CARDIO VS. WEIGHT TRAINING

  I thought I would blog about one of the biggest debates in the fitness industry. Regardless if you are competing or not, this will be of interest. The biggest question I get is "How much cardio do you do?" The answer may be surprising to you. Let's first look at cardio and weight training side by side.
  If you were to put cardio and weight training side by side and compare at the same intensity and time...cardio would win out. You will burn more calories in that time frame doing cardio. However, for the most EPOC (this is the post exercise oxygen consumption) weight training will win out. I have seen different reports as to how long you continue to burn calories, but this is what I have found the most. Cardio continues to burn a few hours after you stop exercising and weight training (some report) up to 48 hours. So in the end, weight training wins out. I learned thru my personal training certification thru NCSF that you can burn anywhere from 60 -80 calories more a day (doing nothing) for every pound of muscle you put on. So why wouldn't you want to build muscle?
  If you look at the physique of those individuals who run a lot or do some type of cardio (a lot) they are typically thin with very little muscle tone. So you have to decide what you want. Do you just want to be thin, or do you want to be thin and tone? I have heard a lot of people say to me. "Cardio works for me, if I miss for a week, I put weight on". Is that REALLY working? I can miss for a couple of weeks and not gain weight. Long periods of cardio "eat" the muscle. The less muscle you have, the lower your metabolic rate.
   Research is coming out and the first thing you should know is that the experts say do your cardio after your weight training session. You will burn more fat. So how much?
  Well, let me tell you what I do. I don't do cardio unless I am training for a show and I only start that at 6 weeks out. I will do 15-30 minutes at 70-75% of my max heart rate (where you can still carry on a conversation) after my weight training session. I should probably do that when I am not training, but I tend to plateau quickly when I add cardio, so I don't.
  What type of cardio should I do? Well, any kind will do. You can even do the high intensity type training as cardio. I like to go with the bike so I can work my legs. Typically, I don't recommend this to clients because any exercise where you are sitting on your behind is less effective than other alternatives.
  MY CONCLUSION: BOTH More weight training and less cardio. While cardio is great for the heart, I believe if your weight training sessions are intense enough, it is enough for your heart. My resting heart rate went from 76 to mid 60's with just weight training.
  Despite reading this, many of you will get back on that treadmill and start walking. If it is all you do, then great. But, if you have access to weights, then you need to start lifting. People can argue about the lack of cardio in my training routine, but take a look at my picture on stage again. I obtained that, and didn't have to do 2 hours of cardio like the other girls. Enough said.