Many people who decided to lose weight find themselves stuck with a tricky question: Should they go with cardio or strength training? They are two most popular types of workouts, but it can be hard to know which is a better use of your time.

Cardio workout can reduce weight?

There is a common belief that cardio or aerobic exercises is the way to go if you are looking to torch those calories and lose fat. However, we are not just losing fat when we see the number go down on the scale after a prolonged period of cardio-focused workouts, we might also lose muscle. Typically, a cardio workout burns more calories than a weight training workout OF THE SAME DURATION. The number of calories we burn during exercise depends on:

• • Body size
  • Intensity of the exercise
  • Targeted heart rate
  • Type of exercise (HIIT)

Weight Training

          What most people fail to recognize is that weight training can actually prepare your body to burn more calories over time. Studies have proven that strength training workouts can boost your metabolism for up to 38 hours after the training session is over, which is called the afterburn effect. The afterburn effect is a result of body repair of the muscle tissues that were broken down or injured during the training session. Weight training may:

• Improve our metabolism over time, although the changes aren’t huge
• More effective than cardio at increasing the number of calories we burn AFTER A WORKOUT.

Conclusion

          Most people think that their workouts should be focused on either cardio or weight lifting. A cardio workout burns more calories than a strength training workout. Although cardio will help you torch those calories during your workout, strength training will build muscle over time, therefore leading to a higher caloric burn on a regular basis. Also, strength training will help you tone up if you are at a period where you would like to look more defined. So it really depends on what your goals are. It is recommended that you incorporate a healthy balance of both cardio and strength training into their regular workout routine.

Prepared by:

Brandon

Your Physio Cheras