Benefits of resistance training vs. cardio

BY RACHEL MARY RILEY

Have you ever wondered why there are so many individuals that are super fit? For instance, if they put on weight or gain some muscle, they look really good in the eyes of others, but to them they do not feel their very best.

I will never forget the time when my co-worker told me to stop doing cardio and focus on resistance training. I never realized why. However, it was all purposeful why he kept telling me to do weight training instead of always doing cardio. Cardio is great, but what I discovered through my fitness journey is to maintain your body composition and performance, it is key to have balance between resistance training and cardio.

What is resistance training and cardio?

According to trusted resources, resistance training is any exercise that causes the muscles to contract against an external resistance with the expectation of increases in strength, tone, mass, and endurance. The external resistance can be dumbbells, rubber exercise tubing, your own body weight, bricks, bottles of water, or any other object that causes the muscles to contract.

There are several styles of resistance exercise. There is:

• Olympic lifting (where athletes lift the weight overhead like you see in the Olympics)
• Powerlifting (a competition where athletes perform the squat, deadlift, and bench press)
• Weightlifting (a sport where athletes lift heavy weights—typically fewer than six reps)

When you lift weights at the gym to get stronger or bigger or more toned, you are performing resistance exercise (Weil, 2022).

Cardio exercise, sometimes referred to as aerobic exercise, is a rhythmic activity that raises your heart rate into your target heart rate zone. This is the zone where you burn the most fat and calories. Part of what sets cardio apart from other types of exercise; such as training, is that it burns calories, making it easier to lose weight. (Paige Waehner 2022)

Cardio enhances sleep quality, especially if the exercise is moderate to vigorous in intensity.  It expands lung capacity, or the amount of air that your lungs can hold. It increases your body’s ability to become aroused, improves your body image, and even potentially helping to treat medication-related sexual dysfunction. It increases bone density when you do weight-bearing cardio exercises like hiking or climbing stairs^. The most beneficial thing is that it lowers stress, in part by improving your ability to cope with issues in a positive way.

The difference between resistance training and cardio?

Depending on your fitness goals, if you are a beginner and trying to lose weight, complete a lot of cardio. Doing cardio will increase your strength. Balance between doing cardio three days a week, and another three days of complete weight training. Creating awareness and balance during your workout program is key to accomplishing your goals.

Reference

https://www.emedicinehealth.com/strength_training/article_em.htm

https://www.verywellfit.com/everything-you-need-to-know-about-cardio-1229553