Is cardio or lifting weights better for losing weight?
LIFTING OR CARDO?
Which one should you do if you are looking to lose weight & drop fat?
Written by Jonathan Fletcher
You’re here because you want to know what’s better for losing weight.
Doing cardio, or lifting weights.
After reading this article you’ll know the answer, and you’ll know exactly what to do to get the best results possible.
If you’re too busy to read the whole enchilada, here’s the short version:
Stop thinking in absolute terms like “Cardio is the best” or “Lifting is the only way”
Your nutrition is the star of the show for weight loss. Your workouts are the supporting characters
Ignore the calorie burn stats on your phone, watch, or activity tracker
The “afterburn effect” (EPOC) of exercise between cardio and weights is irrelevant for weight loss in nearly everyone
Reframe your idea of weight loss vs. fat loss. Chase body composition improvement, not just a lighter weight
The health benefits of cardio make it great for fat loss, and for building up your capacity
Watch out for common overuse injuries caused by doing too much jogging or biking too soon
Doing too much cardio can lead to being skinny-fat
Using cardio as a punishment for poor eating can lead to a distorted mindset with food and exercise
Lifting weights is great for fat loss and giving your body shape as you lose weight
Statistically, lifting weights is much safer than running
Lift weights to improve your full-body strength 3-5 times per week
Be sure and work close to failure with your weight-lifting sets
Use structured workouts weights to get the benefits of cardio while also building muscle and strength
Be consistent, and don’t stop after you’re done losing weight
Let me introduce myself real quick before we get into the meat of this article.
I’m Jonathan, and this is my wife Blakley.
Were full-time online coaches, and we own Digital Barbell. We started Digital Barbell in 2018 while Blakley owned a CrossFit gym in Houston, as a way to help the friends and families of her members who didn’t live in town.
B’s the real brains behind the operation.
We help people look and feel their best with custom training and nutrition programs that they love. We hate fad diets and hard-core unsustainable programs.
We and our other coaches all know our client’s names, and they get better results because of it.
If you jive with that, subscribe to our podcast, and follow us on Instagram before you leave. We give away tons of helpful fitness content every single week.
Ok, back to the fat burning question at hand:
What is better for weight loss, cardio, or lifting weights?
The fact that you’re thinking about the question like this tells me something important about you.
You like black-and-white answers.
Good or bad.
Yes or no.
Up or down.
Do it, or don’t do it.
That’s cool, but I want to challenge you on that mindset.
Thinking in absolutes like “cardio is the best”, or “chocolate is bad” could be the reason that you googled this question in the first place.
What I mean is that the “all or nothing” mentality is one of the most common issues that we help our clients overcome.
Your weight loss progress (at least sustainable progress) will happen like a dimmer, and not like a switch that only goes on and off.
Some days you’ll be on fire, and some days you’ll be a dumpster fire.
Embrace the process, and move on quickly when things don’t go as planned.
I talked about this very thing in THIS short podcast episode.
Now that the psychology session is over… Let’s circle back to your question.
If you want to lose weight, you probably also want to look a certain way too right?
You probably don’t want to look frail, weak, or like a stiff breeze might blow you into the next county when you hit your goal weight.
You probably also don’t want to look like you’re competing in Mr. or Ms. Olympia either. You know what I mean, veins popping out of your neck, and a fake tan that turns all of your t-shirts orange.
99.9% of our clients want to look lean, strong, somewhat athletic, and have some visible muscle tone, especially in their upper bodies.
Something like this:
Hey, that’s us!
Our clients want to be healthy, have a ton of energy, and be able to tackle whatever physical tasks life throws at them.
So how do we make that happen for our lovely clients?
We don’t think in either /or terms when it comes to doing cardio and lifting weights for weight loss.
We look at the benefits, drawbacks, limitations, risks, and advantages of both, and then we use them accordingly.
The one-sentence version of what I just said is:
You need to do cardio, and lift weights as you lose weight to get the results that you want.
In our 10+ years, we’ve tried a little bit of everything from body-pump classes, to running and swimming, to CrossFit. From all of that trial and error, we’ve learned the best way to combine cardio and weights, and we’re going to share it with you.
But first… There’s a giant elephant in the room that we’ve been ignoring until now.
Doing cardio and lifting weights are both ways of exercising right?
Well as it turns out, exercise on its own kinda stinks for weight loss.
Scientifically speaking, you burn a lot more calories during the hours you’re asleep than when you’re exercising.
Here’s a graphic that shows how your calorie burn breaks down every day:
Exercise Calories
Only a small percentage of your daily calories are burned through exercise.
As you can see, exercise isn’t a very big chunk at all. 60% of your total calorie burn (your BMR) happens even if you just lay in bed all day watching Seinfeld reruns.
