I will cover this debate from various angles.
1. To Burn Calories:
The rate of calorie burn is measured in metabolic equivalents. One metabolic equivalent (MET) is the quantity of energy your body uses up while at rest. Other leisure and physical activities have been measured and are given a metabolic equivalent. Cardio activities generally win the calorie burn off battle hands down compared to weight training. For example, even a fast walk which could be measured as high as 5 METs. Your traditional weightlifting workout scores only about 3.5 METs. However that's the conventional weightlifting program of sets and reps, resting a minute or more between each set. High intensity or interval routine weight training will be a lot higher on the metabolic equivalent chart. So I give cardio the nod as truly being the better activity in the weight training or cardio challenge to burn calories. However that may be a short sighted view. Read on to learn why.
2. To Burn Fat:
A long-term advantage you get from your weight training that helps burn fat is the fact that muscle burns more calories than fat. I've seen the difference factor cited from two to fifty times. The research is a little weak here but even on the conservative end wouldn't you rather have a pound of body weight burn twice the calories while sitting on the couch or sleeping? The metabolic workings that occur in a muscle cell require more fuel to perform than the processes happening in fat cells. And since there is no debate in the research that weight lifting is superior to cardio for building muscle I have to say weight training wins the "burn fat" battle of weight training or cardio.
Maintaining the long-term view is the benefit you get from lifting weights in the immediate hours after the workout is over. The body recovers and returns to its resting MET burn rate after all workouts but it comes down slower from weight training than from cardio. You get an calorie burn rate during the immediate few hours after completion of the exercise with weight training, the calorie burn tail.
3. To Prevent Injury:
By its repetitive nature cardio training is thought to be stressful on the joints, ligaments, tendons and the muscles whereas the routines typically applied for weight training are varying in their movement patterns. The weight training exercises (especially free weights) do more to activate "stabilizer" or secondary muscles involved in the activity. Weight training also requires your body to function in more planes of movement and axes of rotation. Therefore I give weight training the winner for prevention of injuries over the traditional cardio activity (running, treadmill, elliptical, biking, swimming). Cardio can move up to weight training's level on this measure if you choose things to do like racquetball, tennis, fencing, martial arts, and dance. These are good cardio activities where the movement patterns are varied but their disadvantage emerges when engaged in a competition. The short bursts of effort generated in heated competition are prone to cause injury versus the in control, slow movement in weight lifting.
And last but not least, what should govern what you do most is what works best for you. The fact is you gain the most from a fitness routine when you stay with it over time. Consistency is the most important factor in success so it generally follows. What you prefer to do is what you are likely to carry on doing over the long haul. So go with what works best for you and put the weight training or cardio decision as secondary.
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