Have you ever been in the gym and felt intimidated by all of the bulky weight equipment? Were you afraid of embarrassing yourself by not doing it properly? What if you were told that you would burn more fat lifting weights? Well, we want to explain the differences between strength training and cardio, and how they each benefit you.
Strength training is using weights and resistance to build lean muscle tissue on your body. This is done by properly breaking down your muscles completely and then giving them the adequate rest time to heal and get bigger. The bigger your muscle mass, the faster your metabolism will be.
Cardio is also a key component in staying healthy, but in a very different way. Cardio is good for your heart health and to keep your cholesterol levels in check. However, cardio fails to build muscle like strength training does. Cardio will only speed up your metabolism while you do it.
Think of it like this, Cardio will help you lose weight while the strength training will help you sustain it by keeping your metabolism going while you aren’t in the gym. We want to make sure you incorporate both cardio and strength training into your workout plan.
If you have any questions on how to use the equipment and proper form, we are always here to help you! We’re your trainers so you can always count on us for any questions.
Thanks for posting this! This is one of the first things I tell people when they are trying to lose weight. I think people tend to lean toward cardio when working on building healthier bodies- but like you said, both are important because they work the body in different ways! I love strength training- I honestly believe its the reason my metabolism is so much faster than it was before. I read that each lb of muscle burns 30-50 calories, even while resting, while each lb of fat only burns 2-4 calories. So strength/resistance training can significantly boost your metabolism. Here is my question- I have been doing a lot of elliptical lately since its too cold to run outdoors. Will putting my elliptical on the highest level of resistance build muscle and tone my legs, or simply bring my heart-rate up higher? I like the idea of it doing both, but I am not sure how much that kind of resistance training does for me?
Well, Amanda an elliptical is a little bit different than most cardio equipment. It actually will help your muscular endurance and build a slight amount of muscle if you increase the resistance. However, it won’t provide you with a significant muscle gain like traditional strength training would. If you are looking to gain alot more muscle we would recommend combining your elliptical workouts with a few traditional strength training exercises =]. We hope this helps!
I’m definitely one of those people who leans toward cardio and avoids the machines. Even though I KNOW that building muscle will allow me to burn more fat and see more results, I can’t bring myself to get in the weight room. I get overwhelmed every time I think about it, and just don’t like strength exercises in general. It’s really creating a wall for me fitness wise!
Could you recommend or steer me toward a plan that’s a very basic and effective strength training routine?
you can try printing out our slim down for summer plans! They are simple and effective workouts that mostly use light dumbbells and your own body weight to help you build lean muscle tissue… http://live-lean.org/workouts/slim-down-for-summer/