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Old 01-15-2010, 05:04 PM
kw93 kw93 is offline
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Join Date: Dec 2009
Posts: 6
Default Cardio Fat loss vs Weights

About 4 months ago I started lifting weights very regularly and started eating more to put on muscle, and it worked, I put on a lot of muscle. Only problem is that I have military aspirations, so a high body fat level regardless of how much muscle I have is a bad thing for all the body weight excersizes they do plus running, and it is pretty demorilizing to be 10X stronger than most people yet still be "a fatty". Before that 4 months of weight lifting I was "chubby" i.e kinda fat, but not that much over weight and no health problems or anything, but with the extra 20 lbs or so (although most of it is muscle I'm assuming) my weight is what I would consider out of hand and I'm definitely in order for major fat loss.

So my question is: I know that weight lifting is another calorie burner, but being that running for a little longer will easily cover that difference anyway, is it really worth lifting weights during a fat loss period when your diet means that you aren't going to gain muscle, anyway?

I know it is probably going to help retain muscle, but with the weight I would be losing to get to a "healthy weight" is so large that I am likely going to lose most of the muscle I have gained these last 4 months anyhow, I think? 216lbs-154 would make me happy. I would rather go back to having skinny arms and non existent traps/shoulders but have no fat, and start building muscle again then I would spending years trying to manage both.
If anyone here with a similar experience or good knowledge could offer some advice I would really appreciate it.

If you got bored reading all that and skipped to this part, the summary is that with such dramatic weight loss goals (216-154 within this year) I am asking if there is even any point lifting weights to retain muscle.
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