If you’re working out faithfully, following every session and eating healthy, but still not losing weight, you might want to change your workout. I get a lot of questions from clients in Mt. Airy and other areas of Pennsylvania asking the same thing. They often wonder whether they should concentrate more on strength training or cardio to lose weight. The truth is you need both. Each plays a role in weight loss.
Strength training can benefit everyone and help burn calories.
No matter what your age, you’ll benefit from strength training. Seniors need strength training to prevent muscle atrophy that can lead to other conditions, including osteoporosis. One thing to remember when you’re doing strength training is that you need 42-72 hours of rest between sessions. Strength training causes micro tears in muscle tissue that need time to heal. The healing process is what builds the muscles.
Cardio is important for heart and pulmonary health.
If you don’t have cardiovascular health, just climbing stairs can be cumbersome and difficult. Cardio burns lots of calories too. When you do cardiovascular exercises, it can boost your spirits, burn off hormones of stress and help you sleep better at night. Good cardiovascular health helps you to workout longer, no matter what type of exercises you’re doing. It boosts circulation sending oxygen and nutrients throughout the body.
What’s better for losing weight?
Cardio burns tons of calories, but the calories come from both fat and muscle tissue. Weight training burns a lot of calories as well, but it builds muscle tissue at the same time. Why is that important? The more muscle tissue you have, the more calories you burn, since muscle tissue requires more calories to maintain. The more you have, the more calories you burn. Strength training also creates afterburn. It’s not a huge amount, but it all adds up to more weight loss.
- Weight training is important for changing your shape. You’ll lose more inches with weight loss. In fact, in some cases, you might not shed a pound, but lose one clothing size. Muscle tissue weighs more per cubic inch than fat tissue does, so a pound of muscle takes up less space than a pound of fat.
- You can turn any strength training program into a cardio/strength training workout. HIIT, high intensity interval training, sessions can help you do both. Interval training with weights are also helpful.
- Not only do you need cardiovascular training and strength training, you need flexibility and balance training. Flexibility training can help prevent muscle injury, back problems and for functional fitness.
- Our personal trainers at Urban Athlete Training can create a program designed specifically for your needs. It will include all types of fitness, which includes strength training, cardio, flexibility and balance.
For more information, contact us today at Urban Athlete