Calorie/Fat Burn From Weight Training

JBliss1108

Hi All-

Long time lurker, first time starting a thread. First off, many thanks to those that take time to regularly contribute to these forums. I've found these forums a great source of information and motivation.

I've read many times that the calorie and fat burn achieved from lifting heavy can last as long as 40 hours post workout, whereas the burn from steady-state cardio is limited to as long an your heart rate remains elevated (maybe a tad longer, but pretty close). I've seen this so many times that I have accepted it as truth, but I don't recall anyone explaining why this is the case. Can someone please explain why the burn from weights is soooo much longer than a cardio workout?

I try to run 4-6 miles on Monday and Wednesday, then on either Friday or Saturday I run at least 6+ miles with friends. On Tuesday and Thursdays I go to the gym and bench, deadlift, sprint on treadmill, incline press, bicep curls, tricep extensions, leg press, calf raises, then sprint again on treadmill.

Thanks in advance.

stefjc

It is another case of comparing apples and oranges. Or trying to separate one part of the body from the rest....

An easy way to visualise it is to remember that cardio also involves using muscles, mainly type 1 but some type II also. These muscles are all experiencing resistance and so all need time to recover so your metabolism will remain high for as long as it needs to in order to repair them, both will experience hypertrophy too.