It's the age old debate which is better weights or cardio? Which will help me burn more fat? Which one will help me lose the most weight? Which one is better for me?
The answer quiet simply is BOTH. Both weight and cardio training play an equally important role in exercise. Regardless of what you're trying to achieve from your training.
Weight training builds lean muscle. It's a known fact that the more muscle we have the more fat our body burns therefore we have a faster metabolism. This applies to both exercise and daily activities. When we do a moderate to heavy weights session our heart rate increases helping us to burn more calories plus we'll keep burning calories faster for days after our weight training session. Weight training has many other benefits too including helping our bone density, flexibility, helping strengthen our joints plus ladies it decreases the risk of and can reverse osteoporosis. [ You can read about all the benefits of weight training here ]
Cardio on the other hand is great for our cardiovascular system. It helps to burn fat and makes our heart and lungs strong. The best type of cardio training is HIIT (High Intensity Interval Training). I will explain more about HIIT in the next newsletter. The basic concept of HIIT training is having a short high intensity working phase followed by a short recovery.
If you do a mix of both cardio and weight training you'll notice the differences FAST! You will lose weight a lot quicker. Try and stick to 3 day cardio and 3 day weight training for an even balance. If you want to do both cardio and weight training on the same day, make sure you do your weight training first. If you do your cardio first you'll burn out fast and won't benefit from your weight session as much.
Always remember that there are 2 key factors when it comes to weight loss. Both exercise and diet; don't think that after you've done a training session you can eat whatever you want or you'll ruin all your hard work! Make sure you eat a healthy balanced diet and get at least 7.5 hours sleep each night.
REMEMBER:
- WEIGHTS: build muscle = the more muscle we have the more calories we burn while resting and exercising.
- CARDIO: is essential for a healthy cardiovascular system. Make sure you do HIIT rather than long distance, it's better for weight loss and scientifically proven to burn fat faster!
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