Weights Versus Cardio: Thrive’s Balanced Approach to Strength Training and Cardio Is Key to Long-Ter

It’s time for us as women to embrace the fact that weight training complemented by cardio will help us reach our personal body composition goals. Long gone are the days when men pumped iron and women hit the latest cardio craze. Long-term fat loss and muscle definition require a more mixed approach to exercise. Strength training isn't just for the boys. In fact it’s an essential weapon in women’s battle of the flab! So what’s best for losing weight: cardio or strength work? Answer: Both! Want to burn through fat, increase your lean muscle mass, and acquire tone and muscle definition? Then you’re exactly where you need to be with Thrive’s balanced approach to strength training and cardio fitness.

Below are four key reasons why strength training is critical to long-term fat loss.

1. Post-workout calorie burn. What’s that you say? You burn through more calories long after your workout is over.

Studies have demonstrated that after a weight training workout, the metabolism can be boosted for up to 36 hours post-workout, meaning rather than burning say 60 calories an hour while sitting and watching TV, you’re burning 70. While you may think, ‘Big deal - 10 extra calories’, when you multiply this by 36 hours, you can see what a huge difference that makes in your daily calorie expenditure over that day and a half. When you figure out that on a monthly rate, it becomes even clearer how regular participation in a weight lifting session will really increase your calorie burning and thus fat burning capacity. 1

2. Consistent, regular strength routine = long-term metabolic increases. What’s that mean? Strength training increases lean muscle mass, which in turn serves as your calorie-burning powerhouse in the body.

While it’s great to be burning more calories for 36 hours after the workout, that’s not going to help you two weeks from now unless you are consistent with your workout program. What weight training will enable you to do is build up a larger degree of lean muscle mass, which then basically serves as your calorie burning powerhouse in the body. Therefore, the more muscle you have on your body, the higher this rate will be and the better the calorie burning results you will obtain 24/7. Since muscle tissue is fairly long-term (as long as there is some stimulus on the muscle and you are consuming enough protein it won’t be lost), this proves to be an effective long-run strategy for losing body fat. This is the primary reason males typically can eat more than females without gaining weight - they have more lean muscle mass on their body, thus they are burning more calories around the clock. To add to this point, it’s critical that you are realistic with how much muscle mass you can build in a given period of time. Naturally, males will be able to generate between 1-2 pounds of pure muscle mass in a given month and females will get about half that, around 1/2 -1 pound total. Over time though, with consistent efforts this will dramatically make you much more resistant to weight gain as you grow older, making it extremely beneficial. 2

3. Reshape your body and lose weight. Want tone? Definition? Strength training is the key to losing body fat.

Weight training completely allows you to reshape your body. Cardio training generally will help you lose weight, however typically this weight loss is going to be a bit of a combination between fat and muscle; therefore what you’re left with is a smaller version of your current self. When you are performing resistance training instead while following a hypocaloric diet, then you stand a better chance of losing strictly body fat, while helping to enhance the natural curves of your body. This lends for a much more attractive physique, which will give you a much better overall transformation than if you just lost weight doing cardio. If you’ve ever noticed someone who has lost a considerable amount of weight but still looks somewhat ‘soft’, that’s usually why. They have lost some fat, but at the same rate, their muscles aren’t overly toned, hence they don’t give off the same type of appearance. One thing that should be mentioned at this point is that many women will shy away from lifting weights, particularly going heavier with them (more than 5-10 pounds) simply because they believe that doing so causes them to develop rippling muscles that give off too masculine of a look. This is an unfortunate misperception because the fact of the matter is that females do not have enough testosterone in their body to develop this degree of musculature naturally, plus in order to build that type of muscle even with testosterone present, a great deal of food must be provided (which is another thing that most women are not doing). What lifting heavy weights will do though is raise their metabolic rate, promote greater fat burning, and help give them more definition when they do lose the body fat off. As you can see, what most women fear is actually what they should be doing, so, make sure you’re not making that mistake. 3

4. Cardio and its health benefits. Obviously strength training has multiple health benefits, but cardio training will have a bigger influence on cardiovascular health, which is why Thrive provides a balanced approach to both strength and cardiovascular training.

“Strength training is a critical component of any program than emphasizes long-term fat loss," said Alwyn Cosgrove, co-author of the book “The New Rules of Lifting.” Think of it like this: Muscles are “thirsty” from a metabolic perspective. The more muscle you have, the more fuel you are constantly burning. This is the advantage strength training offers if your goal is to lean out. A treadmill or elliptical trainer is often seen as the quick fix to shed body fat, and they are certainly useful if your goal is to improve cardiovascular health, endurance or simply to burn some extra calories, but strength training is a powerful ally. 4

Thrive is a process for a new way of living. It is not a quick fix but rather a sustainable and enjoyable lifestyle.

In the spirit of establishing consistent, regular strength routines, Thrive is thrilled to announce that the next 8-week session kicks off on Monday, October 26! New class times available.

You will have the opportunity to set new goals, make a plan, and take action to achieve results. Be confident and ready for the holidays! More importantly, you are committing to long-term changes!

1-3 http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/fat_loss_training_wars.htm

4 http://www.livestrong.com/article/421082-weights-vs-cardio-your-guide-to-the-perfect-body/

#Thrive