If You Had To Choose: Cardio VS Weights

In an ideal world, we'd have 26 hours to our day...90 extra minutes for sweet, glorious sleep and 30 extra minutes that would enable us to do cardio AND weight training at the gym.

Clearly, our world is not ideal and we must make every second count.

Making every second count is easier said than done, often times - working days are long and crazy, family commitments are exhausting and crazy and social engagements with friends are too infrequent, yet crazy, as well. In between the insanity of our daily lives, we seek solace, a moment or two for ourselves...and often these moments are found in the gym: a refuge to reinvigorate and find the strength to face the daily grind once more.

But with the scraps that remain in our day, which area of the gym allows us to make the best use of this time and gain maximum benefit: cardio or weights?

Ultimately, it depends on your goal; and, if you are like 99.43% of the people I know, your main objective is to get laid (ie to lose fat and gain muscle tone). To this end, I say stay in the free weights section. Not to discard the amazing health benefits of cardiovascular fitness, as it is pertinent to training, but...

As we pass through our 20's...and into our 30's...say hello to our 40's...and beyond...our metabolism plays a mean trick and slows down, translating into weight gain - sound familiar? As if time wasn't unkind enough, we also lose about 1/2 a pound of muscle tissue per year! So it is my opinion - and that of any other trainer worth their rate - that weight training is essential to boost metabolic rates, maintain long-term weight loss, burn fat and develop muscle tone.

While it is true that we burn more total calories during a cardio session than we do a weight training session - (because the work is performed non-stop, thus adding up to a higher number) - weight training has a longer lasting effect. When you train with weights, your muscles breakdown and grow, resulting in a metabolic boost. Remember, fat is not burned on the treadmill, but "in" the muscle...and the more muscle tone you have, the more your body has to work at maintaining. On average, each pound of lean body mass burns 11 calories a day, just by existing...so, if you are a 185 lbs man, with 14% body fat, and therefore 86% lean body mass, your body burns appromimately 1750 calories AT REST. Before the body starts to eat into your muscle as an energy source for this maintenance, it uses fat, first:

WEEEEEEEEE!!!

Of course, there is nothing like a little hardcore sweating action in the gym - steam room aside. Therefore, I try to hop on the treadmill as either part of a circuit set (ex. bench press, squated back row, step-ups, one minute fast run on treadmill) or in between circuits (ex. bench press, squated back row, step-ups, repeat twice, five minute run on treadmill). This lends to a brilliantly intense mix of cardio and strength training...and by the end, you'll be sweating like a hooker in confession - or the steam room.