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Cardio vs. Strength Training – Which One is Better?

1 male skipping while the other is doing a bicep curl with a resistance band

For many years, most people have been told that cardio is the best way to lose weight.

Strength training then burst onto the scene as the ideal way to boost your metabolism and lose weight. This has naturally created two teams, and Duke University recently decided to find an answer as to which was better, once and for all.

Over 8 months, Duke University tracked 19 overweight and previously sedentary volunteers while they performed resistance training, aerobic exercise, or a combination of the two, and the clear winner was aerobic exercise. The cardio group lost 4 pounds (roughly 1.8kgs) while the resistance group gained 2 pounds (roughly 0.9kgs). According to science, a minute per minute, cardio burns more calories, so it works best for reducing fat mass and body mass. Resistance training is important for maintaining lean body mass, strength and function, and being functionally fit is important for daily living no matter what your size.

Ideally, in order to gain the most in your fitness journey, you should combine cardio and strength training, by starting with strength training and finishing off with cardio.

An American Council on Exercise study on exercise sequencing found that your heart rate is higher—by about 12 beats per minute—during your cardio bout when you’ve done strength training beforehand. That means more calories burned.

BODYTEC’s EMS training is an ideal form of strength training that works well with other elements of cardio. Pairing BODYTEC with your typical passion, such as trail or road running, swimming, cycling or anything else, is a great way to better your fitness and workout routine.

Find your nearest BODYTEC studio here today, and read more from our Your Fitness blogs.

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