Being serious about losing weight can put you into a quandary. What is better cardio or weight lifting? The answer is both are valuable and work different parts of your body. You need to consider the way your exercise, the system you prefer and your lifestyle. Cardio versus weightlifting comes from the popular belief that cardio means going to an aerobics class and weight lifting means spending hours in the weight room and getting awesome abs.
Personal trainers and exercise specialists have found that workout programs need to incorporate both and often during the same workout. Cardio work has an element of resistant training and weight lifting uses cardio elements. The commonly held myths: weight training bulks you up while cardio does build muscles is definitely an urban myth.
Weight Lifting
Diets help you lose weight and resistance training changes your body composition. Cardio does help with calorie loss but it breaks down your existing tissues leaving you soft and skinny fat. You need to lift heavy weights to get that toned look. Doing repetitions with dumbbells is a form of cardio, but it is not going to change your body shape.
Lifting weights builds lean muscle tissue. Weight training burns more calories than cardio. That’s a fact. When you run on a treadmill or use an elliptical machine you are definitely burning calories while exercising. However, when you stop so does the calorie burn. Use weight training to continually burn calories. Although you may not feel like you are working hard, weight training burns calories during your workout and up to 48 hours after you are finished.
Weight training gives you strength which in turn gives you confidence to move faster and higher. Remember the first time you lifted a weight? How did you feel? Invigorated and confident. Build an awesome booty by doing squats with weights. Lifting weights gives you a metabolic lift after working out since your body is trying to help your muscles recover. You are losing an additional 25 percent of the calories you just ate during strength sessions in recovery mode.
Does weight training sooth the savage beast? This is a big question mark. There might not be mood-altering effects when you pump iron, but it can’t hurt. Lifting weights and working on your strength really does make you look great after a workout. Blood is rushing to your muscles making them swell. Just feel a rush of pride that you have accomplished lifting your weight in weights.
Strength training or leg squats and wobble board exercises reduce the risk of ankle sprains. Strength training teaches your brain to allow muscle contractions. Choose moves the work your core, work on your balance, and give you the ability to bend multiple joints. Lunges, rows, squats and presses are great for joint control.
Weight or strength training prevents you from intra-abdominal fat or the fat that wraps around your organs and constricts blood vessels.
Cardio
Run, run, run, sweat, sweat, sweat. Yea cardio. Now it is time to eat a bowl of ice cream or a candy bar. Warped thinking! Ignore those advertisements that stress how many minutes you need to run on the treadmill to burn of certain treats. Not true. You can’t run off the damage you have done by eating poorly. Scientific studies prove that cardio actually increases your appetite. Cardio can actually make it difficult to lose those five to ten pounds that just won’t come off.
Cardio is awesome to clear your head when you swim or play tennis. Fifteen minutes of aerobic activity a couple of times a week reduces anxiety. If you continue with your cardio workouts you can cut fatigue by almost 50 percent. Cardio elevates your serotonin levels and improves symptoms of depression.
Cardio can put pressure on joints, muscles, tendons and ligaments. You need to pay attention to your body. When it tells you that things are hurting, stop the cardio.
Add years to your life. Cardio optimizes longevity. It reduces obesity, heart disease, type 2 diabetes, high blood pressure, strokes and osteoporosis. A tougher heart pumps more blood and circulates oxygen proficiently throughout your body. Cardio and or aerobic activity stops inflammation and all the good things in your blood goes up quickly.
So is weight training more effective than cardio? In some areas, yes and in some no. The conclusion is, you need to utilize both systems in your workouts to achieve the optimum health you deserve.
