Cardio vs. Weight Lifting: Which Is Better For Weight Loss?
As discussed in a previous article, proper nutrition is essential for losing weight and for maintaining a healthy lifestyle, but there are two parts to the healthy lifestyle equation. You must also exercise. We discussed exercise in our previous article in how it pertains to mental health. We discussed how certain exercises may be more helpful than others with certain conditions. We wanted to further explore specific types of exercise, but this time we are looking at it in terms of weight loss. There is a debate between cardio and weight lifting as to which one has a greater impact on weight loss. Cardio and weight lifting affect your body in slightly different ways. Let’s dive in.
Cardio exercise is basically anything that raises your heart rate and breathing rates, and improves the function of your heart, lungs, and circulatory system. Cardio raises your heart rate into your target heart rate zone. This zone is where you burn the most fat and calories. This zone will be different for everyone. If you are unsure if an activity you are doing qualifies as cardio just try the talk test. If you find it difficult to speak, even in short sentences, then it likely means that your heart rate is in the right range to qualify as cardio exercise. That will also be different for everyone. For someone that workout on a regular basis it may take high intensity exercise to get to this level such as HIIT training. For someone just starting out a brisk walk may be all it takes. An increased heart rate makes you breathe faster and more deeply. This maximizes the amount of oxygen in your blood and helps you use oxygen more efficiently. How well you use this oxygen is called your aerobic capacity. When this is high, your heart, lungs, and blood vessels deliver large amounts of oxygen efficiently throughout your body. This results in you feeling more energized. The higher aerobic capacity that you have the harder you can workout. Research published by the American Heart Association reports that females tend to have a 25 percent lower aerobic capacity than males and this capacity declines with age. Genetics can also play a factor. Cardio exercise can strengthen your heart, help control your appetite, boost your mood, help you sleep better, increase your stamina and endurance as well as help prevent or manage high blood pressure, heart disease, and diabetes.
Lifting weights leads to stronger muscles. It can increase your lean muscle mass which increases the number of calories you burn each day. Your muscle mass plays a huge role in your resting metabolic rate. This is how many calories you burn by simply being alive. The more muscle you have, the more energy your body uses for day-to-day activities. This means you are burning calories simply by brushing your teeth, or posting to Facebook, or making dinner. The more muscle you have the more calories you burn even when you aren’t moving. Weight lifting can help increase bone density which lowers the risk of osteoporosis. Stronger muscles and bones also decreases your risk of injury. Your blood sugar may be lower which decreases the risk for diabetes and high blood pressure. The production of serotonin also goes up which can help you feel less anxious and irritable. It also leads to better sleep. Cardio burns both fat and muscle whereas weight lifting almost exclusively burns fat.
Now that you’ve gotten this far in the article you may be wondering what contributes to your body burning fat, or at the very least what goes on in your body for the fat to be burned off. In short, weight loss or fat burn occurs under a calorie deficit. The simplest answer to burning fat would be to consume less calories and burn more calories during your day. When you begin to consume more calories than you can burn during the day, you’ll gain weight. There are three major technical factors that contribute to burning calories:
● Resting metabolic rate (RMR). This is the number of calories your body needs to maintain normal bodily functions, such as breathing and pumping blood.
● Thermic effect of food (TEF). This refers to the calories used to digest, absorb, and metabolize food.
● Thermic effect of activity (TEA). These are the calories you use during exercise. TEA can also include non-exercise activity, which accounts for the calories used for activities like yard work and fidgeting.
With the amount of information provided so far, we can now gain an understanding for how cardio exercises differ from weight lifting exercises while trying to lose weight. Running burns calories while in the act, but the calorie burn ends when the cardio session ends. Look at cardio as a short-term calorie burn. If you’re looking for a quick fat burn fix, go running! Compared to lifting weights, cardio burns far more calories while exercising. Now on the other hand, weight lifting does quite the opposite. Instead of burning calories solely during the workout itself, weight lifting will burn calories during and after the workout. If you run for two hours, your body will burn many calories for all two hours but if you lift weights for two hours your body will burn calories during the entire workout as well as after you finish your workout!
In conclusion, exercise is preferential and you should continue to perform the exercise that you’re most comfortable performing. If you’re looking for intense fat burning results, you should prioritize lifting weights over cardio. This doesn’t mean to eliminate cardio from your regimen, cardio is incredibly important for your body and weight lifting especially. Cardio will increase the amount of time you can weight lift and improve your overall health, from your respiratory system to your cardiovascular system. But if your goal is to lose weight and lose inches off of your waistline, prioritize lifting weights and include cardio on your rest days.
Citations:
https://www.verywellfit.com/everything-you-need-to-know-about-cardio-1229553
https://diet.mayoclinic.org/diet/move/cardio-101
https://www.openfit.com/what-is-cardio
https://bcbstwelltuned.com/2017/10/26/expect-start-lifting-weights/
https://www.shape.com/fitness/tips/benefits-lifting-weights-strength-training
https://chuzefitness.com/blog/science-strength-training-burn-fat/
https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/how-long-does-it-take-to-lose-weight#weight-loss-basics