Why Weight taining is more effective than Cardio

I heard that doing weight training or resistance workout in better than just doing cardio. Cardio you will lose weight but with weight training will help you burn fat and add muscle

Thu. Oct 25, 12:32pm

Well it's important to do both but yeah weight training is def important.

Thursday, October 25, 2007, 12:39 PM

"Why Weight taining is more effective than Cardio..." More effective at doing what? It depends on what your goal is. If you're trying to lose fat, cardio is more effective. If you're trying to strengthen, increase endurance or tone, weight training is better. The above poster is correct. A combination of the two is best if you're trying to lose fat and tone muscle.

Thursday, October 25, 2007, 1:12 PM

OP here I think that cardio is good for your heart. But overall if you want fat loss and build up of muscle weight training is the way to go. If you do just cardio like 40 min a day, you will burn calories no doubt, but you also will lose muscle as well, I agree we have to do both to be more healthy. Everyone wants to lose weight, I wanna get my body fat % down and I think by doing a combo of Weight training (70%) and cardio (30%) I can acheive it. I welcome everyone's thoughts

Thursday, October 25, 2007, 2:23 PM

Weight training is especially important as we get older because we have a tendency to lose muscle mass which lowers our metabolic rate. That's why we can gain weight eating the same number of calories as when we were younger and maintaining. Weight training can counteract this muscle loss.

Plus I'm find that it's like finding the fountain of youth (I'm in my 50's). I was getting all these aches and muscle stiffness that I put down to getting older and all the cardio in the world made no difference. After 3 months of weight training all those aches and pains are gone.

Thursday, October 25, 2007, 2:24 PM

1:12 - I'm not sure that's going to be true for everyone. I lost all my extra weight and only did a few minutes of cardio a day as warm up - the bulk (no pun intended) of my workout was strength training. Of course, 15 years ago after college I lost 20 pounds doing nothing but walking and aerobics. Ultimately, it was what I put in my mouth (or more accurately, what I didn't put in my mouth) that made the biggest difference! We're all going to have different opinions on this topic, I can just say I happily abandoned my cardio based workouts for strength training (which can be a cardio workout, too)!

2:23 - I did 75% weights 25% cardio and got in THE best shape of my life. I was also very, very consistent with diet - the key for me no matter what I do. Good luck with your efforts - I think you'll be happy with the results!

Thursday, October 25, 2007, 2:32 PM

weight training also builds bone density. Gotta do both in my book

Thursday, October 25, 2007, 2:54 PM

For your cardiovascular health you really ought to get your heart rate up, get that blood carrying those nutrients, minerals and oxygen really circulating, and don't forget that's when your body's cells can most efficiently clean house. Cardio helps your internal organs stay healthy, helps your body's processes (digestion, etc) run smoothly, regulates your hormone levels and sharpens your mental focus.

It is most effective for weight loss? For myself, I've never found it to be as effective. However if one was ABSOLUTELY better than the other, we'd all be doing that. As it is - a mix of cardio, weights and flexibility training is likely a better package for complete fitness because they all compliment each other. Strong flexible muscles (and bones) help improve cardio performance which pumps the blood that carries away the by-products that build up in your muscles when you tear them down and build them up and delivers nutrients to hungry muscles (and some cardio is weight bearing for some of your bones - esp walking and running).

Be careful when you start talking in absolutes. So you found something that works well for you in getting to your goals - careful about applying it equally to everyone in all situations. Everything in moderation is a common saying here for a reason.

Thursday, October 25, 2007, 4:09 PM

I completely agree with 4:09

Thursday, October 25, 2007, 8:59 PM

Why weight training is important

I agree that weight training and aerobic exercise really decrease the aches and pains and give you more energy. I'm in my 50's, too, and if I didn't have exercise to keep me going, I think I would be limping along with arthritic joints and stiff muscles. Both cardio work outs and weight lifting are important, but brain (and weight) need the cardio work-outs more frequently than the lifting.

Thursday, October 25, 2007, 9:45 PM

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