Cardio vs. Strength Training

lovelife094
lovelife094 Posts: 9
in Fitness and Exercise
Hey everyone, from experience I've noticed that I definitely sweat and feel more sore after I strength train than cardio. Has me thinking if cardio is even necessary? What do you guys and gals think? I'm new to all this, so correct me/teach me a thing or two lol.

Replies

  • AllanMisner
    AllanMisner Posts: 4,140 Member
    Fat loss comes from what and how much you eat.

    Any exercise should be based on other fitness goals (strength, muscle mass gain/retention, cardiovascular, endurance, mobility, speed, balance, agility, etc.). So, when asking what matters most, what are your goals?

    Lacking any real direction, I’d always go for strength training for one very simple reason: when you’re cutting fat and not lifting weights, you’re likely losing muscle as well. You’ll end up with a better overall body composition if you eat at a slight deficit and lift heavy. You’ll retain more muscle as you lose fat. This means, paying a lot less attention to the scale and more to how you look and feel (body fat percentage, size, and energy).

  • lovelife094
    lovelife094 Posts: 9
    Makes a lot of sense! Thank you :)
  • SueInAz
    SueInAz Posts: 6,592 Member
    edited April 2015
    They both have their place. I definitely sweat a lot more when I run than when I lift, though. Cardio is for fitness, stamina and burning calories. Strength training is for strength (obviously!) and will help you retain lean muscle mass, and therefore lose more fat, while you lose pounds. It really all depends on where your priorities lie. I decided I wanted muscles more than I wanted to be thin and weak so I started lifting last year.

    I run 3-4 days per week anywhere from 5K to 10 miles (depending on if it's race season or not) and lift heavy full body twice per week.
  • 999tigger
    999tigger Posts: 5,235 Member
    Then you arent doing your cardio at sufficient intensity. Exercise is open ended to the amount of effort that you can put in. If you dont have much weight to lose or you dont want a decent cv system then skip it.
  • AllanMisner
    AllanMisner Posts: 4,140 Member
    The amount you sweat doesn’t mean you’re not working as hard. They’re two different energy systems and therefore affect people differently.
  • DeniseB0711
    DeniseB0711 Posts: 294 Member
    I don't seem them as a versus, but rather something to be done together. I prefer a work out regime that is Strength, Cardio adn Flexibility combined. If i am not following a packaged plan, it looks something like this, Cardio, Upper Body Strength, Cardio, Lower Body Strength, Cardio, Total body Strength, Flex Training.

    Not everyone would like to be strong, and be able to run a 5K and need two yoga blocks doing a V sit reach.
  • AllanMisner
    AllanMisner Posts: 4,140 Member
    DeniseB0711 wrote: »
    I don't seem them as a versus, but rather something to be done together. I prefer a work out regime that is Strength, Cardio adn Flexibility combined. If i am not following a packaged plan, it looks something like this, Cardio, Upper Body Strength, Cardio, Lower Body Strength, Cardio, Total body Strength, Flex Training.

    Not everyone would like to be strong, and be able to run a 5K and need two yoga blocks doing a V sit reach.

    You’re right that not everyone wants or needs to be elite at any one fitness modality, but consider this:
    - Lean muscle mass is a key indicator for longevity.
    - Strength and muscle mass degrade in untrained people by 1% per year after age 35 (consider what that means at age 70).
    - Muscle is more bioactive (by a factor of three) over fat. This means it burns more calories, helping you get leaner.
    - Falls are a primary killer for elderly primarily because they don’t have the musculature to maintain balance or catch themselves in a fall.

    Now, none of us are at that point now, but now is the time to make sure we invest in preventing that from happening.

    There is value in spreading your fitness time, but early on, you’re only going to have so much effectiveness and having some focus will give you better results. Once you’ve reached your fat loss goals, then mixing up your training makes more sense.

  • callsitlikeiseeit
    callsitlikeiseeit Posts: 8,626 Member
    i do both. mainly cardio, but just recently have started adding in the strength work and am really liking it!
  • Emilia777
    Emilia777 Posts: 978 Member
    Cardio isn’t “necessary” for weight loss, as I assume that’s what you mean. You lose weight by maintaining a caloric deficit, and how you obtain that is entirely up to you. I expect you’re familiar with CICO by now: calories in, calories out.

    I do both cardio and strength training: cardio because I enjoy it and like burning some extra calories to speed up my weight loss, and strength training because I enjoy it and I want to maintain my muscle mass and gain strength.

    So really, it’s entirely up to you what sort of exercising you want to do. Strength training is definitely beneficial during weight loss, so I always recommend that :smile: . I don’t know what program you use, but I’m on Starting Strength and just love it.
  • lovelife094
    lovelife094 Posts: 9
    Emilia777 wrote: »
    Cardio isn’t “necessary” for weight loss, as I assume that’s what you mean. You lose weight by maintaining a caloric deficit, and how you obtain that is entirely up to you. I expect you’re familiar with CICO by now: calories in, calories out.

    I do both cardio and strength training: cardio because I enjoy it and like burning some extra calories to speed up my weight loss, and strength training because I enjoy it and I want to maintain my muscle mass and gain strength.

