For decades, conventional wisdom (and Jane Fonda) said cardio was the best exercise for weight loss.
Then
strength training muscled its way into the spotlight as the must-do
move for revving your metabolism and losing weight in your sleep,
prompting many exercise enthusiasts to join #TeamNoCardio.
So
a few years ago, Duke University researchers took to the lab and
conducted the largest study of its kind to compare the two and get an
answer once and for all.
After 8 months of tracking 119
overweight and previously sedentary volunteers while they performed
resistance training, aerobic exercise, or a combination of the two, the
clear winner was ... aerobic exercise.
The
cardio group lost about 4 pounds while their resistance training peers
gained two. Yes, the weight gain was attributed to added lean mass.
However,
that muscle mass didn't lead to any meaningful fat loss over the course
of the study. In fact, the aerobics only group shed more than 3½ pounds
of fat while the lifters didn't lose a single pound despite the fact
that they actually exercised 47 more minutes each week than the cardio
group.
Not surprisingly, the
cardio-plus-resistance group improved their body composition best --
losing the most fat while adding some lean mass. But they also spent
twice as much time in the gym.
It's simple math, says study co-author
Cris Slentz, PhD, assistant professor of medicine at Duke University.
"Minute per minute, cardio burns more calories, so it works best for
reducing fat mass and body mass."
That's
not to say that you shouldn't lift weights, especially as you get older
and start losing muscle mass, he notes. "Resistance training is
important for maintaining lean body mass, strength and function, and
being functionally fit is important for daily living no matter what your
size."
For the biggest fitness gain/weight loss
bang for your exercise buck, combine the two, doing your strength
training first and finishing off with your cardio. An American Council on Exercise study
on exercise sequencing found that your heart rate is higher -- by about
12 beats per minute -- during your cardio bout when you've lifted
weights beforehand.
That means more calories burned.
It's
also important to remember one essential fact about exercise and weight
loss, says Slentz. "Exercise by itself will not lead to big weight
loss. What and how much you eat has a far greater impact on how much
weight you lose," he says.
That's
because it's far easier to take in less energy (calories) than it is to
burn significant amounts and it's very easy to cancel out the few
hundred calories you've burned working out with just one snack.
Where exercise appears to matter most is
for preventing weight gain, or for keeping off pounds once you've lost
weight, says Slentz. "Exercise seems to work best for body weight
control," he says.
The National
Weight Control Registry, which since 1994 has tracked more than 10,000
people who shed an average of 66 pounds and kept it off for at least
five years, would agree.
Ninety
percent of successful weight loss maintainers exercise for about an hour
a day and their activity of choice is cardio, simply walking.
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