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Originally Posted by Ecto-I
Well one does burn MORE calories in a given amount of time doing cardio than weight lifting. Additionally, aerobic exercise maximizes the fat loss to glycogen depletion ratio.
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Except that doesn't account for the calories burned AFTER working out, which is far more important. You might only burn 300 calories during a lifting workout, but you'll burn 4 times that amount in the next 48 hours without doing anything.
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The best workout routine would be of course to incorporate both weight training and cardio.
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Absolutely. You need both.
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So basically, I would disagree that standard weightlifting (unless you're talking about aerobic circuit training) does more for weight loss than cardiovascular activity if performed mutually exclusive.
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Here's what I'm saying: Cardio without resistance training isn't even in the same planet of effectiveness as resistance training and smaller amounts of cardio.
Most people hit the gym and sit on the treadmill for an hour. They might even manage to burn 600 calories if they're pushing it. Whew! I'm exhausted. Time to go home. And maybe they eat what they just burned off. Studies have shown that long sessions of steady-state cardio have a tendency to increase carbohydrate cravings in a lot of people.
On the other hand, you might be able to hit the gym, spend 35-40 minutes on a good resistance training routine, burn 300 calories, and then hit the treadmill or elliptical for another 20 minutes of some intense interval training and burn another 300. So, you've burned 600 calories in that workout, the same as a steady-state cardio session. Except your lifting has depleted your glycogen stores, making the cardio even more effective. And not only that, your body will continue to burn a significant amount of calories for 48 hours after that because of the lifting you did. Steady-state cardio alone won't do that (unless you're running marathons, in which case, you spend significantly more time training that 1 hour at the gym).
Cliff's Notes: Cardio is fine. Resistance training is better. Both is ideal. My post came out of frustration for the people I see at the gym around me all the time. I see the same people in the same cardio classes or on the same piece of exercise equipment and they weigh the same as they did 4 years ago when I first saw them at my gym. I get frustrated for them. Seems like such a waste of time.