The Truth About Cardio For Weight Loss

Today we are going to talk about cardio versus weight training for weight loss. Which is the best and which one burns more calories so you can concentrate on it and get the most bang for your buck when you make time to workout?

A very common thing to hear from a new client is something like this. "Is it true that weight training burns 47.8% more calories and for 35.4% longer than cardio done at 65.7% of max heart rate?"

Really? Who cares? Are you going to run the math on that and try to figure it into your weight loss calculations or are you more concerned about hitting the gym today and what your kids are going to eat for supper?

Complicated does not work.

And all those figures are always subjective any way, depending on who funded the study, when it was done, and who they were testing on, and all that. Once those studies are done and the heard stampedes, they will change their findings in a couple of months anyway. Next month they may do a study, which changes it.

Same as they may do a study with changes that you don't need a gram of protein per pound of body weight now - you need 0.8 grams. It changes all the time.

As it stands now, the effect of cardio rapidly drops off as almost just after the session plus a bit. So what you see on the dial, plus a little bit is your total burn for that effort. However if you lift weights it does elevated it for a sustained period of time, whatever that time is, depends, but it is longer. And, as an added benefit, though, the muscle that you do put on or that you maintain is calorically more expensive to maintain on the body. This means if you can replace your dimensions and fill that out with nice, shapely muscle it's going to cost you more to exist calorically than if it was fat. Muscle is alive and consumes energy to do its job and takes energy to sustain itself. Do you understand what I am saying?

You keep the calorie party burning when you do resistance training and it's even more important for the ladies than the men.

Women have less muscle tissue to start with generally speaking. You've heard it before. "Men have an easier time getting in shape when they start exercising" Do you think it's a coincidence that they like to lift weights and have more muscle to start with? There is no such thing as coincidences. Only events tied together that you don't understand yet.

Now you could also just watch what you eat and lose fat, yes. It's a longer and less beneficial process though. If your goal is to be full of energy while being strong with a fast running metabolism, then a mix of resistance training, excellent nutrition and a dash of cardio is the best way to go.

I hope you find this helpful and the next time you are offered a solution in the bottle instead of honest effort to attain your goals, run the other way. The worst that can happen is you save some money and burn some calories.

About the Author

Ray Burton is a personal trainer in Calgary Alberta. He has trained for Golds Gym, World Health Club and the Canadian Military. Now running his own personal training company "Buildingbodies Personal Training" and promoting his book "Fat To Fit", Ray enjoys helping people live better lives through fitness.