My point is…Exercise is important for losing weight and for your health, (especially for keeping the weight off) but your diet is the main thing that will determine if, and how much weight you lose.
Trust me, there aren’t enough hours in the day to burn enough calories for weight loss. You have to get your nutrition dialed in.
It’s the reason that we offer both custom training programs AND nutrition coaching.
If you don’t know where to start, check out our Nutrition 101 seminar and free E-book:
Unlock the freedom of fad-free nutrition.
Click the video for access, and to get your free nutrition E-Book
Should you track your calorie burn on your watch?
Another common mistake people make is tracking how many calories their exercise burns on their watch, garmin, fitbit, whoop, or another activity tracker.
They’ll either try to “burn off” those calories by doing extra workouts, or they’ll eat back those calories because they’re confused about what to do.
Here’s the deal…
Whatever your activity tracker is telling you is wrong. Probably by 25-50%!
Trust me, you did not burn 600 calories in your 60-minute class, and that 30-minute jog you hit didn’t burn 350 calories. I’m not trying to bum you out, it’s just the truth.
Research (like THIS 65 article review) has proven beyond a shadow of a doubt that activity trackers are not accurate or reliable at predicting calorie burn.
So, to be abundantly clear… Include frequent exercise in your life for the health and weight loss/maintenance benefits, but ignore the calorie burn on your device, and don’t adjust your diet based on those numbers.
What burns more calories after you are done working out, cardio or lifting weights?
Have you heard of the “Afterburn” effect? Technically, it’s called: EPOC
EPOC - Exercise Post Oxygen Consumption
When you work out, you use up oxygen. That continues to happen even after you’re done with your workout. Your body burns up oxygen in the process of recovering from your workout, and while repairing any muscle damage (the good kind) you did.
This can last up to 24 hours.
Research shows that both cardio and resistance training (lifting weights) increase EPOC.
But before you get too excited and think that the effects of EPOC might be the missing piece in your results…
Research is conclusive that even if lifting weights, HIIT, or steady-state cardio produces higher levels of EPOC, the difference is negligible, and is unimportant for your overall results.
“For EPOC to be a relevant point of emphasis in terms of weight loss, it needs to provide a considerable contribution to the energy expenditure of an exercise bout. EPOC has been shown to make a measurable, but relatively small, contribution to the overall energy expenditure of an exercise bout for most types of training.”
So, just like our advice not to focus on the calorie burn on your watch, don’t give a second thought to EPOC or after-burn when choosing between cardio or lifting weights for fat loss.
That brings me to this question:
Do you want to lose weight, or do you want to lose fat?
The two things aren’t mutually exclusive, but they aren’t the same thing either.
The body weight (the number on the scale) includes everything from your bones, to your brain, to your skin.
Your body composition on the other hand, is the relationship between how much lean mass (muscle) you have and how much fat you have.
You could weigh the same amount at two different times of your life, and look completely different because of your body composition.
I’m 160lbs in both photos.
The importance of body composition vs. body weight
The reason I bring this whole “body weight vs. body composition” conversation up is that I want you to start to reframe your idea of progress, and how you should get there.
It’s great to see the number on the scale go down, but your long-term progress and results are much more dependent on you improving your body composition than just trying to lose weight.
Improving your body composition happens when you build muscle, lose fat, and get to a healthy body fat percentage overall.
In general, men are aiming to get between 12% and 18% body fat, and women somewhere between 20% and 30%. Don’t get too hung up on the exact number or rush out to get a DEXA scan. Just use the Google to look at some sample pictures online.
With that in mind, let’s talk about the benefits and limitations of both cardio and lifting weights.
Is cardio good for weight loss?
In a word, YES! It is.
In fact, it’s great for your health too. There’s a recent trend with Instagram Fitness Influencers that brag that they are on team “NO CARDIO”, yet they are rockin’ shredded 6-pack abs. It’s ridiculous really.
Not only is cardio helpful for weight loss, it’s incredible for your heart, circulation, insulin sensitivity, joints, digestion, and mental health.
Doing cardio burns calories. And even though you shouldn’t fixate on your calorie burn for weight loss, the calories you burn while doing it still help you lose weight.
Doing cardio also increases your capacity.
What I mean by that is that what used to be tough for you, or get you winded, becomes less of an issue as your conditioning improves.
Let’s say you used to get out of breath running at 5mph. After just 5 minutes you had to stop. The more cardio you do (not even just jogging) the more efficient you’ll be, and the more capacity you’ll build up.
After a few weeks, you may be able to run 6mph for 10 minutes without needing a break.
So even though cardio in and of itself doesn’t cause weight loss, it has enormous benefits. You should do it for weight loss, and for your health.
Before you lace up your Nike Pegasus, throw on your fancy-ass Peloton shoes, or join a booty-busting BootCamp let’s talk about some of the things you should watch out for.
