Is It Better To Do Strength Training Or Cardio Exercise?

Strength Training Or Cardio?

When it comes to exercising, many of us are always trying to find the perfect solution to every problem. We don’t like our legs, so we look for the way to fix it. We don’t like our arms, so we look up ways to get the perfect arms.

Unfortunately, there’s no clear cut way of getting the body that you want, and different factors come into play when deciding whether it’s better for us to do strength training or cardio exercise.

What’s The Difference Between Strength Training And Cardio 

Strength training doesn’t mean bodybuilding. Strength training, sometimes called resistance training consists of pushing or lifting weights. This could be as simple as curling a set of dumbbells, or performing body weight exercises. Strength training often involves cyclical forms of exercises, performed in sets of a certain number of repetitions.

Cardio fitness exercises come in many forms. It’s defined as any type of physical activity that raises your heart rate and blood circulation. Examples include cycling, running, jogging, walking and swimming.

Is It Better To Do Strength Training Or Cardio Exercise?

Whether you’re male or female will play a part in how you exercise and how effective different exercises are. While men can lift a lot heavier and build larger muscles than women, this doesn’t mean that they should concentrate solely on strength training. Likewise, women shy away from strength training for fear of building large and unattractive muscles. This is a myth as women will not become bulky with strength training as they have low levels of testosterone that create the bulky shape. Building muscle tone can help to lose weight easier and shift excess fat.

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Your Activity Levels

If you’re quite active throughout the day, you’re already doing a fair bit of cardio. This might be your job which keeps you on your feet and moving out within a fast-paced environment. If this is the case, you might want to consider concentrating on strength training when you hit the gym.

If you don’t move very much and have a sedentary job, such as working in an office, you can use your exercise sessions to have a 50/50 balance between cardio and strength training. Many people spend about half an hour of each when they visit the gym.

Your Health And Fitness Levels

Apart from looking at your genes, activity levels and other factors, you also need to think about your own health and fitness levels and what you’re actually capable of doing. If you have heart problems, for example, you won’t be able to do strenuous exercise such as running on the treadmill for length periods of time. Also your doctor will probably advise you against any type of heavy lifting or resistance training.

If you have bad knees or a bad back, you shouldn’t try to lift anything very heavy. But you can lift smaller weights in order to tone up. Cardio should also be done in a more relaxed manner, and you might find that you can increase the incline on the treadmill rather than increasing the speed, for example.

What’s Best For You?

There’s no perfect answer between the merits of strength training or cardio  that will work for everyone and give you the perfect body that you want.  You need to think about yourself as an individual and experiment to work out the best method for you.  What you should be doing is strength training on alternate days, and enjoying limited cardio or aerobic exercises on opposite alternate days.

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