thread already - i was really just curious as to why there's a distrust for lack of a better word - of Spark - when they do encourage both strength training and cardio...

interesting resource -thanks
 
I dont have any direct experience with Spark. However I know someone, very knowledgeable, who mentioned her experiences there. She was asked to leave because she brought new ideas and concepts.

Also when I hear of a recommendation that in order to maintain weight, you need to do 90 minutes of exercise per day, Im just disgusted.
 
I am in no way going to get into some sort of sparkpeople debate. I have first hand read the "experts" there give horrible advice. I will simply say if it works for you then good luck and glad you found something you enjoy.

Also it should be noted in their answer they state a cardio focus over weight training, they just do it in their round about own way.

If you truly wish for that response to be dissected I can, but if not then well enjoy the community.
 
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