Ever been told that if you wanted to lose weight, that you should go run a mile?
“It burns lots of calories! Running will help you lose lots of weight. Lifting makes you bulky; don’t do that.”
In this final post in our False Fitness Advertising series, we bust the myth of “Cardio is Better than Weightlifting for Weight Loss.”
Read on!
Cardio Better than Weightlifting?
Many of us think cardio is better than weigh lifting because:
- It burns more calories per session than weightlifting.
- Some of us have noticed we’ve lost the most weight when we did cardio, and lost less weight while lifting weights.
- We think that the more we sweat the more calories and therefore fat that we burn.
Let’s examine each claim one by one.
First, cardio does in fact burn more calories per session.
Running, for instance, has been shown to burn more calories than any other cardio activity (between 650 to 1,000 calories per hour depending on intensity levels and one’s weight), followed by swimming and then cycling.
A good weightlifting workout might burn 300-400 calories per hour.
However, what we aren’t considering is that although weightlifting burns less calories per minute, the body continues burning more calories post workout to recover from the workout!
Excess post-exercise oxygen consumption or EPOC, often called the “afterburn effect,” is the increased use of oxygen and calories after you stop exercising. It’s the energy your body uses to return to a resting state.
So although you “only” burned 400 in a a single weightlifting workout, your body continued burning calories for up to 3 days after you were done. The moment you hop off the treadmill though, all calorie burning stops.
Secondly, many do experience losing weight much more quicker when they go on a running regimen vs. when they start lifting.
But, many also do not like the way they end up looking after such weight loss: skin flaccid, scrawny and weak.
On the other hand, others who lift find although they didn’t lose as much weight, that they are more toned, trim and strong. What gives?
What gives is the simple difference between weight loss and fat loss.
When we run, because of the lack of strength training, not only do we lose fat, but we also lose muscle.
When we strength train though, while we’re losing fat weight we are also gaining muscle weight which is why although the scale doesn’t move as much, but we look and feel completely different!
Thirdly, the more we sweat the more calories we burn?
Sweating doesn’t burn a measurable amount of calories. However, sweating out enough liquid may help you temporarily lose water weight.
So especially if you just started running and sweating (maybe with the help of sweat bands and sweet sweats) then you’ll notice weight dropping quickly.
But, it’s important to ask ourselves: are we looking to lose weight, or specifically to lose fat weight and at the same time build muscle? What is our goal?
The Verdict
Many of us think cardio is better than weigh lifting because:
- It burns more calories per session than weightlifting.
- Some of us have noticed we’ve lost the most weight when we did cardio, and lost less weight while lifting weights.
- We think that the more we sweat the more calories and fat we burn.
The truth is that:
- Weightlifting burns more overall calories due to EPOC.
- If our goal is to feel toned and strong, we should prioritize fat loss, not weight loss.
- Sweating loses water weight, not fat.
Cardio and all its forms (running, cycling, swimming) all have their benefits, especially for heart health and longevity.
However, strength training is a far superior tool for losing fat, building muscle and should be coupled with cardio activities to promote a happy, healthy fit life.
What are those benefits?
Will share in the next post!
In the meantime, if your goal is to transform the way you look and feel, give me a call at (908-341-0232) to schedule your free No Sweat Intro Consultation to see which one of our transformation programs would be best for you!
Coach B.
