What is Better for Fat Loss, Cardio or Weight Training?

Both Cardio and Weight Training causes FAT LOSS but weight training is better and is a king when it comes to FAT LOSS. Now let’s understand how?

Cardio

Physical exercise that increases the rate at which your heart works is known as cardio. For example; running, walking, cycling, swimming, etc.  So, when we do cardio-vascular activities we burn calories only during the exercise and have no impact on burning the calories through the day.

Weight training

It means lifting weight to increase the strength and size of the muscles over a period of time. Example: Squats, Bench Press, Lat pull down, etc.

So, when we do weight training, we burn calories

• So, when we do weight training, we burn calories
• After the work out by 2 process namely LONG-TERM HYPERTROPHY and AFTE RBURN EFFECT OR EPOC (Excess Post-Workout Oxygen Consumption)

Now we shall discuss the 2 processes which make Weight Training the KING OF FAT LOSS

Hypertrophy

In a simple language, it’s the increase in the SIZE of the muscle.

When we do any weight training there is wear and tear of our muscles and in order to repair those wear and tear caused by the weight training, we give our body proper nutrition and proper rest, which results in increase of the size of the muscle in long run. As the size of our Muscle increase, everyone knows that increase in muscle size leads to increase in BMR (Basal Metabolic Rate: Rate at which our body burns calories at relative rest) which in turn leads to burning of calories at higher rate than earlier.

There is a distinct and clear inverse relationship between muscle and fat.

After Burn Effect Or EPOC

Again, in a very simple language, after the workout has finished it has an immediate effect on fat loss. The very repair work of muscles needed increased calorific requirement and our body keep on burning calories in order to restore the body to the normal or pre-exercise stage at an accelerated rate. To restore the body to the normal stage, body requires more of oxygen for such process and energy (calorie) is burned.

The After-Burn Effect is dependent on 2 factors

• Intensity of workload: A 6-8 rep max set will definitely cause more wear and tear at cellular level than a 15-rep max set, thus needing more repair work and therefore more calories are required in the after burn.
• The surface area of damage: Bigger muscle groups like Legs and Back will cause more wear and tear over a larger surface area than the smaller muscle groups like arms and shoulders, thus require more calories to repair that.

During EPOC the body is restoring itself to normal stage and thus consumes Oxygen at higher rate which mean energy is also expended at an elevated rate.

The following occurs during EPOC

• Body Temperature Increase: So as to bring the body temperature back to normal our body needs to burn more calories.
• Heart Rate Increases: Again, to bring back the heart rate to normal, the body has to burn calories.
• Respiratory Rate Increases: Need to burn more calories to get back to the normal.

There are many more such processes like Replenishment of Energy resources, Restoration of Circulatory Hormones, etc. which needs to get back to the normal stage. These all are the task which the body has to do after the cessation of the exercise other than the repairing of wear and tear. Thus, one can say or conclude that WEIGHT TRAINING IS THE BEST TOOL OF FAT LOSS.

Written By

Fitness Consultant

Faisal Khan