This is a frequently asked question if you're new to weight training. Trust me, I had a hard time figuring this out. Yet, every tough questions has its answers. However, I have a confession to make. Bare in mind, I am no pro trainer or fat loss guru. So if your expecting to see a long article giving you bombastic advices, you are wrong. I am just a guy who is going to give you my honest and truthful experiences on fat loss. So before we go more into that, let us have a quick run on the basic definitions.

What is Cardio?

‘Cardio’ as is known in short is also known as cardiovascular exercise. Cardio is something you do at a sustained pace over a period of time which puts pressure on your cardiorespiratory system. When I say cardiorespiratory I mean your heart and lungs. Cardio can be as simple as walking to running, or swimming to cycling.

What is Weight Training ?

Lifting weights, on the other hand is a form of anaerobic activity. Anaerobic means an absence of oxygen. It does not mean no oxygen is needed but it simply means the activity requires a short bursts of high intensity energy that increases the muscle's requirement for oxygen, resulting our body to produce lactate acid. Production of lactate acid will prohibit us from lifting at that intensity.

Now that we're done on a few of the simple difference between cardio and weight training, the fun part begins!

The Answer : Weights Training before Cardio

Shocking? But that's the truth. You might think isn't cardio the ultimate fat burning workout? Let me tell you the truth of all truth. Weight training is the best way to increase metabolism, burn fats and easy to maintain. Why? Because a pound of muscles burn much more calories than a pound of fat. Fat can only burn 5 calories per day. Muscles on the other hand burn 50 calories per day. So, simply transforming 5 pounds of fat to 5 pounds of muscle, your body gets to burn an additional 250 calories. Simply great! Cardio at a steady pace for 40 minutes won't do much for fat loss. However it is still important. Modified your cardio training into interval training will do wonders for you. Let me give you an example. Run for 1 minute easy intervals followed by 30 seconds higher intensity. Keep repeating that. And mix it in between your weight trainings. You can view a sample here - The Fat Boy Workout

Most of my female friends are reluctant to try when I mentioned weight training. They have the perceptions that if I lift the 10 pounds dumbbell to much I'll get to bulk. Let me tell you something. As long as you push your muscles to the limit, your muscles should be fatigue and you will never bulk up! So take the time to consider my program. Cardio is wonderful, but weight training is much better!

Today, I shall share with you one of my key routine to weight loss that I discover by trial and error. When I first started out my quest for weight loss, I started like what most people will do - "cardio". Yes, our favorite common enemy. I was very eager to lose my belly and I approach a trainer for help. The trainer suggest me to do lots of cardio. So I had been doing lots of brisk walking with steady speed (I had to walk initially because my knees couldn't support my upper body weight). And then I did very light shoulder press, bench press and got knows how many crunches and other ab exercises. And to my disbelieve, I only lose 1 pound after 1 month. Trust me, with the amount of effort put in, losing 1 pound was just not worth it. After all, I have to pay the trainer so much just to lose 1 pound. So, I decided to do my own research. And I compiled a series of exercises, modified a little bit of resistance which then form my Fat Boy workout plan.

The Fat Boy routine is as follows:

My diet:
Skim or at least low fat milk, egg whites, chicken breasts, brown rice or whole wheat bread and a significant amount of fruits and vegetables. I split my meals to 5 small meals a day and drank lots of water. My dinner consists of low carbs.

Monday
10 minutes warm up on treadmill.
Chest and Triceps followed by 15 minutes on treadmill
Barbell Bench Press
Barbell Incline Bench Press
Pec Deck Fly
Dumbbell One Arm Triceps Extension
EZ Bar Tricep Extensions

Wednesday
10 minutes warm up on treadmill.
Back and biceps followed by 15 minutes on treadmill
Wide-Grip Lat Pulldown
Wide-Grip Pulldowns Behind The Neck
Cable Rows
Preacher Curl
Concentration Curls

Friday
10 minutes warm up on treadmill.
Shoulders followed by 15 minutes on treadmill
Barbell Shoulder Press
Lateral Dumbbell Raise
Front Dumbbell Raise
Bent Over Dumbbell Rear Delt Raise
Barbell Shrug

Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday
10 minutes on the stepper
10 minutes on the stationary bicycle
This is 1 cycle:
Barbell Squat
Dumbbell Rear Lunge
Glute Kickback
Perform 4 cycles.

If you need guidance on how to perform those exercises, you can refer here. They have huge database with various types of exercises along with videos to guide you.

Workout Description

Week 1. Focus on preparing your body.
Sets: Perform 4 sets of each exercise
Reps: 8 - 10 per set
Rest: 60 - 90 seconds between sets

This amount of repetitions is needed to activate the muscle fibres which have seldom been use all this while. Moderate rep of 8-10 will accomplish this better than a low rep range or even a very high rep range.

In relation to the resistance, the weight you choose must be heavy enough that the last few reps must be a struggle. If you are not able to complete at least eight reps then the weight is too heavy. However, if you are able to complete the full amount of reps quite easily then the weight is to light. Do take some time to figure this out.

Week 2. Focus on the development of muscle tone and muscular endurance.
Hence, I alter the reps/rest intervals.
Sets: You will perform 3 sets of each exercise.
Reps: 15 – 20 per set
Rest: 30 seconds between sets.

You will repeat this routine 3 times. That makes a total of six weeks. After that, another different workout will have to be plan as our body are able to adapt. Don't worry. I'll teach you that as well.
Frankly, I followed the above routine and on my 4th week, I've lost around 11 pounds and started to see difference around my belly. I lost 2 and a half inches off my waist. The awesome thing is I did not do any abs exercise. The secret? The FatBoy Workout is designed to jump start beginners by hitting those big muscle group. Each day we focus on hitting 1 big muscle group. And i emphasis a lot on the lower body as it really takes up a lot of my energy at the same time help develop my strength for running.

If you have any questions feel free to drop me a comment, and I'll reply you as soon as possible. Try The Fat Boy Workout and tell me the results!