    So really, it’s entirely up to you what sort of exercising you want to do. Strength training is definitely beneficial during weight loss, so I always recommend that :smile: . I don’t know what program you use, but I’m on Starting Strength and just love it.

    Thank you so much for your info. Thank you all!!
  • Emilia777
    Emilia777 Posts: 978 Member
    Happy to chime in :smile: . Good luck with everything!
  • MeanderingMammal
    MeanderingMammal Posts: 7,866 Member
    edited April 2015
    lovelife094 wrote: »
    Hey everyone, from experience I've noticed that I definitely sweat and feel more sore after I strength train than cardio.

    In the absence of any more detail it's difficult to say anything more meaningful than you can already read in every one of the hundreds (probably thousands) of strength v Cardio threads on the boards.

    Sweat is an indicator of body temperature, and little more.

    As far as cardio is concerned, different modes will have different effects and if you mean droning along on the elliptihell at low intensity for an hour, that's a very different proposition to mountain biking for an hour, different again to playing tennis for an hour or going out for a run.

    Even going for a run/ ride doesn't capture whether that's a stady state session that build aerobic capacity and endurance, or a tempo session that improves lactate threshold performance or an intervals session to improve maximal oxygen uptake.

    There are a fair few knuckledraggers on here who'll tell you cardio work is a waste of time, though the majority who know what they're on about will advocate a balance of the two. The balance depends on your goals.
  • LKArgh
    LKArgh Posts: 5,178 Member
    edited April 2015
    lovelife094 wrote: »
    Hey everyone, from experience I've noticed that I definitely sweat and feel more sore after I strength train than cardio. Has me thinking if cardio is even necessary? What do you guys and gals think? I'm new to all this, so correct me/teach me a thing or two lol.

    For weight loss, you need neither, you just need to eat less. For health and fitness, you need ideally both. Whether you sweat or not, and whether you feel sore or not, it is irrelevant. You could wear a warm jacket and sit on a bench under the sun and sweat. And you could just sit at an awkward position for an hour and feel sore. Neither activity will improve your health, strenght or stamina. As for what it "more" necessary, most drs (e.g cardiologists) will tell you that to stay healthy, if you can only do one thing and there is no chance of you following a balanced exercise program, at the very least, do some aerobic activity, even just walking around the block a few times.
  • SingingSingleTracker
    SingingSingleTracker Posts: 1,866 Member
    edited April 2015
    lovelife094 wrote: »
    Hey everyone, from experience I've noticed that I definitely sweat and feel more sore after I strength train than cardio. Has me thinking if cardio is even necessary? What do you guys and gals think? I'm new to all this, so correct me/teach me a thing or two lol.

    Hop on an exercise bike and set the resistance to a level while pedaling in the 88 - 100 rpms/cadence range so that your heart rate climbs above 140 bpm and up into the 145 - 165 area. Now hold that for a few minutes to 20-30 minutes and get back to us on the sweating issue...

    ;-]
  • kalamitykate83
    kalamitykate83 Posts: 227 Member
    I do both but mainly strength training then HIIT ... so a max of 20 minutes. But during my strength training I also do forms of cardio, i.e. box jumps, squat jumps, burpees etc. I find it works best as it keeps me on my toes and stops me getting bored!
  • s2mikey
    s2mikey Posts: 146 Member
    AllanMisner wrote: »
    DeniseB0711 wrote: »
    I don't seem them as a versus, but rather something to be done together. I prefer a work out regime that is Strength, Cardio adn Flexibility combined. If i am not following a packaged plan, it looks something like this, Cardio, Upper Body Strength, Cardio, Lower Body Strength, Cardio, Total body Strength, Flex Training.

    Not everyone would like to be strong, and be able to run a 5K and need two yoga blocks doing a V sit reach.

    You’re right that not everyone wants or needs to be elite at any one fitness modality, but consider this:
    - Lean muscle mass is a key indicator for longevity.
    - Strength and muscle mass degrade in untrained people by 1% per year after age 35 (consider what that means at age 70).
    - Muscle is more bioactive (by a factor of three) over fat. This means it burns more calories, helping you get leaner.
    - Falls are a primary killer for elderly primarily because they don’t have the musculature to maintain balance or catch themselves in a fall.

    Now, none of us are at that point now, but now is the time to make sure we invest in preventing that from happening.

    There is value in spreading your fitness time, but early on, you’re only going to have so much effectiveness and having some focus will give you better results. Once you’ve reached your fat loss goals, then mixing up your training makes more sense.

    All good points. Im 44 years old and have lost a good 95-100 lbs over the last 18-24 months. Im at the stage now where Im dong more serious strength training to regain lost muscle(due to the weight loss) and its sloooooow coming for us old guys :smile:

    For pure weight loss, especially at first I suggest rigorous cardio. Then, add weight training once you've dropped some weight. This will preserve muscle which is key. Once you are at an ideal weight range, lower the cardio volume and up the weight training volume. Thats worked for me. Im slowly adding a little weight on but its mostly lean mass. Thats what ya want.

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