Many people who start on a weight loss journey find themselves stuck on this decision: cardio or weight training?

The two leading workouts each have their benefits, but each has a different effect on the speed and nature of weight loss.

Weight Loss Wars

Here’s a brief breakdown of cardio vs. weight training in terms of weight loss.

Cardio —More Calories Burned Off Per Session

The number calories burned during exercise depends on two factors: the size of your body and the intensity of the exercise.

People who weigh more usually burn more calories doing the same cardio exercise as people weight less. Cardio exercises are also more accurately measurable. You can find out the number of calories you burn during—say, stationery cycling, at a certain pace. That makes cardio a valuable part of a weight loss regime.

Also, you burn more calories during the cardio session than you would with a weight training session of equal duration with the same level of effort.

Cardio, in addition to fat loss, offers a great many other health benefits. It has a positive influence on your cardiovascular and lung health and muscular flexibility. You also increase stamina, which means that you are able to train longer and more intensely as you progress.

Weight Training—More Overall Calories Burned

The best part about weight training is that it is effective when you are not training. While you do not burn as many calories doing weight workouts as you would with cardio, this type of workout increases muscle mass, and by extension your resting metabolism rate—that is, the rate at which you burn calories in resting mode.

Studies show that people who go through a weight training session burn a higher number of calories in the hours following the workout than those who go for a cardio workout. One particular research recorded that the resting metabolism was raised for 38 hours post-weight training.

The Verdict

Both cardio and weight-training workouts offer unique benefits, all of which a person going through a weight loss journey, especially one with a more drastic goal, can use to their advantage.

In conclusion, a combination of cardio and weight training exercises may be the best course of action for an effective and healthy weight loss regime.

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