Cardio VS Weight Lifting: The Differences and Benefits
The battle between cardio and weight lifting has been waging since both of the work-outs were invented.
It has been marred by facts and myths that are unending hence throwing people that use either of the methods either for fitness or weight loss in mayhem.
Truth of the matter is each of the processes has its own advantages over the other even though the two may seem to be different.
However, myths and fallacies aside, let us have a deeper look into the differences and benefits of either of the processes in different reasons of pursuing either.
Losing weight.
For people that are trying to lose weight, there is a slight balance as to which of the two you should pick.
On one hand, cardio is the best calorie burner pound for pound.
It is estimated that for every minute that you are on cardio you burn around 12 calories while you burn 10 in the same time frame while lifting weights.
However, due to the metabolic spike that weight lifting causes while in an attempt to help your muscles recover, it causes an estimated 25% more of calories to be burned.
In simple terms what this means is that if you burn 200 calories while lifting weights, you actually burned 250 calories.
Weight lifting in the long run proves to be a better and more efficient way of burning and keeping away fat.
Reducing stress.
It is estimated that 15 minutes if aerobic activity twice or thrice a week does a great deal of work to reduce anxiety and stress.
Cardio is a great contributor to the stimulation of production of extra serotonin that is pivotal in improving stress symptoms.
On the other hand, as much as weight lifting has shown promising results in dealing with stress, the progress has been noted to be quite slow and also the results of such studies have not been conclusive.
Therefore, if you want to burn of some steam, it is better to opt for the cardio in that case.
Prevention of injuries.
In this case, cardio loses some vital points.
The repetitive nature of cardio work-outs means that they put extra pressure on the joints and also leads to faster wear and tear.
This may mean that you will be on the sidelines quicker and more easily.
While weight lifting has its fair share of problems, there are work outs that seem quite beneficial when it comes to such a situation.
Work-outs like squats, rows, lunges and presses all work the core and involve the bending of multiple joints.
The advantage with this is that the functional strength that it gives the brain and the muscles allow for quicker contractions helping to prevent joints like the ankles from injuries.
This type of weight lifting training is called functional strength training.
Longevity.
When it comes to adding vital days to your life, cardio is unmatched.
This is more so because cardio gives the heart a good work-out.
A healthy heart will mean that with each pump there is more oxygen circulated around the body.
Furthermore, cardio work-outs like aerobics help to reduce inflammation around the heart.
In general cardio helps to keep diseases like high blood pressure, osteoporosis and stroke which are life threatening illness at bay.
Research shows that lifting weights twice a week can prevent you from gaining intra-abdominal fat.
However, that is just about it.
Weight lifting falls short when it comes to longer life.
Better physique.
There is a significant difference between the confidence that athletes feel and the confidence that weight lifters feel.
For athletes being able to complete a course and cross the line, they are confident and trust that their cardio paid off.
However, if you are from the gym and fill that your muscles are a bit bigger, it is not a fallacy.
Science explains that as you work out, blood rushes into your muscles making them appear more toned and swollen.
Research shows that after an intense period of strength training participants were more impressed with their physique than those that participated in cardio.
What's more, seeing the results tends to make one try going for the heavier weights and the results of that are self explanatory.
If you are looking for a more attractive physique, then weight lifting is the way to go.
Speed and endurance.
There is a fine line that comes in to play when speed and endurance are put into comparison.
While training your core, stride power and pumping will be great for short races and making sure you have better explosion, putting in the miles and learning how to breathe will allow you to go fast and more so longer without putting your body through substantial damage or pain.
So if you are looking for utter speed, weight lifting would be the way to go but if you're looking to participate in marathon, then cardio should be your preferred choice.
Regardless of which work-out you think is best for you, it is best to make sure that you get the most of out of it for the best results.
If you opt for cardio, make sure that you lengthen the durations of your work-outs.
This will put more pressure on the vitals which overtime improves the overall health.
Pumping your arms helps make the work-out more efficient and wholesome while making sure you do more than two types of cardio helps to diversify and target more areas of the body.
Increasing the intensity and hardness slowly is also a great way of making sure that cardio works for you.
On the other hand people that opt to go for the weights should make sure that they warm up before they start lifting.
It is essential in helping them not pull a muscle.
Secondly picking the right weight for you experience is important.
Make sure that you pick a weight which you can lift while maintaining the right posture to get the most out of the work-out.
You should also monitor your breathing and make sure that you have a spotter for safety purposes.
The most important and most forgotten part in weight lifting is cooling down.
It is just as important as warming up.
Depending on the type and reason for working out, cardio and weightlifting both have their benefits in varying fields.
It is also worth noting that there is no one particular field in which one method has been completely overruled over the other.
