Healthy Living • YMCA Health and Fitness
Ask A Personal Trainer: Should I do weights or cardio?
01 October 2018 - by Nicole Meredith
Too often, people think the treadmill is the ultimate answer to their workout woes. Cardio’s certainly an important part of any solid exercise routine — but it’s just one part. This week, we asked Kyle — a personal trainer and group fitness instructor at the Cooper Koo YMCA — to break down the strength training versus cardio protocols he uses to help his clients reach their goals.
One of the questions I'm most frequently asked is: should I do strength training or cardio?
My short answer: both.
My slightly longer answer: it depends what your goal is.
Do you want to:
To accomplish goal A, strength training is obviously your best friend. Like I’ve said before:
Lots of nutritious fuel + lifting heavy = strength gains
Cardio can take a backseat, but you still need to do it, especially if you want to tone up and improve your muscle definition.
If you’re interested in goal B, maybe you’re looking to run a 5k, do an Iron Man, or finish your first marathon. Cardio’s obviously going to be your priority, and you can experiment with sustained endurance training and intervals. That said, ignoring strength training would be a big mistake. Working on your muscular strength is key to preventing injury — especially if you’re doing high-impact cardio like running that’s hard on your bones and joints.
Finally, if you’re after goal C, you want to balance cardio and strength training pretty equally. Cardio’s famous for helping burn through calories. But strength training is the unsung hero of fat loss. Like cardio, it burns lots of calories, but it also builds muscle mass. And people with more muscle mass send their metabolisms into overdrive, burning more calories even at rest. In other words, getting strong will help you melt fat even while you’re lounging on the couch.
Whatever your goal, you’ll need to find the combination of strength- and cardio-enhancing routines that work for you. Motivation and perseverance count for a lot when it comes to tackling any goal. But you’ll find it easier to muster up both if you’re heading to the gym to do a workout you love (or at least, one you don’t hate).
Kyle is a graduate of Durham College’s Fitness and Health Promotion program, and is currently finishing a degree in Rec and Leisure studies at Brock University. He’s a CanFitPro- and YMCA-certified Personal Trainer and Fitness Instructor who’s been training and teaching for nine years. Kyle is currently the Adult Program Supervisor at the Cooper Koo Family YMCA, where he teaches Bootcamp, Kettlebell, CycleFit, and MuscleFit classes weekly. See him in action in the YMCA’s Sweat For Good video, and check out his Y story on the blog.
Do you have a question for our personal trainers? Message us on Twitter or Facebook.
One of the questions I'm most frequently asked is: should I do strength training or cardio?
My short answer: both.
My slightly longer answer: it depends what your goal is.
Do you want to:
- get strong
- improve your endurance
- lose weight
To accomplish goal A, strength training is obviously your best friend. Like I’ve said before:
Lots of nutritious fuel + lifting heavy = strength gains
Cardio can take a backseat, but you still need to do it, especially if you want to tone up and improve your muscle definition.
If you’re interested in goal B, maybe you’re looking to run a 5k, do an Iron Man, or finish your first marathon. Cardio’s obviously going to be your priority, and you can experiment with sustained endurance training and intervals. That said, ignoring strength training would be a big mistake. Working on your muscular strength is key to preventing injury — especially if you’re doing high-impact cardio like running that’s hard on your bones and joints.
Finally, if you’re after goal C, you want to balance cardio and strength training pretty equally. Cardio’s famous for helping burn through calories. But strength training is the unsung hero of fat loss. Like cardio, it burns lots of calories, but it also builds muscle mass. And people with more muscle mass send their metabolisms into overdrive, burning more calories even at rest. In other words, getting strong will help you melt fat even while you’re lounging on the couch.
Whatever your goal, you’ll need to find the combination of strength- and cardio-enhancing routines that work for you. Motivation and perseverance count for a lot when it comes to tackling any goal. But you’ll find it easier to muster up both if you’re heading to the gym to do a workout you love (or at least, one you don’t hate).
Kyle is a graduate of Durham College’s Fitness and Health Promotion program, and is currently finishing a degree in Rec and Leisure studies at Brock University. He’s a CanFitPro- and YMCA-certified Personal Trainer and Fitness Instructor who’s been training and teaching for nine years. Kyle is currently the Adult Program Supervisor at the Cooper Koo Family YMCA, where he teaches Bootcamp, Kettlebell, CycleFit, and MuscleFit classes weekly. See him in action in the YMCA’s Sweat For Good video, and check out his Y story on the blog.Do you have a question for our personal trainers? Message us on Twitter or Facebook.
