Weights vs. Cardio: The Strengths and Weaknesses

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It’s the age-old debate: cardio or weights? While cardio burns more calories per session than weight-training, weight-training helps the body to burn more calories at rest, after the workout has already ended, according to the National Institute of Health.

Weight-training is more effective than cardio at building muscle, and muscle burns more calories at rest than other tissues, which explains why weight-training can help increase resting metabolism. In fact, a study published by the U.S. National Library of Medicine, which measured participants’ resting metabolisms over 24 weeks of weight-training, found a 9% increase in resting metabolism in men and a 4% increase in women.

With this being said, weight-training is not extremely helpful for weight loss, according to the American College of Sports Medicine. But even if your weight isn’t changing, that doesn’t necessarily indicate a lack of progress, as your body composition could be improving (i.e. losing fat, gaining muscle).

“Cardio is really beneficial to improve your stamina, vascular endurance and VO2 max, which is how you use oxygen during exercise, and it also burns a lot of calories,” said certified zumba instructor Tatiana Traore. “But strength training is also very beneficial, as it allows you to build and maintain muscle mass and this helps lower your overall body fat and increase your metabolism.”

A common fear when it comes to weight-lifting is “getting bulky,” but this is actually a misconception. Due to women’s hormonal makeup, weight-lifting doesn’t typically result in gaining bulk, but rather, lean muscle, according to Livestrong.com.

With this being said, there are some things you can do to ensure that you get the results you desire from lifting. If building lean muscle is your goal, you should perform a full-body strength-training workout at least twice a week, planning your workouts so that you have a minimum of 24 hours between sessions, according to a study in the Journal of Applied Physiology.

While strength-training, you should complete at least one set of eight to 12 repetitions for each muscle group, taking short breaks between sets (between 30 to 60 seconds). Additionally, you should minimize the number of sets you lift. This can be achieved by doing compound exercises, which work several muscle groups at once, as opposed to exercises which target only one muscle group.

“I go through phases of what I prefer between cardio and lifting, but from the research I’ve done and my own personal experience, you need 50/50 of both. So, I always alternate each day between cardio and lifting,” said junior biology major Noor Singh.

Ultimately, your workouts should be tailored to you and your goals and not feel like a chore.

“I enjoy just going on walks with friends or my roommate’s dog. I figure it’s better than nothing,” said junior Finance and Operations Management and Business Analytics major Yosi Talaminaei.

There are a lot of fun ways to get moving and to get fit, so there’s no need to pigeonhole yourself onto a treadmill or into the weight room if that’s not what you enjoy.