Humans have this innate and natural tendency to pursue what will be the most gratifying to themselves, and to produce the best results for that present moment. We hear the words, “more for the moment,” and we are immediately sold on the idea.
Like me, many people read or hear that they will burn more calories per workout session doing cardio over weight training and believe that cardio is the answer to burning fat and for quick weight loss. Although an athlete, I never appreciated the specific and sincere long-term benefits of weight training until I was in my early twenties. After finally becoming tired of not experiencing the results I wanted to from my workouts, I researched the importance of each of the body’s different energy systems in depth, and discovered the significance of weight training in relation to weight loss.
Although it is true that cardio workouts can burn more calories per workout session than weight training, the reality is that cardio workouts stop burning calories when the cardio activity stops. When you perform a session of weight training, your metabolism remains elevated long after the exercise and your body continues to burn calories for hours– and up to days– after a session of strength training. Strength training has what is known as Excess Post-Exercise Oxygen Consumption, where for several hours after a workout, the body continues to use any food that has been ingested and oxygen, to replenish the storage of glycogen in its skeletal muscle tissue.
In addition to EPOC (Excess Post-Exercise Oxygen Consumption), weight training builds muscle much more effectively than any cardio workout. The importance of this is that muscle burns more calories at rest than fat, and is more metabolically active than other tissues in the body. Henceforth, larger muscles will increase your resting metabolic rate, and the amount of calories your body burns at rest. Even when you are not working out, therefore, your body will be burning more calories and using more energy when it has more muscle. Contrary to what I thought I knew, I learned it is not cardio, but rather, strength training that boosts your metabolism and develops sustained fat and weight loss.
With that said, a good, sound workout regimen should truly incorporate both weight and resistance training as well as cardiovascular exercise.
