Cardio vs Resistance

The decision whether to do cardio or resistance training (weights) is a tough choice for some, mostly for those wanting to burn the most calories during their workout. Well, what if I told you, while resistance training may burn fewer calories during a workout, it’s still the better option for maximizing results.

Let me explain.

Imagine 2 friends—Amy and Stacey—walk into the gym together. Amy does cardio for 60 minutes while her friend Stacey does weights. Amy may have burned about 300 – 600 calories, depending on intensity. Stacey burned only about 200 – 400 calories. However, Stacey will continue to burn calories for the next 18 – 36 hours! Amy stopped burning calories the moment she turned off the cardio machine.

Why and how does this happen? In the simplest of explanations, when the body uses weights or does resistance training, you actually create micro tears in the muscle fibers. The body must work hard to fill or fix those tears within the body. This takes time and the body uses a lot of energy. The body also has to recuperate, and while cardio burns calories during the exercise like cycling or running, the weight training takes a lot more work, energy, and therefore will take 18-36 hours of calorie burn. Lucky you if you’re doing weights!

While a person who does cardio needs to work out daily, those who do resistance training can get away with training just 3 times per week to equal similar caloric burn for the week.