Do you hit the weights or hammer the elliptical machine? Weights vs. cardio is a commonly debated fitness question. Like most people, you probably have limited time to work out and want to make the most of the time you spend in the gym. You can reap the benefits of both cardio and weights by knowing the advantages of both and how to plan your workouts.
Benefits of Weights
Lifting weights will build muscles. Bigger muscles burn more calories during exercise and also at rest. This is also called lean body mass. Consider your lean body mass to be a large part of your metabolism; the hotter your metabolism burns, the more calories are needed to maintain that fire. Adding weight lifting to your exercise program will enable you to burn more calories, even when you're done with your workout and you're sitting at your desk the rest of the day. Weight lifting is more like your 401k--adding muscle now will pay off in the future.
Benefits of Cardio
Cardio, also called aerobic exercise, enables you to set fire to a lot of calories in a relatively short amount of time. Unlike weight lifting, the after-burn effect of cardio is short lived and does not provide long-term benefit to your metabolism. This does not diminish the importance of cardio both from a calorie-burning standpoint and the immediate return on investment. Cardio will be your first line of defense when you know you have over-consumed your calorie intake for the day or are trying to burn additional calories.
Battle Plan
Program your exercise week to include both weight lifting and cardio, but consider what type of investment is best for your goals. Weight loss is a numbers game; you must burn more calories than you take in to meet your goal. Use an online calorie calculator like the one at the Mayo Clinic website to figure out your personal calorie needs. If you are losing weight for an immediate goal such as an upcoming reunion or wedding, then doing cardio will support faster weight loss. Conversely, if your weight goal doesn't have a set date and you are concerned with not just losing weight, but changing the shape of your body, hit the weights.
Intensity of Both
The intensity, or how hard you work, of both cardio and weight lifting needs to be sufficient enough to produce a positive change. Studies suggest that participating in short bouts of vigorous aerobic exercise is just as beneficial as lower intensity cardio for calorie burning. When you engage in your cardio, do it at a level that you can maintain for a short period of time, but that leaves you breathless. Another way is to use the 1 to 10 Rate of Perceived Exertion Scale (RPE). To burn the most calories, you must be between 7 and 9 on the RPE scale. Your weight lifting program should include all the large muscle groups: legs, chest, back and arms. With each strength training exercise you do, you should feel fatigued and struggle to continue toward the end. Fitness Magazine's "Little Black Dress" workout combines both weights and cardio for a fun, exciting workout.
Best of Both
Successful maintenance of weight loss requires a permanent change in your lifestyle. Even if you're losing weight for a short-term goal, you should also consider making changes you can commit to for life. If you rely solely on cardio to burn calories to lose weight, then stop after your event, you will gain the weight back and be frustrated with yourself. The effects to your metabolism from lifting weights will continue if you continue to strength-train. Rather than just stopping your workout, modify it in a way that enables you to continue working out and maintaining your weight loss.
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