09/16/2021
🏃 CARDIO VS STRENGTH TRAINING 🏋️
▪️A common misconception I hear is that cardio is specifically for losing weight and strength training is specifically for gaining muscle. It sounds promising since you’re constantly moving during cardio exercises, you must be burning the most calories, right? Cardio has MANY benefits, but here are a few reasons why strength training is so important to add in your program if you’re looking to burn fat.
▪️Strength Training will increase your Resting Metabolism (RMR). Majority of the calories you burn in a day DON’T come from exercise - roughly only 20%. The rest is determined by your age, s*x, body composition, and comes from natural body functions such as breathing, digestion, regulating body temperature, and many other body processes. Increasing your RMR allows you to burn more calories throughout the day without having to do anything! Simply put, the more muscle you have, the more fat you burn at rest - muscle burns fat.
▪️Cardio may be the best way to burn calories DURING a workout, but strength training is the best way to continue to burn calories AFTER exercise (24-48 hours after). This is called Post Exercise Oxygen Consumption (EPOC) or better know as “after-burn”. Cardio training does not have much of the same post exercise effect as strength training does.
▪️“Cardio” training does not just mean the treadmill, elliptical, bike or rower! Cardio training is anything that gets your HR up! That could be walking to the bathroom for one person, or running several miles for another. Throw in some dumbbells while doing a step-up next time and you’ll be killing 2 birds with 1 stone - strength and cardio.
▪️Strength training does not mean “bodybuilding”. I hear a lot “I don’t want to get big and bulky”. Let’s remember that it takes bodybuilders physique athletes YEARS of HEAVY lifting and strict dieting to reach that point. A few 10-15 pound dumbbells aren’t gonna kill ya 🙃
Now don’t get me wrong, cardio training is important and definitely has its place when it comes to losing weight. But incorporating weights will have you seeing improvements much faster! I will be doing a more in depth video on this process with examples very soon. Drop a comment if you’d be interested or if you have any questions! ⬇️⬇️
