Limited Time: Cardio or Weights?

We all experience times when we aim to lose a bit of weight, but shedding those pounds can be challenging.

Sticking to a plan, being disciplined, and giving up our favorite indulgent foods is tough.

However, a fitness expert has highlighted common mistakes that prevent many people from successfully losing weight.

Shannon Collins, 44, known as The Gym Nurse to her 150,000 Instagram followers, frequently shares fitness tips online.

She is candid about her fitness journey and the effort she has put in to transform her body.

Now, she is offering advice on how others can achieve similar results, and her tips are straightforward.

According to Shannon, avoiding common pitfalls is essential for success.

In fitness, people often make simple errors that can "sabotage" their progress. One major mistake is relying solely on motivation to get things done.

Additionally, some people wait for the "perfect time" to start, which often leads to procrastination.

Conversely, expecting dramatic results too quickly and setting unrealistic goals can also be detrimental.

Shannon advises against extreme measures or "quick fixes" if you want sustainable change, and warns that making too many changes at once can backfire.

She also notes that focusing excessively on the scale is a mistake, as progress isn't always reflected by weight.

Weighing less doesn't necessarily mean you're improving, and avoiding weight lifting for fear of getting bulky is counterproductive.

Shannon emphasizes the need to adapt and persevere when challenges arise.

People often fall into these traps, which significantly hinder their progress. With years of experience as a trainer, Shannon has observed recurring patterns and habits that need to be broken.

Since posting her advice, over 1,100 people have liked it, and many have commented in agreement, praising the advice as "so good."

One commenter noted, "Yes. Consistency is key." Another added, "Whew - this is the tough love I needed today."

A third person shared, "I've made my journey a part of who I am and how it can make me a better person.

You're right, you have to have a positive mindset. Don't make it harder than it needs to be."

Back in 2016, I wrote an article with the somewhat provocative headline, “Yes, Professional Runners Are Weak.”

To be fair, I was echoing the sentiments of retired marathon runner Ryan Hall.

After retiring, the American record-holder in the half marathon hit the gym and transformed from a lean endurance athlete into a heavily muscled powerhouse.

“I’ve been small and weak all my life,” Hall shared in a Runner’s World interview. “I’ve always wondered what it would feel like to be big and strong.”

For Hall, bulking up also enhanced his overall energy. He told CNN in 2021 that his energy levels are “ten times better” now that he spends “60 to 90 minutes a day” lifting weights, compared to the days when he was running 130 miles a week. Who can’t relate to that?

While Ryan Hall might be an exception, his story addresses a longstanding debate in fitness culture—should you prioritize cardio or strength training? (For simplicity, this article will use “strength training” and “resistance training” interchangeably.)

Even though opinions shift over time, the trend toward prioritizing resistance training over cardio seems to be gaining traction, especially among certain fitness influencers.

Casey Johnston’s popular newsletter “She’s a Beast,” for example, promotes weightlifting as a counter-narrative to the “thin is in” mindset.

Even accounts focused on weight loss are questioning the emphasis on cardio.

Online fitness coach Katie Neeson, who runs the TikTok account @thefitmamalife, asks, “What if I told you that by doing less cardio, you could actually lose more fat?”

Her reasoning is simple—you can spend more time lifting weights.

One common argument for more time in the weight room is that resistance training improves body composition, a euphemism for looking more toned.

This debate often revolves around aesthetics.

If you have specific fitness goals, such as achieving a certain look or running your fastest marathon, it’s clear which type of exercise to prioritize. But what about general health?

Cardio vs. Strength Training Which is Healthier?

Professor Duck-Chul Lee, the director of the Physical Activity and Weight Management Research Center at the University of Pittsburgh, has authored numerous studies on exercise and long-term health.

Earlier this year, he co-authored a study on how different types of exercise impact cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk factors.

Published in the European Heart Journal, the study examined 406 adults aged 35 to 70, all of whom were either overweight or had high blood pressure.

Participants were divided into groups that did one of the following three times a week for a year:

·         One hour of resistance training

·         One hour of aerobic training

·         30 minutes of resistance training and 30 minutes of aerobic training

·         No exercise at all

After a year, only the groups that did aerobic-only or a combination of aerobic and resistance training showed improvement in their CVD risk profile compared to the no-exercise group.

However, while the benefits for those focused exclusively on aerobic exercise and those combining it with strength training were nearly identical, the latter group also gained additional benefits like increased lean body mass.

“The message from that study is that if people replace half of their cardio with resistance training, they get the same benefits for reducing CVD risk factors and extra benefits like increased strength and muscle mass,” says Lee.

This isn't the first time Lee has found that moderate levels of exercise can offer significant benefits. A 2014 study in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology (JACC) involving over 55,000 adults found that running as little as five to ten minutes a day at slow speeds provided similar benefits to running more than three hours a week.

“Runners were not happy about those findings,” Lee noted, explaining that he received hate mail from dedicated endurance athletes who felt their commitment was being undermined.

Nevertheless, the question of whether it's possible to do too much cardio remains unresolved.

What about Weightlifting?

A well-known 2022 study by Japanese sports science professor Haruki Momma found that resistance training reduced the risk of all-cause mortality, but the maximum benefits topped out at 30 to 60 minutes per week.

The study also cautioned that more research is needed to determine the potential benefits or drawbacks of high-volume muscle-strengthening exercises.

Lee mentioned that he had just received a grant to conduct a year-long study comparing the effects of different weights of weekly weightlifting regimens.

Benefits for Men vs. Women

More research is also needed to understand the relative benefits of exercise for men and women. A recent JACC paper titled “Sex Differences in Association of Physical Activity With All-Cause and Cardiovascular Mortality” examined the exercise habits of 412,413 Americans from 1997 through 2019.

The study found that men experienced the greatest mortality benefit (18 percent risk reduction in all-cause mortality) from 300 minutes per week of moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA).

Interestingly, women received similar benefits from only 140 minutes per week of MVPA.

Sex differences were also evident in muscle-strengthening exercises.

Men who regularly engaged in these activities saw an 11 percent reduction in cardiovascular risk, while women experienced a 30 percent reduction.

While there are caveats (as with most large-scale fitness studies, exercise behaviors were self-reported), the main takeaway is that sex differences should be considered when making exercise recommendations.

“A certain person, with a certain physique, might get a lot more out of 75 minutes of exercise than somebody with a completely different physique and body stature, who might need 350 minutes to get the same benefits,” says Susan Cheng, a cardiology professor at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center and one of the study’s lead authors.

Professor Martha Gulati, another co-author and president of the American Society for Preventive Cardiology, adds, “Anytime I see identical recommendations for men and women, my usual question is, ‘Where did that come from?’ Because chances are the data is not strong.”

Conclusion How Much Exercise Do You Need?

While more studies are needed to fine-tune sex-specific recommendations, current evidence suggests that most people, regardless of gender, should aim for the American Heart Association’s recommendation of 150 minutes per week of moderate-intensity aerobic activity, combined with at least two days a week of moderate-to-high intensity muscle-strengthening activity.

Everyone interviewed was adamant that the difference between doing a small amount of exercise—as little as five to ten minutes a day—and doing nothing is far more significant than the differences in health gains among those who exercise more.

Source: outsideonline

The opinions shared in the GymNation blog articles are solely those of the respective authors and may not represent the perspectives of GymNation or any member of the GymNation team.