February 23, 2015, by Lee Chrimes

The ongoing battle: cardio vs. weight training

by Indy Bamra from the University Park Fitness Centre

Battle of the exercises

There is a constant war of whether cardio is better than weight training in the gym, or doing more cardio than weights is more beneficial. Yes, some prefer one more than the other but for those wanting to lose weight, tone and develop more muscle mass then both forms of exercise will be valuable for you, so don’t make this a civil war between them in the gym!

Cardio gets you better fitness levels

Cardiovascular training, AKA ‘cardio’, is an excellent way to improve your health and fitness in general. It’s a great choice to get oxygen flowing through your blood, keeping your heart rate up and getting a sweat on.

If you’re stressing about uni work and exams, doing a bit of cardio 4-5 times a week will help keep your anxiety at bay, concentration levels high and help with getting a decent nights kip.

Not just for bulking

“Weights will make me more bulky” is something some women tell me at the gym, but what they don’t realise is that weight training will strip fat and turn it into muscle, making you more toned and stronger – it’s a double win for men and women! Ladies, don’t be put off and label it ‘masculine’, and don’t forget we don’t have enough male hormones in us to get really bulked!

Anyone can use weights to tone, bulk and strengthen your body. If you want to strip away fat and develop a muscular physique, weight training will develop your muscles and the more muscles you have, the higher your metabolism which will burn more calories even when you’re sat around not doing much.

I love weight training and it’s even made me change my diet, so much that I feel that my body craves more protein over fats and carbs to feel satisfied.

Balance is key

Most of us need to do both cardio and weights to get real results. Reaching your fitness goals requires you to train yourself mentally on how to balance all aspects of your life that will relate to fitness, for example:

• mixing workouts up with cardio and strength training will get your heart rate up and make you stronger
• leading a balanced diet will help improve your strength, health and fitness, encourage you to push yourself more when you work out and teach yourself to actually relax on rest days.

Cardiovascular and weight exercises aren’t arch enemies, they both need to be used to get optimum results or to lead a healthier lifestyle.

• Share on Facebook
• Share on Twitter
• Share on Google+
• Share on LinkedIn