A Combination Is Always Better. Aerobic and Cardio Training Essay Example

Everyone burns calories throughout the day despite their activity. Exercise, however, increases the rate of how many calories one loses (Robertson 2). For many years, conventional wisdom told many people that cardio was the best solution for weight loss, but now, strength training has been introduced, and there are claims that it is better than cardio. This is because strength training promotes metabolism and helps people lose weight even when going to bed (Yeager 1). 

Physical fitness is the ability of the body to carry out daily tasks with minor effort. To achieve optimal health, one should do these four exercises: aerobic fitness, muscular fitness, flexibility, and body composition (James and Weinreb-Welch 1). Aerobic exercises help the body's heart and lungs work harder than regular activities, and strength training uses weight lifting which includes training machines and equipment (James and Weinreb-Welch 2). However, the healthiest solution is to include both cardio and weight lifting while also changing diets to be healthier (Tinsley 8).

Aerobic exercise helps keep the body moving continuously and in a hasty manner. This type of physical activity results in many benefits including lower blood pressure, lower risk of heart disease and diabetes, and increases mood and energy. When exercising with cardio, it helps the heart pump blood and water and helps build stamina (James 2). Cardiovascular fitness helps strengthen the body’s circulatory systems as well (Kelly 1).

Traditional cardio helps to expend calories when exercising, but when stopped, the metabolism slows and returns to normal (Robertson 2). Cardio is a great choice for when you are trying to lower the number on the weight scale (Creveling 2). Even though this type of exertion has many good qualities, if it is performed too often or intensely, it prevents gain of significant muscle mass (Kelly 2). It is also said that many runners get injuries due to weakness in the core and hip stabilizing muscles (Robertson 5). 

According to Cris Slentz PhD, “Resistance training is important for maintaining lean body mass, strength and function, and being functionally fit for daily living no matter what your size” (qtd. In Yeager 2). Weight training keeps the bones strong and helps present a good active life with increased energy and less injury. Resistance training aids people to work for longer amounts of time, increases bone strength, and improves balance (James 2). Beyond that, it also boosts anaerobic endurance and builds skeletal muscles (Kelly 2). The muscles from lifting weights burn more calories, even when resting (Hanc 1). Building muscle is key to increasing resting metabolism (Tinsley 3). After strength training, the muscles need to recover, which leads to a metabolic strike. This burns twenty-five percent more calories than usual when resting (Kelly 2).

Another important term is after-burn. After-burn occurs when muscle is being broken down, recreated, and synthesized — which requires energy. With the more muscle one has, the more energy they need (Creveling 3). Bodybuilding helps lose body fat, and is a beneficial fitness which doesn’t limit athleticism. Women tend to find this workout more helpful as well (Robertson 5). However, weight lifting is more dangerous than cardio and is hard to decipher the effort of the people using them (Kollias 16). ACSM (American College of Sports Medicine) reviewed that weight lifting is helpful towards weight loss. Weight lifting does not change body weight because it builds muscle while losing fat (Tinsley 6). 

Aerobic exercises utilize big muscle groups and burns more calories at one time then weight lifting. Bill McArdle PhD compared weight lifting losing fifty to one hundred calories every hour to walking which was 420 calories every hour (Hanc 1). Duke University conducted a study involving 119 obese subjects for eight months. There were three groups: resistance training, aerobic, and a combination of both. The most weight loss occurred in aerobic alone (Yeager 2). Similarly, the National Weight Control Registry found ninety percent of successful weight loss in walking for a half hour a day (Yeager 2).

It is difficult to compare the two exercises because weights require supervision and more effort than aerobic workouts do not require someone to watch over another and it is not hard to teach (Kollias 17). Research shows that one burns more calories with weights within hours then cardio (Tinsley 3). Furthermore, weight lifting has decreased dropout rates in gyms and aerobic had thirty-five percent of people drop out. Combined, however, there was only a twenty-three percent dropout rate and the subjects were in the gym for twice as long as aerobic exercises alone (Kollias 23). Both exercises are a huge success when combined. They are both needed to achieve the best weight loss in the healthiest way (Hanc 1). 

If a person's goal is weight loss, aerobic exercises are the best solution. Marathon runners are very lean and have high endurance because of this (Hanc 1). Nevertheless, weight loss and fat loss are not the same thing (Kollias 21). Cardio is the best for weight loss because it burns more calories than weight lifting at a single time (Creveling 2). To extend that, a study proved  aerobic exercise lost the most weight (Kollias 20). Research also states a person loses more body weight with higher levels of activity (Tinsley 6). The best way to lose weight and fat is to combine the two types of exercises (Kollias 29). Tamir said the best solution is to exercise three to four days of the combined exercises (Creveling 3). Weight loss is all about moving; no matter how or what someone does (Creveling 4). 

Cris Slentz said “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” (qtd. In Yeager 2). Research has shown that the ideal to get better weight loss involves moderate calorie reduction. This research also had a ten-week study with two groups; dieting alone and dieting with the addition of exercise. When combined, the two lost twenty percent more weight than dieting alone (Tinsley 8). The healthiest thing a person can do for their body is to be dedicated to training, but also keep up with proper nutrition (Robertson 3). 

A common misconception is that cardio burns fat and that strength builds muscle, but both have many benefits (Kelly 2). With the two combined, it creates a very impressive and longer lasting improvement to body composition (Kollias 1). It also results in more fat loss and gain in muscle (Kollias 27). Cris Slentz said exercise appears to matter most for preventing weight gain, or keeping pounds off when you have lost weight, but it seems to work best for body weight control (Yeager 2). 

A study conducted a trial for thirty minute workouts of HIIT (High Intensity Interval Training) compared to the rest and found the new exercise burned 20%-30% more calories (Tinsley 5). HIIT is fast paced, and is an intense workout which will burn more calories while building muscle and endurance (Creveling 3). Exercising with this caused lower dropout rates with aerobic and improved cardiovascular performance (Kollias 27). Cardio is more effective than weight training at decreasing body fat but weights are best for building muscle. 

Both combined is the best for your body (Tinsley 7). For a long and healthy life, cardio is unbeatable. Aerobic exercise strengthens the heart and reduces risks of developing many different conditions. Although, strength training is very crucial. It makes a difference with age, fights bone loss, and reduces muscle loss (Kelly 2). Most health organizations recommend changing diets and add in a good exercise routine of cardio plus weights to get the healthiest, and most beneficial weight loss (Tinsley 8).