Is cardio like running and riding a Peloton bike safe?
In general, yes. But, there’s a catch. Your body is extremely adaptable, but only if you do things right.
You can’t go from sitting on your couch one day to training 5 days a week for a 5k race without putting yourself at unnecessary risk for injury.
In podcast episode 205 I interviewed Doctor of Physical Therapy and Strength Expert Will Morris. In his practice, he sees a number of injuries caused by doing too much, too soon when it comes to easy-access cardio like biking and running.
People who go from running zero miles per week to 5-10 are much more likely to have knee pain. Along those same lines, if you go from zero miles a week on the Peloton to five 60-minute classes a week, you’re much more likely to develop neck and upper back pain due to your biking posture.
I’d highly recommend checking out the episode on YouTube, or on our Apple, or Spotify channels.
Another thing to consider when doing cardio for weight loss is that doing too much can be counterproductive to your body composition goals.
Long bouts of cardio are what’s called “catabolic”. That means that you are BREAKING DOWN muscle vs. BUILDING muscle, which is called “anabolic”.
As we lose weight, we want to balance the amount of catabolic-type training we do, so that we don’t end up with a skinny-fat physique.
We wrote much more about this topic in our article on How To Fix Skinny Fat.
The last drawback of over-emphasizing cardio to lose weight is that it’s easy to start to get a weird mindset around it.
If you’ve ever been running around your house at 10pm to squeeze in one last bit of cardio…
If you’ve ever eaten something you wish you hadn’t, and done an extra Peloton ride to burn it off…
That’s what I’m talking about.
Cardio has many benefits, but turning it into a punishment for your body is a shortcut to an unhealthy relationship with your fitness.
So should you do cardio? Absolutely.
We’ll tell you how we use cardio with our weight-loss clients shortly.
Is lifting weights good for weight loss?
In a word, YES! It is.
Just like cardio, lifting weights doesn’t cause you to lose weight. How much you eat does that.
But remember the conversation we just had about body composition?
We’ve coached hundreds of people over tens of thousands of hours, and here’s what we’ve learned.
If you want to improve your body composition while you lose weight, you need to lift weights.
It’s not just our opinion either. It’s backed by enough research to fill a library.
What are the body composition benefits of lifting weights when you’re losing weight? I’m glad you asked!
Improved strength
Improved lean muscle
Improved muscle definition
Increased metabolism
Increased calorie burn
Improved confidence
Improved insulin sensitivity
Improved independence
Improved bone density
Improved feeling like a badass
Think about this…
You want to lose weight right? Why?
To feel better. To be healthier.
But also to look better wearing less clothes.
If you diet to lose weight, and do only cardio during the process…
What do you think you’re going to reveal underneath that fat that you lost?
Nothing!
There won’t be any shape to your body since you didn’t lift weights to build any muscle size.
That’s what lifting weights does. It builds muscle strength and size.
If you’ve ever said to yourself “I want to tone up”. Or “I need to tighten up”… What you’re talking about his having a little bit of muscle size that you’ll be able to see as you get leaner.
That’s what “definition” is.
You can even bias your training to skew your results more toward strength vs. size or vice versa.
Oh yeah, lifting weights burns calories, just like cardio does.
But as you can see above, the other benefits far outweigh that simple fact.
If you have dieted in the past and done only cardio, I’d highly encourage you to include weight training in your weight-loss journey this time. You’ll love the results. We promise.
Blakley wrote a simple, easy to follow 5-week workout program that you can download and start today for free. Grab it with the button below today!
Is lifting weights to lose weight dangerous?
It’s a fair question. Lord knows there are enough "Gym Fail” accounts on Instagram to make you think that everyone in the gym is running the risk of getting hurt.
Luckily for you, I, and our clients… Lifting weights is one of the safest forms of exercise out there.
Research has shown that lifting weights for aesthetic purposes has one of the lowest risks of injury compared to just about everything else.
Statistically speaking, you could potentially lift weights 1 hour every single day for almost 11 years without having any kind of injury.
Compare that with the same amount of running volume (1 hour a day) and you’re statistically likely to have an injury after just 14 weeks.
Of course, lifting weights can be dangerous if you don’t have relatively safe form, don’t know what you’re doing, and if you try to progress too quickly.
One of the things that we pride ourselves on at Digital Barbell is that all of our coaches have hundreds, if not thousands of hours of in-person hands-on coaching with actual clients.
There just is no substitute for real coaching hours.
We use that experience in an online environment now to make sure our clients stay safe through form-check videos and feedback on each and every workout.
The best way to stay consistent is to avoid getting hurt.
If you’ve avoided lifting weights in your weight loss journey because you’ve been afraid of getting hurt, I’d highly encourage you to find a trusted coach (wink wink) and find out the benefits for yourself.
