Weight loss – Weights or Cardio?

The biggest question when beginning your weight loss journey is ‘what style of exercise should I do, cardio or weights?’ The answer to that question is not so simple. If you want to optimize weight loss you should incorporate a combination of both cardio and weights into your exercise routine. And here is why:

Let’s start with weight training (resistance). Weight training is often overlooked when it comes to weight loss as a lot of women don’t want to become “bulky” and believe they need to spend hours running on a treadmill to shred the kilos off. However, weight training has got amazing weight loss benefits which include burning fat when you’re not even exercising!!

• Weight training builds lean muscle mass when done regularly. And before you worry about becoming “too bulky”, women do not have high enough testosterone levels to bulk up from regular weight sessions unless specifically training to do so. By increasing your lean muscle mass, you are basically creating a calorie-burning powerhouse. Muscles require energy from the carbohydrates and fat stored in your body in order to carry out muscle contractions. More lean muscle mass means more energy is required to contract the muscles so if you have a higher muscle mass your body will be burning more energy throughout the day without you doing anything extra.
• Weight training helps to give shape to your body. Not only will it help with the weight loss but it will also help to give definition to your figure. Often when you lose a noticeable amount of weight from cardio you have lost both fat and muscle mass. However, when you build muscle mass through weight training you are adding muscle mass and losing fat so your body figure will have more natural feminine curves. This can often be seen as more of a significant body transformation.
• Weight training also is what helps to develop your strength which is extremely important as we get older as well as carrying out daily activities.

We’ve all heard about cardio and how beneficial it can be at getting rid of the winter warming layer around our waists but do we really know why? Cardio can be many things such as a long walk, run, cycling, HIIT session, swimming… the list goes on! Cardio can be done many ways and certainly contributes to overall weight loss.

• When doing a cardio style workout, you are burning a lot more calories during that exercise session than you would in a resistance session. However, the calories are only really burnt throughout the session not afterwards like weight training. This means for optimal weight loss through cardio you want to opt for long duration sessions such as a long walk or a low intensity long distance run/cycle/row etc. When beginning your weight loss journey starting off with long walks or light jogs can be great at shedding the first few kilos before beginning a more intense program of weights and cardio.
• Cardio is great for the health of your heart. When you exercise for long duration you help to improve your overall heart endurance which will in turn increase your stroke volume which is the amount of blood pumped by your heart with each contraction and decrease your heart rate which means your heart does not need to work as hard. This help to decrease your risk of cardiovascular disease and lower blood pressure.
• Cardio is the cheapest form of exercise and the exercise you can do pretty much anywhere with no equipment. If you can’t afford to get to a gym or you’re away from the gym and want to get some exercise in, going for a walk or run is the easiest thing to do which will help contribute to your weight loss.

Both cardio and weight training have their pros and cons but when it comes down to it incorporating a bit of both in your regular exercise routine will only benefit you along your weight loss journey. Mixing up your workouts and challenging your body with different styles of exercises like high intensity cardio or heavy muscle fatiguing weights are what will help with overall health benefits which can be even more important than weight loss. My biggest piece of advice would be keeping your body on its toes! Your body will begin to adapt to a regular exercise routine which can lead to a plateau in results unless you’re mixing it up regularly.

Enjoy your exercise routines!

Sam