quick exercise question

Ok so this is just a quick exercise question for you more educated exercisers out there lol. I've heard that when exerciseing if you just do squats or lift weights you only tone.. the only way to assure weight loss in arms is if you walk or run before and then do the weights to tone, so if that is true would a stationary bicycle before lifting the weights work as well? im really stumped and not sure so any advice would be great PLUS im having an extra hard time loosing my pooch any advice on how to get rid of it besides sit ups?

Sun. Oct 14, 2:36pm

You lose fat, from all over your body, by burning more calories than you consume. Cardio (walking/running, elliptical, biking, etc.) is a good way of burning calories. Lifting weights will also burn calories, but not as much in a given amount of time, unless you are a very serious lifter doing very strenuous lifting, which you probably are not.

Squats, etc., will help to tone the muscle underneath the fat.

So, a combination of cardio plus weights is best for fastest results. Cardio will also help you lose the pooch in the stomach - fat will be burned from all areas of the body. Sit-ups will tone the muscle under the pooch, but will not make the pooch itself disappear.

Building/toning muscle will increase your metabolism, though, so over time, the more you tone, the more muscle you build, and the more calories you will burn in a typical day before any exercise.

Sunday, October 14, 2007, 4:08 PM

Sit-ups will do nothing for your pooch. Only losing fat will, which you do with cardio. Any cardio. So yes - walking, running, stationary bike, elliptical, stepper, jumping rope, anything that gets your heartrate up above, like 110 (depends on lot of factors, that's just a general guideline) will benefit your arm fat, belly fat, all of it.

Case in point: You face. None of the exercise you do targets your face, yet you lose fat there as you lose fat elsewhere. That's just how it works.

Sunday, October 14, 2007, 4:09 PM

I've been told by 3 different trainers that sit ups won't do anything for the tum. If anything they will end up pushing the belly out by building muscle. Try do core exercises that will help even though it feels like it doesn't do much. Pilates is good for core building.

Monday, October 15, 2007, 1:00 AM

For the casual exerciser, it doesn't matter what order you do weights and cardio. Everything is going to help you lose weight!

For the more hardcore exerciser to burn more of your reserve fat, you would weight train first because it depletes your bodies glycogen (carbohydrate) stores. Then when you do cardio, your body is forced to burn fat for energy. Or, you will build endurance by doing cardio first and then weight training. Cardio also helps raise your heart rate, so your overall calorie burn will be higher during the weight training if you can keep it elevated.

Monday, October 15, 2007, 3:52 PM

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