Strength training or cardio? “If you’re a serious person who wants to tone your body, cardio is a waste of time.“ Do you agree with this statement by the late Leroy Colbert? Many people often focus on cardio, short for cardiovascular, thinking that it’s the only efficient way to lose excess fat weight, become toned, or become healthier.
Strength training, combined with cardio(aerobic exercise), may be a far more efficient way to tone, strengthen, and maintain a long term, positive body composition.
The notion that “cardio” is the only best way to lose weight has pervaded gyms and exercise circles for years. Focusing only on cardio when it comes to excess fat loss may not be a good idea.
An hour’s worth of jogging or cycling on average barely burns 500 calories. Even high intensity aerobics for an hour may only just surpass 500 calories on average. Strength training + cardio, however, is considered by many to be superior than cardio alone and does much more than just burn calories.
Cardio(aerobic exercise) benefits include an improvement in brain power, better sleep, better circulation, a boost in one’s mood, and a strengthened immune system to name a few.
Strength training benefits include improving bone density, the heart muscle becomes stronger and healthier, more calories are additionally burned because of an increase in muscle mass, improved posture, reduced back pain, the list goes on… Always view strength training + cardio, with good dietary supplementation, as a healthy lifestyle option.
Many times we get so preoccupied with losing weight that we make goals to lose a certain amount then when we reach that goal we tend to ‘slack off’ and gain all of the extra weight back again.
Consider making strength training + cardio your method of exercise. It may very well give far superior benefits than if one decides to do cardio, cardio, cardio.
What type of strength training one may ask? Important things to know about strength training can be found here.
If one enjoys doing cardio by itself, then continue to do so, however strength training + cardio may be a more beneficial way to elicit long term, positive health results.