Cardio Vs Weights For Fat Loss

by Aaron Pressley Galvin on 20th December,2018

Cardio Vs Weights For Fat Loss

Ok so the the debate rages on! Men tend to do too much weight training and dont want to do cardio in case they loose muscle mass and Women tend to do too much cardio and avoid weight training in the fear of gaining bulky muscles. So whats the correct ratio of weights to cardio in your routine to achieve the the body of your dreams?!

In my experience, not only as a personal trainer, but as gym goer myself I believe its not only the effort and method of training you put in but it also depends a lot upon your gender, hormones and genetics. For the average male and female clients that are looking to loose a 14-28lbs of body fat and tone up I usually reccomemend this....

Men can get away with a little less cardio and more weight training due to the hormone testosterone flowing through their blood. Testosterone is a predominatly male hormone that is a natural muscle builder and fat burner and has a host of other positive benefits. Once testosterone levels increase from the proper training regime it will speed up the fat burning/muscle building process (Lucky guys huh?) So 3-4 days weight training to 1-2 days cardio would be adequate for male clients to build muscle and burn fat.

Women need to do more cardio and less weights due to the hormone estrogen flowing throught their blood. Estrogen is a predominatly female hormone and its a natural fat storage and distribution hormone (also causes crying! haha joking :P) So for that reason I believe women need to perform more cardio to keep their bodyfat down and less weights to insure toning instead of bulking. I reccomemend 3-4 days cardio and 2-3 days weight training, on some days performing the cardio & weights together in same workout session for a metabolism boost to further the fat burning effect. Remember ladies don't avoid weight training in the fear of gaining bulky muscles, keep the reps high and sets low and make sure to train the whole body in one session. You simply cant get toned without some amount of weight training.

Of course all this information is uselss unless it is governed by a sound nutritional meal plan condusive to your goals i.e low-moderate carbohydrates and moderate-high protein intake. You can train as hard as you like but you wont see any results if your not taking the nutritional side of things more seriously.

- APG.

 

Last Modified: Thursday 20th December 2018