For decades, there’s been a huge misconception in the general population about the best way to lose weight and burn body fat.
Which do you believe is more effective in dropping those extra pounds, cardio or resistance training?
You most likely choose cardio as your answer.
If you believe that cardio burns more fat and develops more muscle tone, you’re not alone in this assumption.
This is a general consensus among workout enthusiasts the world over.
However, in reality, resistance training is light years ahead of cardio when it comes to burning fat and losing weight.
If you want to burn the fat off your body, the fastest and healthiest way to do it is through some form of resistance training.
By the way, resistance training comes in many forms including; dumbbells, barbells, kettlebells, resistance bands, exercise machines, medicine balls, etc.
In comparison, cardio does almost nothing for weight and fat loss.
The Two Biggest Problems with Cardio
1)) Cardio Isn’t an Effective Fat Burner
The problem with cardio as a fat-burning tactic is that it simply doesn't work very well, especially when you compare the results to resistance training.
Let’s do some simple math to illustrate the point.
The average person might expect to burn about 300 calories from a brisk jog or walk in an hour.
However, what some fitness professionals don't tell you about is how many calories your resting metabolic rate would consume or burn off anyway.
Even if you did nothing but lie in bed, you would burn about 120 calories. That means all that jogging or walking really only burned you 180 calories. That's about half a latte from your favorite coffee shop.
Most people after doing a cardio workout feel like they need to eat a little more, and more than compensate for their workout with their increased appetite, due to their body’s need to refuel.
To make a long story short, cardio alone doesn't do much at all for burning fat or losing weight.
2)) Cardio Mainly Makes Muscle Movement More Efficient
Another common problem with cardio is that much of the gains people experience come not from an improved physique, but from more efficient muscle movements.
Once you get the body used to a certain movement, it can perform that movement much more efficiently.
As a side note, when the body is able to handle certain exercise movements, a person may stop making progress and hit a plateau.
For example; a runner might think he or she is improving if they can jog for an hour instead of 30 minutes.
But in reality, not much muscle is being developed. That increase in duration usually means the body is becoming more efficient at that particular movement, whether running, walking, etc.
If you put that same jogger on a bike, he or she won't be much better than they would have been before starting a running regimen.
Why is that?
It’s because the legs and their overall body haven’t actually developed that much in capacity.
Why Is Resistance Training Such An Effective Fat Burner?
Simply put, resistance training burns fat. I know this seems counter-intuitive. After all, everyone is always saying that to lose weight, you need to do cardio until you drop.
The reality is the biggest burner of calories in your life is your Basal Metabolic Rate (BMR).
You can expect to burn between 1600 to 1800 calories a day if you're a man, and 300 calories fewer if you're a woman, just from your BMR alone.
The best and fastest way to increase the number of calories you burn is to build more lean muscle tissue.
Increasing your body's muscle mass by just 5 pounds can potentially increase your BMR by about 400 to 600 kcal per day.
That's a massive increase. If you take your body fat percentage down and the amount of muscle mass in your body up, you'll naturally burn fat.
That’s just how the human body works.
The formula for losing weight and burning fat is simple; build more lean muscle mass, and let your body do the rest naturally, without all the complications.
Conclusion
You just discovered why resistance training is infinitely better for losing weight and burning fat than cardio.
Bodybuilders have known this all along, but the average person has no clue and believes that doing endless hours of cardio is more effective for trimming down.
That couldn’t be further from the truth.
Just ask any knowledgeable fitness trainer, and they will tell you the same.
The more lean muscle mass that you build, the more fat you’ll burn even while resting.
This will put your BMR into hyper-drive!
Cardio is a nice compliment to resistance training and has its rightful place in your workout routine.
Although not as effective as resistance training for burning fat, it can strengthen your cardiovascular system, which is needed to enhance your overall health, because the body works as a unit.
Here’s a visual assignment; pay attention to the physiques of those that only do cardio workouts. Then notice the people who incorporate resistance training with cardio exercises. Chances are the individuals who combine both types of workouts are more toned or leaner.
That’s just how the human body works, don’t argue with this fact.
If all these years, you’ve believed that cardio is better for burning fat, then it’s time to put that myth to rest by scheduling some resistance training into your weekly workout routines.
Go ahead and put resistance training to the test and I’ll bet you’ll love the results providing you remain consistent and maintain a healthy diet.
Like Nike says, “Just Do It!”
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