As such you can adjust your preferred method to make sure that it works for you and your cause and targets the desired areas for better results.
It has been marred by facts and myths that are unending hence throwing people that use either of the methods either for fitness or weight loss in mayhem.
Truth of the matter is each of the processes has its own advantages over the other even though the two may seem to be different.
However, myths and fallacies aside, let us have a deeper look into the differences and benefits of either of the processes in different reasons of pursuing either.
Losing weight.
For people that are trying to lose weight, there is a slight balance as to which of the two you should pick.
On one hand, cardio is the best calorie burner pound for pound.
It is estimated that for every minute that you are on cardio you burn around 12 calories while you burn 10 in the same time frame while lifting weights.
However, due to the metabolic spike that weight lifting causes while in an attempt to help your muscles recover, it causes an estimated 25% more of calories to be burned.
In simple terms what this means is that if you burn 200 calories while lifting weights, you actually burned 250 calories.
Weight lifting in the long run proves to be a better and more efficient way of burning and keeping away fat.
Reducing stress.
It is estimated that 15 minutes if aerobic activity twice or thrice a week does a great deal of work to reduce anxiety and stress.
Cardio is a great contributor to the stimulation of production of extra serotonin that is pivotal in improving stress symptoms.
On the other hand, as much as weight lifting has shown promising results in dealing with stress, the progress has been noted to be quite slow and also the results of such studies have not been conclusive.
Therefore, if you want to burn of some steam, it is better to opt for the cardio in that case.
Prevention of injuries.
In this case, cardio loses some vital points.
The repetitive nature of cardio work-outs means that they put extra pressure on the joints and also leads to faster wear and tear.
This may mean that you will be on the sidelines quicker and more easily.
While weight lifting has its fair share of problems, there are work outs that seem quite beneficial when it comes to such a situation.
Work-outs like squats, rows, lunges and presses all work the core and involve the bending of multiple joints.
The advantage with this is that the functional strength that it gives the brain and the muscles allow for quicker contractions helping to prevent joints like the ankles from injuries.
This type of weight lifting training is called functional strength training.
Longevity.
When it comes to adding vital days to your life, cardio is unmatched.
This is more so because cardio gives the heart a good work-out.
A healthy heart will mean that with each pump there is more oxygen circulated around the body.
Furthermore, cardio work-outs like aerobics help to reduce inflammation around the heart.
In general cardio helps to keep diseases like high blood pressure, osteoporosis and stroke which are life threatening illness at bay.
Research shows that lifting weights twice a week can prevent you from gaining intra-abdominal fat.
However, that is just about it.
Weight lifting falls short when it comes to longer life.
Better physique.
There is a significant difference between the confidence that athletes feel and the confidence that weight lifters feel.
For athletes being able to complete a course and cross the line, they are confident and trust that their cardio paid off.
However, if you are from the gym and fill that your muscles are a bit bigger, it is not a fallacy.
Science explains that as you work out, blood rushes into your muscles making them appear more toned and swollen.
Research shows that after an intense period of strength training participants were more impressed with their physique than those that participated in cardio.
What's more, seeing the results tends to make one try going for the heavier weights and the results of that are self explanatory.
If you are looking for a more attractive physique, then weight lifting is the way to go.
Speed and endurance.
There is a fine line that comes in to play when speed and endurance are put into comparison.
While training your core, stride power and pumping will be great for short races and making sure you have better explosion, putting in the miles and learning how to breathe will allow you to go fast and more so longer without putting your body through substantial damage or pain.
So if you are looking for utter speed, weight lifting would be the way to go but if you're looking to participate in marathon, then cardio should be your preferred choice.
Regardless of which work-out you think is best for you, it is best to make sure that you get the most of out of it for the best results.
If you opt for cardio, make sure that you lengthen the durations of your work-outs.
This will put more pressure on the vitals which overtime improves the overall health.
Pumping your arms helps make the work-out more efficient and wholesome while making sure you do more than two types of cardio helps to diversify and target more areas of the body.
Increasing the intensity and hardness slowly is also a great way of making sure that cardio works for you.
On the other hand people that opt to go for the weights should make sure that they warm up before they start lifting.
It is essential in helping them not pull a muscle.
Secondly picking the right weight for you experience is important.
Make sure that you pick a weight which you can lift while maintaining the right posture to get the most out of the work-out.
You should also monitor your breathing and make sure that you have a spotter for safety purposes.
The most important and most forgotten part in weight lifting is cooling down.
It is just as important as warming up.
Depending on the type and reason for working out, cardio and weightlifting both have their benefits in varying fields.
It is also worth noting that there is no one particular field in which one method has been completely overruled over the other.
As such you can adjust your preferred method to make sure that it works for you and your cause and targets the desired areas for better results.
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