Cardio or weight training, which is better?
Both have many benefits. It also depends on what you hope to achieve from your workout plan. Women often feel that weight training will make them bulk up, but that’s not true when specific training is done to create lean muscle instead.
The Benefits of Each Workout
Cardio workouts are recommended because they improve cardiovascular health, but the health benefits don’t stop there. Cardio workouts are also great for lowering blood pressure, regulating blood sugar, reducing asthma symptoms, reducing chronic pain, aiding in sleep, helping with weight loss, improving the immune system, and boosting brain power and mood.
Best of all, cardio workouts are affordable to anyone and can be done by almost any age group. Examples of cardio workouts including brisk walking, swimming, jogging, running, cycling, playing sports, and even heavy cleaning and gardening.
Weight training has its own set of benefits. As we age, muscle mass can turn to fat. Weight training helps ensure your muscles stay muscles. It can also give you the strength and stamina to work harder and for longer. It’s not without its health benefits either. Weight training improves bone density and strengthens connective tissue, muscles, and tendons.
The Right Plan for Your Needs
What’s your goal? If you’re trying to improve your health and lose weight, cardio is definitely the way to go. It is recommended that you do 2 to 3 intense cardio sessions per week to lose weight.
On the other hand, if you’re concerned about toning your muscles and making your body stronger to prevent injury, weight training is the best option. If you have arthritis or mobility issues, resistance cords may be of benefit to you.
How You Can Benefit from Both
Alternately doing cardio and weight training is the best way to drop the pounds while toning up, strengthening and sculpting your body. Each of these workouts complements each other. What you won’t get from cardio, you can get from weight training and vice versa.
As you can see, it’s not so much a question of if you should do one or the other, but why you aren’t doing both. Both forms of exercise can help your body. Cardio focuses on everything from your heart to your immune system while weight training helps you get stronger so that you’re less likely to injury yourself. Everyone can benefit from both.
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Shannon began A Girl’s Gotta Spa! beauty blog in 2005 to morph her love of beauty and in educating women on what truly works and what does not. In 2013 she launched a bath and body line as an extention of the beauty blog. One thing she always has on her at all times? Lip balm.
