Many of us are very happy when the scale pointer goes down. We spare no effort and no time to lose weight. In addition to diet, sporting activities play the main role. This is where many of us have frustrating experiences: gaining weight despite exercising or barely losing weight.
Often we don't know how to approach the problem. Is diet most important ? Is endurance training like aerobics more effective than weight training for losing weight? Or should we rather train endurance and strength ? We have prepared some important aspects of the topic for you.
What are the effects of endurance training on the body?
In the cardio category we find endurance training . These are exercises that increase breathing and heart rate. Jogging, training on the cross trainer or ergometer, training sessions to music with dance moves, but also swimming and cycling are all part of endurance training. Are you like many others and want to lose weight through endurance training ?
Then you are on the right path. Studies show that endurance training supports cardiovascular health and can help reduce body fat. In addition, endurance training sessions have a positive effect on our mood through the release of certain messenger substances in the brain.
Losing weight happily and in a balanced way - that seems to be possible with endurance training. However, this view is very shortened. We'll see that it's the combination of strength training and endurance training that makes the difference in weight loss .
Lose weight & burn calories with cardio
When it comes to reducing our body weight as quickly as possible, endurance sessions initially seem very attractive to us. Depending on the intensity of the endurance training, we can burn calories intensively. A rough rule of thumb, for example, says that we burn as many calories as we weigh per kilometer of running.
A person weighing 60 kg would burn around 60 kcal per kilometer. During strength training, the calorie consumption is initially less intense. One of the reasons for this is that we build muscle during strength training. Muscle weighs more than fat.
With 2-3 strength units per week and an appropriate diet, building around 200 g of muscle mass is possible even for non-professional strength athletes. It may be that with strength training, unlike endurance training, you initially gain weight. On the other hand,muscle growth increases the basal metabolic rate. In the medium and long term, strength training is therefore also very suitable for losing body weight.
HIIT training for stronger combined effects
High-intensity interval training HIIT is a combination of strength training and endurance. The aim is to increase the effects of weight loss, fat loss and training performance. The effects of this training reach down to the cellular level into the power plants of the cells, into the mitochondria. This changes the muscle metabolism positively, among other things. This also supports the reduction of body fat.
With this training you push yourself to 90-100% of your limit for a very short period of time. HIIT training can be achieved, for example, by spinning on special training bikes or by sprinting while running. Are you just starting training again after a break from sport? Or are you basically a beginner in sports?
Then we recommend a sports medical examination before HIIT to determine the exercise limit . It is also advisable to be instructed in this high-intensity training by a specialized trainer.
1. Why is strength training included?
Strength training is an essential part of lasting and sustainable weight loss . In the medium and long term, more muscle mass ensures more calorie consumption, even at rest, by increasing the basal metabolic rate. Since calorie-reduced diets can only provide a short-term stimulus to weight loss , you should keep an eye on building and maintaining your muscles.
Depending on the intensity, pure endurance training is more likely to cause muscle loss. In extreme cases, this can lead to a decrease in the basal metabolic rate. Caution is particularly advised when reducing calories. The classic yo-yo effect has to do with muscle loss .
If we do not ensure that we continue to supply the body with enough protein and train the muscles when reducing calories, the basal metabolic rate will drop. Likewise the metabolic performance itself. As a result, the body only burns calories in economy mode, making it even more difficult for us to lose weight .
2. Combine training types correctly
There are no standard recommendations as to how endurance and strength training should be combined. Small units of cardio are often integrated into the training plan before or after strength training. However, many experienced trainers also recommend completing longer endurance sessions separately from the strength training sessions.
For example, if you train 3-4 times per week, you could include 2 endurance and 2 strength training sessions. These recommendations are currently not scientifically proven. They are based on experience. The small cardio units before and after training for a period of between 10-20 minutes serve to warm up and cool down the organism.
