Cardio vs resistance

Many people jog, walk or cycle which is good, but if you add resistance training to your exercise regime you will speed up your metabolism, improve strength and decrease body fat.

Resistance training increases the amount of calories you burn even while sitting on the couch. This is because after each strength workout your muscles need energy to repair the muscle fibres. This also raises your metabolism 24-48 hours after your work out. Doing a circuit of 8 exercises for 8 minutes in total, can expend approximately 160 -230 calories. This is equivalent to what you would burn if you ran a 16km per hour pace for the same duration.

During a study on dieters (who lost weight) but didn’t do resistance training; on average they experienced a 75% weight loss from fat and the other 25% loss was from muscle. Muscle loss will drop your scale weight but it doesn’t improve your body composition, making it more likely to gain back the flab you previously lost. If you eat healthy and do an adequate resistance training programme you will protect your hard earned muscle and will burn 100% body fat.

Resistance training becomes more pertinent as you get older. An average person above the age of 30 years old will lose up to 5% of their body’s total muscle each decade. Worse yet, it is commonly replaced with body fat, which will increase your waistline as one pound of fat takes up 18% more space than muscle. The best thing about resistance training is that, unlike wrinkles, you can reverse these signs of aging (without an expensive operation).

Not only will you have stronger muscles, ligaments and tendons, but resistance training can reduce the odds of injuries and back pain whilst improving blood pressure and increasing bone density.  Various studies have also proved you will have a healthier heart and lungs, be less stressed, more productive, feel happier and live longer.

Resistance training myth busted – you won’t build muscles like a body builder!

With the many benefits associated with resistance training it is hard to understand why more people don’t do it. I believe this is due to a lack of knowledge and the misconception that dieting and/or cardio training is enough. Unfortunately, there are a lot of females who still believe that if they do resistance training it will cause them to gain huge muscles similar to a body builder. This is a myth - as to attain a body builder’s physique requires extremely heavy lifting and supplementation to enhance growth hormones.

If I have managed to convince you to start resistance training, then never forget that muscle weighs more than fat, so if you continue to eat as normal, initially your weight may not drop but your clothes will start to feel looser and you will start to see a more toned reflection in the mirror. 

The key to being slim, strong and fit is quite simple; eat healthy and conduct a balanced cardio and resistance training programme, at least 3-4 times a week.

Happy lifting and remember to seek medical advice before beginning an exercise regime and/or ask for guidance from an exercise professional.

Want to get started on a great resistance programme that will give you all the benefits mentioned in this blog? The Boot Camp with Kaz Training Programme ticks all the boxes when it comes to comprehensive resistance and cardio workouts.