Cardio and Resistance training

Somewhere along the line many moons ago I read somewhere that to lose weight I had to do cardio. That cardio was essential! Whatever source I stumbled upon even gave me a magic number. "30 minutes." Great, even I could handle that! And in no time I'd be a sexy mofo. Today, I learned that this is not simply true.

What is cardio?

"Cardiovascular exercise is any type of exercise that increase the work of the heart and lungs." (taken from webmd)

So things like walking, jogging, swimming are common cardio work outs. I was under the impression that this was the best exercise to burn fat.

Benefits to cardio.

• It is a way to help you lose weight.
• It makes your heart and lungs stronger.
• Reduces the risks of heart attack, high choloesterol, high blood pressure and diabetes.
• Like any other work out it will make you feel better, reduce stress, boost energy, etc.
• Helps with endurance

Cardio is important, and I still believe that fitting in that half hour or longer of cardio is important, but here are some of the things I didn't know.

I was under the impression that after a work out your metabolism is raised for up to as long as 24 hours after! From what I've read today that isn't quite true with cardio. If I'm mistake feel free to correct me, but what I read today claimed that "you stop burning calories once you step off the treadmill." Well that's a bummer!

And also, when you lose weight you want to lose pounds of fat, you don't want to lose muscle. A decent chunk of the weight loss you lose with doing cardio alone will be fat.

You should still do your share of cardio. It does have a lot of positive affects but don't let it be the staple to your weight loss. (That should be your diet!!)  For the best results possible you should include resistance training.

What is resistance training?

Resistance training, also known as weight training, or weight training, works to increase muscle strength and endurance. These are usually done in repetitive motions, like lifting weights or using specific exercise machines. Resistance exercises stimulates the development of small proteins in muscle cells which will enhance your muscles ability to generate force. In lament turns, it makes you stronger

Benefits of resistance training.

• Improved muscle strength and bone strength.
• Better body mechanics (such as your balance, coordination and yes even your posture)
• Like almost any other exercise strength training can aide in disease prevention. It can aid with the aiding in the pain of arthritis, bone density issues, and can even help improve glucose control. 
• Make you feel better, help with stress, boost energy, etc.
• More calories burned

Your attention was probably peaked at "more calories burned." It takes more calories to make a build and even to maintain muscles. This means, when we are sitting on the couch watching TV, you will burn more calories for the muscles than you would with fat. Strength training can increase your metabolism by up to 15 percent!

"Won't that make me bulky"

No. But this just about the oldest myth out there. Strength training will make your muscles stronger and denser, but not necessarily bigger. The people who have huge muscles work for years at this, they follow a strict diet, a strict training plan, and take supplements to get this way and they do it over a decently long time. Lifting heavy items, or following a work out regiments a few times a week isn't going to make you bulk up. I mean, look at it this way, some people jog every day, you don't look at their legs and fear that if you got your head placed behind their knee that they'd pop it like a pimple! Using your resistance band or your weights or dumbbells is not going to give you muscles the size of your head. What they will do is give you a toned look and ensure that all of the pounds you lose are fat pounds rather than muscle strength throughout your body.


Resistance training is not big and scary and hard, it's wonderful and productive and awesome. Get on it!