One of the biggest debates that still remains strong among fitness enthusiasts across the globe is the question as to which one is better and more effective – cardiovascular exercises or wright-exercises. We understand that when you are enrolling yourself for a gym membership, you are not only investing your money, but you are also spending a lot of time and energy into it. As such, you would want your investments to be worth it. Whether it is improving your body composition or increasing strength, you should be better aware of what these two types of exercises offer you.

Our goal is to be your guide so that you are able to make a wise and healthy decision and pick the suitable one for your needs. Don’t get us wrong! Both of them would help in giving you stellar health and a strong body, but yes their implications are indeed different from each other. Today, we answer every query that you may have related to the topic of cardio vs weight-exercises.

Cardio vs Weight-exercises – Understanding the Differences

To settle the age-old debate of cardio vs weight-exercise, we are going to take a direct approach into understanding what they each bring to the table. After a brief overview of both of them, we will then take a closer look into figuring out which one would work for you.

Let us start with cardio, which stands for cardiovascular conditioning. Cardio exercises are aerobic activities wherein they use oxygen to increase your heart rate and breathing. Running is considered to be the most polarizing cardio exercises. But, honestly, any activity that makes you breathe faster and harder while also increasing your heart rate is considered to be a cardio exercise.

Moving on, weight-exercises, also known as resistance training or weight training, are anaerobic activities. Evident by their name, they include lifting free weights such as kettlebell, dumbbell, barbell, and other weight machines.

Cardio vs Weight-exercises – Why to Choose Cardio Exercises?

When it comes to boosting your endurance, nothing can beat cardio exercises. These exercises improve your aerobic capacity, which is basically the amount of oxygen your blood receives and uses. They allow your lungs and heart to move oxygen throughout your body in a more efficient manner.

You would be able to burn more calories through cardio exercises in comparison to weigh-exercises. In a study conducted by Harvard Medical School, it was seen that a 155-pound person burns around 372 calories when he runs at a 10-minute per mile pace for 30 minutes in comparison to 112 calories if he or she lifts weights for the same duration.

Cardio exercises are also better at helping you lose more weight since they are highly efficient in burning fats.  

Cardio vs Weight-exercises – Why to Choose Weight-exercises?

Although weight-exercises do a decent job at burning calories, the main agenda in their case is building of strong muscles. Research has proven that weight-exercises help in increasing lean muscle mass.  

Cardio exercises burn calories only during a sweat sash, whereas weight-exercises keep burning calories throughout the day. This is because of the muscles you are building, which, in turn, boosts your resting metabolism. What you need to understand here is the fact that muscles help you in burning more calories when it is resting in comparison to fats.

It has also been seen that people who continuously perform weight-exercises witness a significant improvement in their metabolic rate.

Another major benefit of weight-exercises is that it can play a significant role in increasing your bone destiny. This would ultimately lead to the strengthening of your bones. Stronger bones mean that you would be able to prevent fractures as well as osteoporosis.  Furthermore, strong bones would be able to support your joints better. As such, there will be a significant decrease in any risk involving arthritis or shoulder injuries.  

Cardio vs Weight-exercises – Why to Choose Both?

You need to understand that cardio and weight-exercises are not mutually exclusive. The whole debate of cardio vs weight-exercises should be put down. You don’t really have to pick only one. In fact, by combining the two, you would give yourself the best of both worlds.

Not only you would be able to gain muscles, but you will also be able to lose fat. Of course, it would demand a lot of time from you, but it would be worth it if you want to work on your body.  Muscles have more density than fat. As such, you can’t really be dependent on the weight-scale to track your weight loss, especially if you are doing both cardio and weight-exercises.

Doing both of them together would also improve the health of your heart. In addition, they would do wonders for depression and anxiety.

Cardio and Weight-exercises – Which One to do First?

Now, if you have decided to do both and are confused as to which one to do first, then let us help you out.

If you are participating in an upcoming race, then we recommend you to perform cardio before weight-exercises.

However, if your goal is to build core strength, then you should perform weight-exercises before cardio. The same goes for those who are looking to train only their lower-body muscles.   

Generally speaking, five to eight 30-minute cardio regimes per week are enough. As for weight-exercises, 2-3 days a week of full-body exercises with each session lasting between 20-30 minutes will suffice.

Summary

People have been questioning for a long time as to which one is better in the fight of cardio vs weight-exercises. Cardio exercises help in burning more calories during the exercise, losing weight, and improving endurance. On the other hand, weight-exercises help in building muscles and in burning more calories throughout the day.

Running, cycling, Zumba, etc. are some of the most common forms of cardiovascular exercises whereas dumbbells, kettlebells, and barbells are examples of weight-exercises.

You don’t necessarily have to pick only one between them. Combining them both will help you gain muscles and lose weight, both at the same time.