Comparison
- Calories Burnt:
When we look at weight training, you will burn more calories AFTER your workout has been completed, as opposed to with cardio where you burn more DURING your workout. During a cardio workout you may burn about 10 to 12 calories per minute, as opposed to with weight training where you would burn about 8 to 10 calories per minute. Although, weight training gives you a metabolic spike for about an hour AFTER your workout due to your body trying it’s hardest to help the muscles recover. Studies show that our metabolism can be boosted for up to 36 hours AFTER a weight training workout. This means that after a weight training workout, when you are sitting around, instead of burning 60 calories you will burn 70. This is a difference of 10 calories burnt over a total of 36 HOURS. That is a HUGE difference when you break it down.
- Muscle mass:
Weight training allows you to build of a larger degree of lean muscle, which will ultimately burn more calories. It also allows you to completely RESHAPE your body. Cardio will HELP in weight loss, but that means that you aren’t only losing fat, you are ALSO LOSING lean muscle. With weight training you STRICTLY lose body fat. There have been studies done by sports psychologists trying to show the effects that cardio has on one’s self-confidence. The findings always show that runners, cyclists, swimmers and other athletes tend to have higher confidence due to a sense of accomplishment they feel when completing a competition. Weight training has shown to give more confidence in appearance. Many times you notice a change immediately after a weight training workout. This is due to the rush of blood to your muscles, which is what creates them to swell and appear toned. The confidence goes beyond just your looks, though with weight training. The confidence is also due to the increase in weight lifted during workouts.
- What it does to the body:
Cardio releases higher levels of cortisol into your body, which is the hormone that PROMOTES the LOSS of lean muscle mass. Cardio is also known to put wear and tear on your joints, ligaments, muscles, tendons, and the cartilage in-between. Weight training puts your body into an anabolic state, which MEANS you GAIN more muscle mass. According to a study done by Tim McGuine, Ph. D., strength training, if done right and is functional, will teach your brain to allow muscle contractions, which helps to prevent or minimize injuries. It is best to choose exercises that work your core, improve your balance, and force you to bend at multiple joints, such as lunges, rows, squats, and presses.
- Health Benefits:
When we weight the health benefits, both ultimately have benefits to our health, but cardio does OUTWEIGH weight training when it comes to this section. Cardio plays a HUGE role in the reduction or obesity, high blood pressure, type 2 diabetes, osteoporosis, strokes, heart disease, and in certain types of cancer. Cardio gets your heart pumping which in turn gets more blood pumping with each beat, which then circulates more oxygen throughout your body. Cardio also prevents inflammation around the heart and increase the “good” cholesterol in your blood by up to 8% in just 8 weeks, according to a study done in 2007. It also has a type of head clearing affect. With just 15 minutes of a cardio workout two to three times a week can REDUCE anxiety drastically. Cardio is known to ELEVATE serotonin levels in the brain, which is a neurotransmitter that is involved in helping reduce depression symptoms. In all the studies done, weight training does benefit you in the fact that it decreases and prevents the gain of intra-abdominal fat, this is the kind of fat that surrounds the organs and constricts blood vessels (this is VERY dangerous to have and is common in people I refer to as “skinny-fat”). So far there is not any sufficient research done in how weight training helps with mood-altering.
So, when we break it down, both have some great benefits. If you are looking for a great way to get healthy and lose weight while trying to alter your body. By simply making sure you have a balanced workout that allows both weight training and cardio will be the perfect mix for you to reach any health or fitness goals you have. If you would like to learn more about any Beachbody Programs that offer a great combination of both weights and cardio, feel free to contact me. I would love to help you find the PERFECT program for YOU!