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Here's how each stacks up. BodyFit is your solution to all things fitness. Join today and unleash the power of BodyFit! Many people think that if you want to lose fat, you should do more cardio , and that if you want to build muscle, you should lift weights.

What are your goals?

But it's not that simple. You can use weight training to lose fat, and in some ways it's actually better than cardio. Falling for the common misconception that you need to do cardio to lose weight is one of the biggest mistakes you could make and could hinder your progress. The first reason we are going to give weight training a point in the fat-loss war against cardio is due to the calorie burn after the workout is completed. Studies have demonstrated that after a weight-training workout, metabolism can be boosted for up to 38 hours post-workout.

Cardio and Strength Training Schedule For Weight Loss

While you may not think that 10 extra calories is a big deal, when you multiply this by 38 hours, you can see what a huge difference it can make in your daily calorie expenditure. When you figure that out on a monthly rate, it becomes even clearer how regular participation in weight training will really increase your capacity to burn calories , and thus fat. With cardio training, you might get an extra calories burned after a moderately paced session, but this will depend upon the exact intensity and duration of the workout. In order to generate a high amount of post-calorie burn from aerobics, you'd have to be doing it for a very long duration of time.

Sprinting is a slightly different story and will create effects with your metabolic rate closer to that of weight lifting, so that's something to consider as well. However, you must be sprinting hard in order to see the benefits, which is something some people struggle with. The second factor to consider in the fat-loss war is long-term metabolic increases. While it's great to be burning more calories for 38 hours after the workout, that's not going to help you two weeks from now, unless you are consistent with your workout program which you should be, but that's not the point we're trying to make here.

STOP DOING CARDIO 😈 How Much Cardio You Need to Lose Weight

What weight training will enable you to do is build up a larger degree of lean muscle mass, which then basically serves as a calorie-burning powerhouse in the body. When you calculate your basal metabolic rate , which is how many calories you would burn if you stayed in bed all day and did absolutely nothing except breathe, one of the factors that goes into this is your total body weight. The most accurate equations will also take into account lean body mass, which represents your muscles, bones, and organs. Since muscle tissue is fairly stable as long as there is some stimulus on the muscle and you are consuming enough protein, it won't be lost , this proves to be an effective long-term strategy for losing body fat.

This is the primary reason males can typically eat more than females without gaining weight—they have more lean muscle mass on their body, thus they are burning more calories around-the-clock. To add to this point, it's critical that you are realistic with how much muscle mass you can build in a given period of time. Naturally, males will be able to generate between pounds of pure muscle mass in a given month and females will get about half that, around 0.

Over time, though, with consistent effort, this will make you dramatically more resistant to weight gain as you grow older, making it extremely beneficial. Another big benefit that weight training has over cardio training is that it will allow you to completely reshape your body. Cardio training will generally help you lose weight, however, this weight loss is typically a combination of fat and muscle, so what you're left with is a smaller version of your current self. When you are performing resistance training, while following a calorie-restricted diet, then you stand a better chance of losing strictly body fat, while helping to enhance the natural curves of your body.

This will give you a much better overall transformation than if you just lost weight doing cardio.


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If you've ever noticed someone who has lost a considerable amount of weight but still looks somewhat "soft," that's usually why—they have lost some fat, but their muscles aren't overly toned. Already have a Bodybuilding. The main advantage of aerobic exercise at moderate intensities is that you can do it continuously for much longer than the intermittent exercise of lifting weights.

What's Better Cardio or Weights for Fat Loss? The Expert Verdict is Now In

It is this non-stop movement that gives cardio an inherent advantage in energy expenditure during an exercise session. You can mix weights and movement in circuit training sessions to provide that extra boost, but movement is the key. That's why most comparisons show cardio to be superior to traditional weight training for energy expenditure.

Cardio is the best exercise for cardiovascular and cardiorespiratory heart and lung fitness. Use these five guidelines to build your exercise and weight loss workout program and lose fat. Do high-intensity cardio for shorter elapsed times, or try high-intensity interval training.

Cardio and Strength Training Schedule For Weight Loss | POPSUGAR Fitness

High-intensity exercise, even if only in short bursts, may rev up the metabolism and get that fat mobilized in the post-exercise period. The standard advice is to do cardio and strength workouts in separate sessions or on alternate days. A sample program would have cardio workouts on Monday, Wednesday, and Saturday, strength training on Tuesday and Friday, and use Thursday for yoga, stretching, or recovery. Or, you can do your cardio in the morning and strength training later in the day.

If you are concentrating on building strength, this allows you to work on your upper body one day, then your lower body the next, most days of the week. But if you have trouble making time for exercise each day, combining cardio and strength workouts in one session is an option. There have been studies and debate over whether to do cardio first, followed by strength training, or vice versa. There isn't conclusive evidence for an advantage of one sequence over another, whether your goal is aerobic fitness, fat loss, muscle hypertrophy, or gaining lower body strength.

It may be best to not overthink it and just do it in the order that appeals to you. A review of studies found doing strength training first might be better for lower-body dynamic strength, but there was no advantage in either sequence for aerobic capacity, body fat percentage, muscle hypertrophy, or lower-body static strength. If you are primarily interested in running or general fitness, doing cardio first when you have fresh legs allows you to make the most of it and burn calories and fat. If you refuel well with fluids, you can still have a strong weights session after your aerobic section.

For best weight loss success in your exercise program, combine weights and cardio and a little high-intensity interval training when you get fitter and you can manage it. That's the success secret of exercise for weight loss. Get exercise tips to make your workouts less work and more fun. Aerobic or resistance exercise, or both, in dieting obese older adults.

N Engl J Med. Aerobic exercise alone results in clinically significant weight loss for men and women: Midwest Exercise Trial 2.

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Obesity Silver Spring. Comparison of two different resistance training intensities on excess post-exercise oxygen consumption in African American women who are overweight. J Strength Cond Res. Effectiveness of a week high-intensity cardioresistance training program in adults. Department of Agriculture ChooseMyPlate.

8 Myths About Doing Cardio for Weight Loss—and How to Really Exercise to Lose Weight

Fitness table. Comparison of long and short high-intensity interval exercise bouts on running performance, physiological and perceptual responses. Sports Med Int Open.


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Strength training prior to endurance exercise: Impact on the neuromuscular system, endurance performance and cardiorespiratory responses. J Hum Kinet. The role of intra-session exercise sequence in the interference effect: A systematic review with meta-analysis. Sports Med. Effect of high-intensity interval training on cardiovascular function, VO2max, and muscular force.


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