Strength training

Cardio or Weight Training, Which Is the Better Option?

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This is one debate that has been raging for years, but the truth is that you need to understand the benefits and risks of each type of exercise to see which option is really the best for you. Cardio and weight training are both great options for getting fit, but let’s find out what each type has to offer.
Cardio
Cardiovascular exercise is designed to get your heart pumping. When your heart is pumping more efficiently, it increases the amount of oxygen in your system, and helps your lungs work better. Cardio exercise provides the overall benefit of making your heart and lungs stronger, which leads to more endurance and improved function, even when you are not working out. However, there are other benefits that should be considered when trying to choose which type of exercise is the better option.

  • Weight Loss – Cardio exercise done at higher intensity levels, in conjunction with a healthy diet, will provide weight loss benefits.
  • More Stamina – The improved heart and lung function help you increase your overall endurance as your cardiovascular system works more efficiently.
  • Better Mental Health – Exercise results in an increase in the amount of endorphins that are released, and this leads to decreased anxiety and depression.
  • Better Health – Cardio exercise helps with weight loss, which decreases the chances of diabetes, heart disease, and other health issues.
  • Low Impact – Some cardio workouts, such as walking and swimming, are low impact, which reduces that chance of injury – especially for those already dealing with joint pain and other mobility issues.

Weight Training
Weight or strength training helps you grow stronger, leading you to be in better physical condition. In addition, lifting weights increases the amount of lean muscle, which is a necessity for those wanting to increase weight loss. There are different options available for strength training, such as hitting the gym, creating your own home gym with dumbbells and the like, and body weight training that needs no additional equipment. Regardless of which type of workout you choose, you need to know the benefits:

  • Increased Weight Loss – Lean muscle burns fat even when you are not working out, resulting in a higher metabolism that boosts weight loss by burning more calories.
  • Bone Health – Strength training builds muscle, which also helps increase bone strength and density. This helps protect against bone loss associated with osteoporosis and the natural aging process.
  • Better Coordination and Balance – When your muscles are stronger, they provide a better support system for your joints. This results in better coordination and balance as your strength improves.
  • Improved Mood – Like cardio, strength training increases endorphin release. This leads to less depression, decreased stress, and a general sense of well-being.
  • More Energy – As you get stronger, you will notice an improvement in energy levels due to an overall increase in physical fitness.
  • Better Health – Weight loss helps to decrease the chances of health issues such as heart disease, helps to relieve joint pain, and helps to provide better diabetes control.

As you can see, both cardio and weight training provide lots of health benefits. The decision of which is the better option is essentially up to you and your current health goals. If you just want to improve heart and lung function, cardio works great. If your goal is to promote long-term weight control, strength training wins.  In all honesty, if you want to experience the best results overall, you should include both cardio and weight training.

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Weight Lifting for Weight Loss

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Usually, people who are interested in losing weight focus largely on cardio because it burns more calories than lifting weights. There’s something to be said for weight lifting for weight loss, though. While weight lifting shouldn’t be your sole form of exercise when trying to lose weight, strength training does play an important part in helping you reach your long-term weight loss goals. It also goes a long way toward toning your body and getting you in top shape once the pounds come off.

Lifting vs. Cardio

When you exercise as part of a weight loss plan, the goal is generally to burn calories and make your body burn stored fat to make up the difference between the calories it uses and the calories it brings in. Lifting weights doesn’t burn many calories compared to other forms of exercise, so those who are solely looking to lose weight often skimp on the strength training because other exercises produce faster results. To really get the most out of a weight loss plan, however, strength training should be added in every few days in addition to more calorie-intensive types of exercise.

Developing Lean Muscle

Lifting weights strengthens your body’s muscles, resulting in increased amounts of lean muscle in your arms, legs, abs, and other parts of the body. This can actually cause your weight loss to slow down a little as the lean muscle tissue is dense and adds weight to your body even as you’re taking it off by burning fat. This might prompt some people to wonder what’s going on, since they’re exercising more but losing less weight. They’re still losing fat, however, which is much more important than simply losing weight.

Boosting Your Metabolism

Once you start developing more lean muscle, the real benefit of weight lifting for weight loss starts to kick in. All of that new lean muscle tissue needs energy, and it gets that energy the same way that the rest of your tissues do: by burning calories. As you lift more weights and develop more lean muscle, your base metabolism will rise and your body will burn more calories throughout the day. This even applies when you’re at rest, because that energy-hungry lean muscle tissue will still need to be fed.

Toning Up

If you’re not lifting weights while trying to drop a few pounds, you may notice that your skin seems a bit looser and you generally look a little more out of shape than you did before you started losing weight. That’s because your body is burning the fat stored under your skin and you’re not building additional muscle to take up the slack. Lifting weights to work all of your major muscle groups will help with this, as the additional muscle bulk will provide you with additional toning and muscle definition once the fat starts melting away.

Long-Term Weight Loss

Strength training is an important part of long-term weight loss. Not only does it make you look and feel better, but it also gives you a much-needed break between cardio days. Between the boost you’ll receive to your metabolism and the self-confidence boost that you’ll receive from your new beach body physique, there’s no reason to not work weight lifting into your long-term weight loss goals.

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