Should I Start with Cardio or Weights?

This is one question that every single person who starts trying to pursue a more active, healthy lifestyle asks.  I asked this question, my friends have pretty much all asked this question.  Most everyone has wondered at some point what would be better for them.

What Does Cardio Do?

Cardio exercises (StairMaster, treadmill, elliptical, cycling, running, walking, sprints, jump rope, etc.) increase your heart rate and are excellent ways to burn fat.  Your body will use fat and carbs for energy during the exercises.  And if you perform High Intensity Interval Training (HIIT), you can get a more efficient workout (better burn in less time).

What Does Weight Training Do?

Weight training builds your muscles and gives you tone and definition.  Muscles increase your body's metabolism naturally; some research suggests that muscle burns 5.5 times the amount of calories as fat.  So if you want to lean down and get in shape, you should always incorporate weight training in your routine somehow.

5 lbs of fat vs. 5 lbs of muscle

My Body Just Doesn't Burn Fat Like it Use To

Lou Schuler's New Rules of Lifting for Women states that during your 20's-30s, you will begin to naturally lose about 0.5 pounds of muscle per year (unless you are working to maintain or build your muscle mass). 

Now factor in that muscle increases your metabolism (meaning your body burns more fat with muscle).  If you've been slowly losing that muscle due to not performing any type of resistance training, then of course your metabolism has slowed down. 

When I read this in the New Rules of Lifting for Women, it's like a light bulb went off.  I hadn't been doing any sort of weight training at all and  I was already in my late twenties, so obviously I'd lost a bit of natural muscle mass.  I cannot begin to count the number of older women who've said to me, "Just wait until (insert younger person's name) gets older; it will catch up with him/her, you'll see.  They won't always look that great."  Statements like those just come from lack of understanding the root cause of the decreasing metabolic rate as we age.

Which Should I Do?

Incorporate both.  It's best to do some sort of weight training and cardio.  If you're just starting, try following a weight training routine and after your workouts, do about 15-20 minutes of some type of cardio.  Or if you're more hardcore, doing cardio first thing in the morning on an empty stomach can be pretty beneficial, and then do a weightlifting session in the afternoon. 

Regardless of what you do, the hardest step will be the one out your front door to head to the gym.  But realize that every single person (whether big or small) has to start somewhere.  And once you've gotten started, the rest comes a whole lot easier.

If you're a newbie in the gym and are so afraid you'll look like an idiot by the weight racks that you just want to do some cardio while getting a feel for the gym (like I sort-of did), then that's perfectly fine.  Give yourself some credit; you're getting started.

Think baby steps. 

Baby steps

Don't Forget Your Diet

Remember, there's an 80/20 rule for weight loss; 80% of your weight loss will be contributed to your diet, and 20% is contributed to your workout.  If you don't eat properly, you will be working your tail off in the gym merely to maintain and not to improve.  If your want better results, proper nutrition is where it's at.

Bottom line: You've got this.  You can do it.

=) Amanda