Strength Training or Cardio, Which Works for Weight Loss?

Strength Training or Cardio, Which Works for Weight Loss?

After all, everybody’s body is different, and so are everybody’s needs in a fitness journey. Some may want strength, some muscle building, some gaining, and some losing weight. That is why a single fitness mantra cannot be doled out to everybody. People target at losing weight go through all sorts of intense workouts so that fat can be reduced.

Some do strength training while others do cardio. But without the correct information, performing any kind on our own can cause trouble.

In such a situation, we will know today from this article: what is the difference between strength training and cardio, and what is more effective for weight loss?

What is strength training?

Strength training guides muscle development along with strength. Weight lifting, push up, pull up, planks, dumbbells, bench press, squats, etc. are different forms of strength training. These do not depend upon oxygen for energy though but make use of the glucose present in the body; that is why they are known as anaerobic activities.

What’s cardio?

Cardiorespiratory exercise, or aerobic exercise, is exercise that raises your heart rate. Examples include running, walking, biking, cycling, and swimming; in short, all such activities are energy-users requiring oxygen and are thus at times referred to by that term, “aerobic activities.”.

What’s better for losing weight

Needless to argue but cardio and strength training are altogether two dissimilar workouts, yet calories are burnt in both workouts, and they both come with their respective sets of pros and cons. Ideally, both of them hold equal importance in regular routine fitness. But in terms of losing weight from the dimension of reducing body fat, every exercise demonstrates the effect on weight. 

Of course, the bottom line under this condition is the weight decreases when you are able to burn more calories than you are actually eating. In cardio exercise, one must take the same activity for some time at high intensity, such as running or cycling. This surely helps in raising the heart beat and breathing speed of any person. This keeps both the heart and lungs healthy and helps reduce body fat rapidly. 

This too can vary according to the body of each person. This is because every person burns calories according to his weight. As evidence can be noted from a study in the USA, people who relied only on cardio only started to lose up to 4 times more fat than those who relied only on strength training. 

Nevertheless, it is very important to keep the muscles strong along with fat loss. Fat burning also takes place, as the metabolism goes high with gained muscles. They convert body fats into muscles, which reduce body fat and make the body look toned. This is the reason why doing both cardio and strength training together helps in overall fat loss.