Resistance or Cardio—Which is Better for Weight Loss?
There’s a common myth that you lose more weight doing cardio because you’re sweating buckets while running on the treadmill. But is it true that it burns more calories than resistance training?
Let’s start with how to lose weight: you need to be in a calorie deficit (more on the blog here). A calorie deficit is created when you burn more calories than what you eat in a day which leads to a negative energy balance (remember - food is energy!). And to increase your calorie deficit, you can increase your physical activity which can be done with cardio, strength training, walking, etc.
So which one is better?
Well, that depends on the type of training you prefer. Both cardio and resistance/strength training are tools to keep up your sleeve to help with weight loss.
A cardio workout burns more calories than a weights session for the same amount of time. But don’t go flogging yourself on the treadmill just yet. Studies show that while the two styles of exercise produced similar changes in body fat percentage, resistance training increases your lean body mass, while cardio decreases your fat mass1.
So isn’t a decrease in fat mass what we want? That depends on your goals. Muscle mass is often lost if you don’t eat enough protein in a calorie deficit. This may decrease your basal metabolic rate (BMR) - how many calories you burn at rest. BMR accounts for 70% of your total daily energy expenditure (how many calories you burn in a day) so it’s important to maintain as much muscle mass when dieting as possible.
On the other hand, resistance training increases your lean body mass which also increases your BMR to create a calorie deficit. It’s important to keep in mind that if you’re in a calorie deficit, your metabolism will adapt and your BMR is generally lower during a diet so including resistance training can offset this2.
What’s the answer?
It depends.
There isn’t a one-size-fits-all approach to losing weight, and you don’t have to choose one type of exercise over the other. Instead, you should find an exercise that works for you.
At the end of the day, it’s personal preference and pick the one you’re more likely to stick to as a training routine. Our preference is to lift weights rather than flogging ourself over a run that we don’t actually enjoy.
Should you get a Personal Trainer? If your answer is yes, let’s have a chat and see if we can help you learn to love training as much as we do.
References
- Willis LH, Slentz CA, Bateman LA, et al. Effects of aerobic and/or resistance training on body mass and fat mass in overweight or obese adults. J Appl Physiol (1985). 2012;113(12):1831-1837. doi:10.1152/japplphysiol.01370.2011
- Wadden, T.A., G.D. Foster, K.A. Letizia, and J.L. Mullen. Long-term effects of dieting on resting metabolic rate in obese outpatients. J. Am. Med. Assoc. 264:707–711. 1990