That's why many experts consider it to be useful, similar to stretching after strength training. It doesn't matter whether you do the strength training in the gym or in the comfort of your own home. You can do strength training sessions as strength training at home or as strength training without equipment . Many endurance training sessions can also be completed outdoors, such as running training or cycling .
3. How to exercise endurance to lose weight?
There were specific guidelines for the duration of endurance sessions for a long time. It was then said, for example, that everyone had to train for around 20-30 minutes in order to actually attack fat reserves. These assumptions could not be scientifically confirmed. Most experts recommend training so intensively that you could still have a conversation with a person.
You can determine the length of your training according to your individual preferences. In fact, during moderate , long-duration exercise, you burn a lot of calories and attack body fat.
This certainly applies to normal endurance training. During high-intensity training, intensive performance is carried out at the edge of one's own endurance limit, for example for 60 seconds. After further training at the normal stress level, further intervals at the stress limit follow.
4. Why too much training can be harmful
Even if you can generally burn more calories through long, moderate endurance training or short, high-intensity training , you should be careful not to overload. Cardio, which puts your body under massive stress, leads, among other things, to the release of the stress hormone cortisol.
This prevents you from losing weight because your metabolism moves into a range where weight loss is difficult. Creating a training plan to lose weight therefore requires balancing the training intensity.
5. Training breaks are important
Whether aerobics, spinning, running or swimming, the body needs appropriate regeneration phases, similar to after strength training. Sufficient sleep is also necessary in order to fully benefit from all the positive effects of endurance training. In addition to the negative impact on weight loss, overtraining increases the risk of injury.
If you are unsure how intensively and how often you should train, especially at the beginning, seek advice from experienced trainers and your doctor. There are few general recommendations here because you always have an individual training level and certain personal physical requirements.
6. Lose weight with cardio & adjust your diet
In addition to a combination of endurance and strength training as well as a training plan to lose weight, you should consider a nutrition plan. This does not mean that you necessarily have to follow a calorie-restricted diet. Especially if you want to build muscle , you need enough building material and you have to eat.
A healthy and varied diet with a higher proportion of protein can be helpful. You need amino acids to lose weight because these smallest protein building blocks are converted into a variety of other substances in the human body.
They not only provide the building material for the muscles and all body tissues, but also for various hormones and messenger substances. One reason you need amino acids to lose weight is because the thyroid hormones also rely on aminos for their production. These hormones determine, among other things, how effectively you metabolize calories .
7. Nutritional needs can be individual
For endurance training, in addition to protein, you need a balanced intake of high-quality carbohydrates. Overall, it can make sense to additionally supply certain vital substances such as amino acids through dietary supplements during higher physical activity . It depends on your individual life situation.
Whether you eat before or after exercise also depends somewhat on your personal preferences. Basically, the experience-based statement that a full stomach doesn't like working out still applies. This applies equally to endurance and strength training. Remember that after intense endurance training, you need to replenish your carbohydrate stores.
Losing weight with cardio works
Similar to our diet, sporting activities depend on the right combination in order to lose weight. Questions like “ do cardio before or after strength training ” or “ eat before or after exercise ” are ultimately less important. What is more relevant is that you regularly complete training 2 to 3 times a week.
Ideally , you should combine endurance and strength training sessions . Whether you do your strength training at home , use the equipment in the gym or prefer strength training without equipment is also less important. Stretching after strength training or endurance sessions is also not a binding requirement.
To lose weight, it is first important that you consume calories through endurance sessions and strength training, increase your basal metabolic rate in the medium term and gradually reduce fat reserves. If you initially gain a slight amount of weight despite exercising as a result of strength training , you don't have to worry.
If you stick with your sporting activities, these effects will soon balance out. Consider cardio and strength training together with the right diet as the 3 main pillars in the weight loss process. If in doubt, seek advice from professional trainers and continually adjust the training plan. You and your body change through endurance and strength training. Your training plan should take these changes into account.
