Weights vs cardio after 50: which burns more belly fat?
In an eight-month trial of about 120 overweight adults, the cardio group lost fat while the weights group’s fat barely moved, and on the scale the lifters got slightly heavier. Yet when about 10,500 men over 40 were followed for 12 years, the men who added 20 minutes a day of weight training put on less around the waist than the men who added the same 20 minutes of cardio. Both results are real, and this video shows why they don’t contradict each other.
It covers why belly fat settles deeper after 50, what CT and MRI scans show about the fat around your organs, what weight training on its own does to fat across 58 trials, a six-month trial in adults aged 60 to 80, whether crunches shrink your belly, why cardio and weights win on different clocks, and what the trials that combined both actually looked like.
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CHAPTERS
0:00 Weights vs cardio after 50: one result each
1:05 Why the belly changes after 50
2:51 The 8-month trial: cardio, weights or both
3:58 What the scale and the body scan showed
5:10 The fair catch: time and effort
6:31 The deep fat around your organs
7:34 35 trials on deep belly fat
8:48 What weights alone do to fat
10:28 12 years, 10,500 men, one waistline
13:24 Starting past 60 from scratch
16:03 Do crunches shrink belly fat?
18:13 Why they win on different clocks
20:53 The verdict
21:47 What the trials actually did
23:34 Back to the belt
STUDIES MENTIONED (click any link to read the original)
Willis et al., 2012, J Appl Physiol: 8 months of aerobic, resistance or combined training in 119 overweight or obese adults (STRRIDE AT/RT).
Slentz et al., 2011, Am J Physiol Endocrinol Metab: visceral and liver fat on CT scans in the same trial.
Ismail et al., 2012, Obesity Reviews: aerobic vs resistance training and visceral fat, a review of 35 trials.
Wewege et al., 2022, Sports Medicine: resistance training and body fat, fat mass and visceral fat in healthy adults (58 trials).
Mekary et al., 2015, Obesity: weight training, aerobic activity and 12-year waist change in 10,500 men (Health Professionals Follow-up Study).
Davidson et al., 2009, Arch Intern Med: 6 months of resistance, aerobic or combined training in 136 adults aged 60 to 80.
Vispute et al., 2011, J Strength Cond Res: 6 weeks of abdominal exercises and belly fat (24 adults).
Ramírez-Campillo et al., 2013, J Strength Cond Res: 12 weeks of training one leg and where the fat came off (11 adults).
Kostek et al., 2007, Med Sci Sports Exerc: 12 weeks of training one arm and fat on MRI (104 adults).
Recchia et al., 2023, Br J Sports Med: exercise dose and visceral fat, a review of 40 trials.
Lafontant et al., 2025, J Int Soc Sports Nutr: concurrent, resistance or aerobic training and fat loss, a review of 36 trials.
This video is general information, not medical advice. If you have heart problems, diabetes or joint problems, or you haven’t exercised in a while, check with your doctor before you start or step up either one.
Which has been easier for you to keep up for years, not months: the cardio or the weights?
#WeightsVsCardio #BellyFat #VisceralFat
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Where does your belt buckle now compared with five years ago: same hole, or a notch or two out? 👇
Next in the series: A Year of Strength Training After 50: What Actually Changes → https://youtu.be/3R4NB8oitf4
Bullshit you can't choose to burn visceral fat. You can only burn fat. It comes off everywhere.
Excellent video.
At 59 my wife divorced me after 32 years of marriage. I bought an MTB, fasted for 36 hrs then went on omad with 700 calories. I rode every other day for two weeks then every day. At one month I was loosing 1 Ib per day. At 2 months I added a can of green beans. At 3 months I started snacking on slices of roast beef.
When I started my fast I was 315
Ibs and at 4 months riding and only eating once a day I was 205 Ibs. I had lost 105 Ibs. I fallowed Dr Fung's advice. I've kept it off over 6 years now. I haven't been sick one day since I did my 36 hr fast. That fast was hard. Your bodies liver empties of glucose and starts screaming at you to eat.
You just feel weak but you say no to eating. Now your body says, ok he's not going to eat so I better switch over to the stored glucose (fat). Once your body switches over you feel great
Many thanks for this. I'm over 60 and have been trying to figure out visceral fat loss for years. This is what I've been looking for.
I’ve had times in my life where I lifted a lot, and times where I did more cardio. The weight training was way more effective for changing how I looked. The trick was what I was eating, when I was eating and how often I was eating. Lifting, fasting, and eating a lot of protein made me look great. When I swapped out the lifting with cardio, I just looked skinny and out of shape.
None of the two without calories deficit.
I'm wearing a smaller belt, which started on the 3rd hole and is now on the 4th.
Diet, brilliantly assisted by mounjaro and consistent weight training has me 107lbs down.