Question: Which Burns More Fat – Resistance Training Or Aerobics?
There's a lesson I wish I had learned a long time ago. It is that there are other ways to burn calories and lose weight besides aerobics. Because it seems that resistance training may be as important for burning off the fat.
Hmmmm. No wonder I was struggling with weight loss even though I spent hours on the stationary bike and treadmill. Yet for some reason my fat loss was more or less minimal to say the least. More of less limited to what you could say was "not so much".
So if you are laboring under the assumption aerobics are best for fat burning too maybe a second look is called for. To find out just where resistance training fits into the big picture here.
Yet haven't aerobic exercises always been touted for fat loss? For a couple of reasons. Aerobics are easy and not all that tasking compared to other options. And they're easy to understand. Hit your personal fat burning zone. Remain there for a duration of 35 minutes or so. And that's it.
And don't forget you can often distract yourself with TV, music or other types of entertainment when doing aerobics.
On the other hand, strength or resistance training is synonymous with work. At least so we think. Struggling to do 2 or three sets of 12-20 reps with weights doesn't even sound like fun. Which may explain why so few choose to get out of their aerobics comfort zone.
But let's do a reality check here and take a hard look at the list of relative benefits of cardio exercise versus strength training as defined. With an easily overlooked drawback thrown in too.
When it comes to burning off fat here's how I see what cardio offers.
You burn slightly more calories with your cardiovascular routine than with weights or resistance training.
Your body burns fewer calories after the fact though - that is after your workout is over.
Another impact is a these can cause problems from the serious stress put on your joints and muscles unless you're doing water aerobics.
Okay but what fat burning results does resistance training produce?
While the number of calories burned depends on the number of reps and amount of weight used, truth is you can burn about the same amount of calories you would with a decent aerobic workout.
But don't miss this. You will still burn calories - even as you sleep. That's because your metabolic rate stays elevated as your muscles repair and rebuild. We're talking maybe as much as 30% elevation for a long as 36 hours later.
Any core workout that strengthen your ab muscles means there's less chance of injury because you're improving your overall balance and coordination.
There you go. Resistance training helps you lose fat and develop muscle tissue that burns more fat. So now that you know that, what's your next step?
Well for one you don't want to go overboard and ditch your cardio routine after reading this. No, the sensible thing is to combine low intensity aerobics with moderate weight training. Because aerobic activities offer their own health benefits.
They strengthen your heart and lungs making them more efficient.
They enhance blood circulation.
They assist in the development of improved stamina, endurance, and level of fitness.
They can help speed repair of muscle tissue damage resulting from your strength training workout.
Okay so what takeaway should you be getting here? Simple. You're better of following a comprehensive program of resistance, cardio plus improve eating habits which will combine to lead to a leaner, fitter you.
Do not forget to check out other articles about workouts like jumping rope found at MeltOffTheInches.com. Because if you don't know the rope jumping benefits then you don't know what you're missing. That site is where those who want solutions to problems with losing inches go for help.