I love lifting weights and doing cardio, but feel like I am getting the best of both worlds with some form of cardio/kick boxing. I’m trying to lose about five pounds but also maintain muscle strength. Does it make sense to have a steady diet of varied boxing workouts? Thanks for your advice.
Kick/cardio boxing for muscles weight loss
- Thread starter Jarryma
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Kellyro77
Cathlete
Cathe doesn't really respond to posts in here any more. (Maybe she'll make me eat my words and respond, but I'd be surprised.)
I'll put in my 2¢, but feel free to make decisions that work best for you - ultimately the best workout regimen is one that you know you enjoy and will stick to.
I think kickboxing workouts are great for cardio, and possibly on the very light side of muscle endurance considering it's body weight-only exercise (maybe a little extra weight if you're wearing boxing gloves.)
Kickboxing is not the equivalent of actual resistance training, however. I'm not sure how well it would do at maintaining strength gains for you, for example, if you'd been regularly lifting against resistance (dumbbells, barbells, kettle bells, gym equipment), and then stopped lifting weights entirely and were relying only on kickboxing for your exercise.
I'd recommend continuing to include some resistance training at least once or twice a week, and then using kickboxing for all your cardio if you really enjoy it. A full body resistance workout 2x per week, or you could split and do lower body and then upper body. Again, that's if you want to maintain your strength.
For weight loss, 80% of that comes from what you eat. Take a look at what you're eating and perhaps consider logging your calorie intake on a site like Cronometer.com . It will help you calculate a reasonable calorie deficit for the amount of weight you want to drop.
You can also just try cleaning up your eating, too - that sometimes is enough for people. Avoid high-sugar, high-fat, high-salt processed foods (ie: french fries, cookies, etc.) and you might see some improvements there to start.
Good luck. I'm sure some others may chime in with some more suggestions.
I'll put in my 2¢, but feel free to make decisions that work best for you - ultimately the best workout regimen is one that you know you enjoy and will stick to.
I think kickboxing workouts are great for cardio, and possibly on the very light side of muscle endurance considering it's body weight-only exercise (maybe a little extra weight if you're wearing boxing gloves.)
Kickboxing is not the equivalent of actual resistance training, however. I'm not sure how well it would do at maintaining strength gains for you, for example, if you'd been regularly lifting against resistance (dumbbells, barbells, kettle bells, gym equipment), and then stopped lifting weights entirely and were relying only on kickboxing for your exercise.
I'd recommend continuing to include some resistance training at least once or twice a week, and then using kickboxing for all your cardio if you really enjoy it. A full body resistance workout 2x per week, or you could split and do lower body and then upper body. Again, that's if you want to maintain your strength.
For weight loss, 80% of that comes from what you eat. Take a look at what you're eating and perhaps consider logging your calorie intake on a site like Cronometer.com . It will help you calculate a reasonable calorie deficit for the amount of weight you want to drop.
You can also just try cleaning up your eating, too - that sometimes is enough for people. Avoid high-sugar, high-fat, high-salt processed foods (ie: french fries, cookies, etc.) and you might see some improvements there to start.
Good luck. I'm sure some others may chime in with some more suggestions.
Thanks for the input. I guess I knew what you said but wanted verification. I’m a vegan and eat a very clean diet. I agree with the 80/20 food/ exercise ratio. We were traveling for 4 months and my exercise was walking and hiking. I do need to get back to weightlifting. Thx again.
Great advice from Keyyro77. I have had good luck with Lose It! It's an online calorie tracker. There's a free version and a version to pay for. It's helped me greatly along with weight lifting. Muscle burns more calories. I also really like kickboxing and ellypticals for cardio.I asked my primary care physician to help me with calorie intake and food choices. All of these together helped me lose 43.6lbs You can do it. You have to work it and adjust it to find what works for you
majirameb
Member
I've found tracking calories makes a big difference for weight loss goals. I personally use BodyPal: AI calorie tracker to log meals quickly by photo, which helps me stay on track without hassle. Combining that with your kickboxing and occasional resistance work should work well for maintaining strength while losing those five pounds.
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FitSaxe
Cathlete
To reply to the question @Jarryma you have been given good replies to help you achieve your goal.
What I would add is: if the 5 pounds are the last one to get ride off after a long weight loss, then be aware it it is difficult but not impossible. You may need to tweak both calories allowance and/or training rotation. Do not despair. It is possible.
Strength training is more helpful than cardio. Please do not get me wrong: enjoy your kickboxing but do not overdo it. Variety in your rotation help you focus, get motivated and break plateau. May be all you need is a slight change in your cardio or in your lifting technique. Point is it is not rocket science and you need to try and see how your body respond.
why is strength more helpful?, Cardio make you lose fat for short term. muscle does better for long-term. It does help to keep the hardwork last for long time and possibly the rest of one's life. Once one loose weight and fat, he or she does not want to put it back on. Cardio does not improve metabolism. Muscle through strength training does. From life experience, one would enjoy a week or 2 of holiday completely off training without worrying about the scale or the shape! Who on earth would not want that!?
What I would add is: if the 5 pounds are the last one to get ride off after a long weight loss, then be aware it it is difficult but not impossible. You may need to tweak both calories allowance and/or training rotation. Do not despair. It is possible.
Strength training is more helpful than cardio. Please do not get me wrong: enjoy your kickboxing but do not overdo it. Variety in your rotation help you focus, get motivated and break plateau. May be all you need is a slight change in your cardio or in your lifting technique. Point is it is not rocket science and you need to try and see how your body respond.
why is strength more helpful?, Cardio make you lose fat for short term. muscle does better for long-term. It does help to keep the hardwork last for long time and possibly the rest of one's life. Once one loose weight and fat, he or she does not want to put it back on. Cardio does not improve metabolism. Muscle through strength training does. From life experience, one would enjoy a week or 2 of holiday completely off training without worrying about the scale or the shape! Who on earth would not want that!?
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nickisteen
Cathlete
kraetite, wow!! Awesome!
vivbc
Cathlete
Circuit workouts spike my metabolism, so when I want to tidied up my weight, I will add one or two to my weekly rotation. Otherwise, I typically do heavy weights and cardio. so I might do upper body Monday, cardio Tuesday lower body Wednesday and off or recovery Thursday with a circuit workout Friday, and cardio Saturday.
FitSaxe
Cathlete
This seem to be a very good mix of both cardio and weight. Well balanced for weight loss. Very good one's investment for short and long-term. "I want to tidy up up my weight"
this is a cool way of expressing the situation. Good for you!