Weight Lifting Vs. Cardio

Recently, a journalist asked me to compare strength training with cardio exercise. Here is some of what I told him:

Weightlifting

Here are some reasons to weight lift:

1. It burns a lot of fat. As weight loss and weight maintenance become more and more important in America, so does strength training. That is because strength training is one of the easiest and most effective ways to burn calories.

Weightlifting burns slightly fewer calories than cardio during the workout, but makes up for that in the healing process. As your muscles try to heal the microscopic damage you created, they use calories as fuel.

2. It's fun and challenging. It's encouraging to watch your strength and stamina increase each time you work out. Studies have shown that strength training is very good for body image.

3. It increases your metabolism. Most experts agree that a pound of muscle can burn up to 50 calories per day, just sitting there. That means that if you were to gain 10 lbs of muscle through weightlifting, you could eat an additional 500 calories without gaining weight. This is why strength training is excellent insurance against weight re-gain.

4. It increases your strength. It's fun not to have to ask for help lifting heavy objects. Just think of all of the situations in life in which strength comes in handy!

5. It doesn't take long. You can effectively work a muscle group in under 15 minutes. Depending on your fitness level, you can even get a great strength training workout in 2 minutes. (Just do pushups until you can't do any more.)

6. Weightlifting is relatively easy on the joints and can help protect against injury. Balance training (like squats on the Bosu ball) is especially effective in training your body to prevent injuries.

Cardio

Here are some reasons to do cardiovascular exercise:

1. It burns slightly more calories during the workout than strength training does.

2. It is especially good for boosting mood.

3. Cardio can add years to your life. It reduces the risk of heart disease, stroke, obesity, diabetes, high blood pressure, and even some types of cancer.

4. Cardio can increase your "good" (HDL) cholesterol levels.

5. Cardio exercise is extremely convenient. The only equipment necessary to walk or run is a pair of sneakers.

6. There are hundreds of fun ways to get cardio exercise, often without really even realizing that you're "working out."

Which is more important, and why?

If you were to only choose one type of exercise to do, you'd be best off choosing cardiovascular exercise. This is because cardio strengthens and protects your heart, mind and lungs, which are arguably your most important body parts. Strength training is also good for your heart, mind, and lungs, in a less direct way. The best decision would be to incorporate both strength training and cardio into your workouts. In the case of a time crunch, circuit training allows you to do both at once.

Which (strength training or cardio) is more valuable for calorie-burning and weight loss, and why?

There is a lot of debate about this, but I believe that strength training is more valuable for calorie-burning and weight loss. Strength training builds up your muscles, which need calories to survive. Muscles use up calories, thus raising your resting metabolism. In other words, weightlifting makes it so you burn extra calories even when you're doing nothing at all.

Cardio burns calories while you're doing it and also burns additional calories for up to 3 hours after you finish. Strength training's after-workout burn is closer to 3 days!

Which helps more with injury prevention and bone strength?

Both cardio and strength training help with injury prevention and bone strength. Running and walking build up bone strength because of the impact of the exercise. Water aerobics are great for bad joints and rehabbing injuries.

Overall, however, I'd have to say that strength training probably does the most for injury prevention and bone strength. Strong muscles surround and support the bones. Balanced muscle strength protects against injuries caused by misalignment of joints. Strength training has also been shown to increase bone mass. Weightlifting, especially using plyometrics techniques, can also train your muscles to avoid injury.

Which is better for heart health?

"Cardiovascular exercise" means exercise for the heart and blood vessels. To keep your heart in good shape, you need to "give your heart a good beating." Still, a combination of strength training and cardio is ideal because it is the best way to work the heart as well as get rid of excess fat that is dangerous to your heart.

Any final recommendations for how people should exercise?

Just do it. Try to find a way that you enjoy exercising, and stick with it. Make sure your heart is getting a regular beating, and have fun. If you're having fun, you're much more likely to keep it up.

If you're new to strength training, learn proper form. Strength training done incorrectly can be completely ineffective- a waste of time. Worse yet, improper weightlifting techniques can be dangerous. Most gyms offer a free orientation to the equipment. For free exercise instruction and two new at-home exercises per day, go to www.MyFitnessTrainer.com. (As of a few months ago, there is no longer a membership fee.)

How can I balance strength training and cardio in my busy schedule?

Circuit training is a great way to mix strength training and cardio. Just strength train as usual, but instead of resting between sets, run a lap or hit the exercise bike for a minute.

For example, do 12 push ups and then run down the driveway and back. Repeat 2 more times. Then, do 12 slow squats and hit the driveway. Repeat 2 more times. Then, do 12 pull ups and the driveway. Repeat 2 more times. You just did a full strength training workout while also challenging your heart.

Another good way to incorporate both types of exercise in your life is to do them at different times of the day or different days of the week. For example, you could play tennis (cardio) on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays, and weight lift on Tuesdays and Thursdays. Just make sure to avoid doing an intense cardio workout immediately before you weightlift. If you must do one right before the other, it's better to weightlift first.

Finally, there is my favorite way to exercise: the MyFitnessTrainer.com way. You do only two strength training exercises per day, preferably in the morning. Because you work out almost every day (one day off for a day of rest,) your workouts can be very short and simple. Because it's every day, you also never lose the habit of exercising. It becomes part of your daily routine. Cardio can be a different thing every day if you want- all that matters is that you are consistent. Today you may do aerobics and tomorrow you may work your heart by winning a basketball game.

The jist of it:

My best exercise advice is to find a way to incorporate exercise into your life. Make it part of who you are and what you do.

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