Find out where to start building your ideal body by losing weight or gaining muscle mass. The human body is able to create new muscle fibers or burn adipose tissue. As a result, athletes often face the question of what to do: lose weight or swing? It is quite obvious that it is relevant for novice builders. Experienced athletes know perfectly well what and when to do in the gym.
Each visitor to the gym understands that it is necessary to lose weight with the help of aerobic exercise, and strength training is needed to gain muscle mass. So the question arises, which we talked about, what to do: lose weight or swing. In this case, it may be possible to combine aerobic and anaerobic training.
Can cardio and strength training be combined?
Even many professional fitness trainers believe that combining these types of load is impossible. First of all, you should decide on the tasks at hand. Agree that a couple of lost kilos will not be so noticeable in comparison with a pumped-up body.
Many parameters should be taken into account when designing a training program, for example, the percentage of fat in your body, the level of initial training, etc. Also, do not forget that if you have health problems, you should first seek the advice of a medical professional. If all is well, then you should determine the amount of fat in your body. You do not need accurate indicators, because for this you need to visit a specialist. Now there are many simple techniques for solving this problem.
It is from this indicator that the number of cardio loads that you need will depend on. It is very important to precede each lesson with a high-quality warm-up. You can simply use a treadmill or exercise bike. The maximum warm-up time is 15 minutes. During this time, you need to sweat a little and speed up the blood flow.
It is not worth increasing the warm-up time, since the main part of the training program awaits you ahead, and you still need energy. After the warm-up, you should move on to strength training. If you need cardio (if you're overweight), do a 20 minute session after strength training. If there is a lot of excess weight, then you can increase the duration of cardio training for up to 40 minutes.
We also recommend focusing on cardio if your body fat is high. However, you should not forget about strength training either. This will allow you to start gaining muscle mass as well as protect muscle tissue from destruction during cardio sessions. The more you get rid of extra pounds, the more actively you should start to conduct anaerobic training.
If the body has large fat reserves, then it is quite difficult to gain muscle mass at this moment. Also, adipose tissues are created by the body for emergency cases, then he does not really want to part with it. The process of losing weight can be quite lengthy, because it must be done correctly. However, do not think that your muscles will grow rapidly quickly.
For the body, a large muscle mass is a ballast, from which it seeks to get rid of. Agree that in everyday life you practically do not need muscles, if you do not consider them exclusively from an aesthetic point of view. If you have set yourself the goal of becoming the owner of a beautiful, athletic body, then prepare yourself for hard work. The body will resist and you have to overcome it.
You probably still have the question of what to do: lose weight or swing. Of course, first you should get rid of at least a couple of kilos and only after that move on to active strength training. You can also combine these processes, but they will be much slower.
Myths about the correct body shaping while losing weight
We answered the question of what to do: lose weight or swing, but now fitness is quite popular and this fact has contributed to the emergence of a large number of myths about how to adjust the figure. And even among fitness professionals, disagreements can arise.
What to do first: lose weight or swing
It so happened that it is with the main question of today's article that the main myth of fitness is connected. It is generally accepted that first, it is imperative to get rid of excess fat. Only after that is it worth focusing on strength training. Moreover, to combat adipose tissues, it is necessary to use only cardio loads.
In practice, the type of fitness does not affect the process of losing weight at all. It's all about the intensity of your activities. If your goal is to lose weight, then your heart rate should be between 130 and 160 beats per minute during exercise. If your heart rate exceeds 170 beats, then the load becomes anaerobic. If you have heavy breathing during exercise, and you sweat profusely, then you will not be able to lose weight in such conditions.
- Working on simulators only allows you to build muscles. It depends on which machine you are going to use. There is a group of aerobic trainers: orbit track, exercise bike, treadmill, etc. They are primarily designed to burn fat. However, training, say, on the blocks, also may not give results in terms of gaining muscle mass. As we said above, it's all about heart rate and working weight. Only if the heart rate exceeds 170 beats per minute, and you work with large weights, then the muscles can grow. It should be noted that the effectiveness of strength training largely depends on the correct choice of working weight. It is necessary to use such weights with which you are able to perform about ten repetitions and no more. We also note the fact that the duration of the strength training should be in the region of 45 minutes. Otherwise, you simply cannot lift even a couple of kilos. For weight loss, weight training is also carried out, but their duration can be up to one and a half hours, and the working weights are small. This allows for more reps and less rest between sets (no more than 60 seconds).
- Strength training can make a woman's body overly muscular. A very popular fitness misconception. Many girls prefer cardio to strength training precisely because of the fear of pumping muscles. You have absolutely nothing to worry about. Even men gain muscle mass slowly, but it's not worth talking about girls. This is due to the low concentration of testosterone in the female body. If you do not use AAS, then you will not be able to pump muscle. Your body will not allow you to do this. Sometimes girls notice that after starting resistance training, their body weight increases slightly. This is quite normal as the muscles have hardened. Girls should not only use cardio loads, but also carry out strength training. This will allow you to tighten the muscles in problem areas, which will only benefit your figure.
- You can only train effectively in the gym. Not everyone wants to build huge muscle mass. Most of the visitors to the gyms swing for themselves, and if you do not want to win at Olympia, then it is quite possible to practice at home. Home workout will help you tone and fill your muscles. Having dumbbells and a horizontal bar (wall bars) at home, you can pump your body qualitatively. After that, you will no longer be ashamed to undress on the beach. Moreover, a horizontal bar and parallel bars can be found at any school stadium and even in many courtyards. Thus, you just have to purchase dumbbells, preferably collapsible. Then you can start exercising at home.
- To get rid of fat in problem areas, you need to do special exercises. There is no fat burning point. The body partitions with adipose tissues throughout the body gradually. If you want, say, to remove fat from the abdomen, then only by pumping the press, you will not be able to achieve the set task. We also note that the female body first actively burns fat in the upper half of the body and only after that lipolysis begins in the thighs and buttocks.
- Barbell, dumbbells and kettlebells are necessary only for bodybuilders. If a girl wants to create a truly beautiful figure, then she will have to use sports equipment. If you use only exercise machines, then you will strengthen certain groups of muscles, for example, the arms. When you work with a barbell, performing basic movements, then all the muscles in the body are involved. For example, during barbell squats, not only the leg muscles are involved, but also the back and special stabilizing muscles. Almost every basic movement is capable of activating about 80 percent of the muscles in the entire body. The simulators are primarily intended for correction and allow you to more actively work out the muscles that are lagging behind in development.
- Strength training will be effective only when all muscles ache after the session. You must train so intensely that you enjoy the process itself. It is quite understandable. That after a quality workout, the muscles will be tense, and you will feel a little tired. Muscle pain should only be when you plan to become a professional athlete.
In conclusion, it should be reminded that your exercises can only be effective if you have proper nutrition. This applies to both gaining muscle mass and losing weight.
What is better to do first, swing or lose weight, you will learn from this video:
