“What is the best exercise for me? Strength training or Cardio?”

Nearly everyone questions what is better for exercise, weight training or cardio? The answer is both are extremely important. Your goal will guide you to what training is best for you, however this does not mean that you only do one method of training.

If you are rehabilitating an injury or training to increase strength, although you may be doing predominately resistance exercises it is still important to work on your cardiovascular system, as it will improve your bodies muscular endurance. The same goes for if your goal is to complete a run, swim, or ride involving cardiovascular exercises as the main focus. It is still important to do strength training, as it will decrease injury risk and improves your efficiency.

As you can see from the table below, cardio and resistance training are both beneficial for many different body systems. The shaded areas under cardio and strength, identify which type of exercise has the greatest effect on the various health and fitness variables. The higher the number the greater effect achieved.

Cardio training is highly effective for improving lung capacity and endurance time, as well as being effective for decreasing body fat percentage, improving good cholesterol and reducing bad cholesterol, and decreasing blood pressure.

Resistance training is highly effective for improving bone health, strength, and physical function, as well as being effective for increasing lean body mass, glucose metabolism, and endurance time.

Our Exercise Physiologist, can help you clarify your goals and design the most effective, balanced training program to help you meet them.

http://www.thehealthytruth.com.au/cardio-vs-weight-training-which-is-best/