Here’s what our client Susan had to say:
“My endurance in the pool is much better! It’s an amazing difference!”
”I’m motivated, and I know I’m doing everything right. No wasted effort in the gym and ya’ll make it fun!”
Look at the transformation that this studly client couple made with our mix of cardio and lifting weights:
The couple in the picture worked out for years before finding us.
It wasn’t that they weren’t willing to work hard, they just weren’t doing the right kind of exercises, following the right program, and getting the kind of coaching that they needed.
In other words, just “lifting weights” isn’t what you should be doing when you’re trying to lose weight. You need a plan with the right movements, progressions, and structure.
What is the best combination of weight lifting and cardio when you’re losing weight?
The million-dollar question!
Here is our advice, based on helping a boatload of people get results that eluded them for years.
Lift weights 3-5 times per week, following a program biased toward full-body strength.
Each workout should include 2-3 compound lifts like squats, deadlifts, presses, and rows.
Every workout should also have 3-4 accessory exercises that target your smaller muscle groups like your biceps, triceps, shoulders, glutes, abs, and calves.
Each workout should be 45-60 minutes and should have a proper warmup/activation section.
The goal should be to get stronger by adding weight and/or reps to your sets over time.
How hard should you be working in the gym you ask? We have the answer.
Check out the short video below for what you need to know.
How hard should you push in the gym?
Click the video to watch
How much cardio should you be doing while you’re lifting weights for weight loss?
The CDC recommends 150 minutes of moderate-effort activity or 75 minutes of “vigorous” exercise every week.
For overall health, these are great targets, even if you’re not trying to lose weight.
Maybe when you read that you thought…
“I don’t have two and a half hours to go out walking!"
or:
“I’m not going to crush 75 minutes of heart-pumping intense training every week!”
Especially when you remember that you need to be lifting weights a few times a week too.
We have you covered!
How to combine weight lifting and cardio for the best results. The Digital Barbell way 💪🏼
Built by Digital Barbell
Think about this…
An effective cardio workout gets your heart rate up to the desired level, and keeps it there.
That doesn’t mean that you have to run on a treadmill, ride a bike, hop around doing jumping jacks, or do any other boring thing to get that done.
If you’re trying to tackle your cardio with more intense exercise, you don’t have to run sprints, do 100 burpees for time, or crush yourself every day with impossible Metcons.
In our own training, and in our clients’ programs, we take a different approach.
Let’s say you want to knock out 20 minutes of cardio.
What if instead of hitting the streets in your Hoka’s you did 3-5 giants sets of:
10 Heel Elevated Goblet Squats
10 Dumbbell Curl and Press
20 Calf Raises
20 Crunches
10 Dumbbell Bench Presses
You’d run through the whole list, rest and then repeat the whole circuit 4 more times.
You’d keep your heart rate at the same level as you would jogging on the treadmill, but you’d accumulate 300 strength and muscle-building reps.
You’re double dipping! And the result is that you’ll have more visible muscle definition as you lose weight.
Let’s be honest too… Is there anything more boring than running on a treadmill for 20 minutes?
Blakley is the head of programming at Digital Barbell and she’s famous for her workout “finishers”.
Instead of having our clients do hill sprints or Tabata intervals on a bike, she mashes up weight lifting, band work, and mono-structural elements like jogging and rowing.
As an L2 CrossFit Trainer, and former gym owner, Blakley knows how to write programming that not only works but is a blast to do.
That means better results for you because you’ll stick with it longer.
If you hate your workouts, you’ve got to find something that you enjoy enough to be consistent with.
A Digital Barbell weight loss client that trains 4 days per week will hit strength-building exercises like squats, deadlifts, bench presses, and overhead presses every week.
They’ll also do accessory exercises like curls, tricep press-downs, push-ups, calf raises, hamstring curls, and different variations to build strength and muscle size.
With that as the base of their weight lifting, we’ll include 2-3 cardio-based elements like the giant set workout I described above.
We combine shorter more intense cardio parts with longer, less intense sections to make sure their training is balanced and productive.
The end result is that our clients look and feel incredible as they lose weight. That’s not always the case if you do just cardio, or just lifting.
We talked a TON about this subject in our 3-Part Podcast Series “How To Look Like You Lift”. Check out Episodes 126,128, and 130.
Watch out for these common mistakes
I talked about the all-or-nothing mentality at the beginning of this article.
Here’s how it is going to try and trip you up in your weight loss journey.
You’re going to start out motivated. You’re in the honeymoon phase and everything is going smoothly.
You’re motivated to hit your workouts, your eating right and you’re losing weight every week!
But then…
Life happens.
Your boss drops a project on you.
Your kids get sick.
You go on vacation and have 10 too many drinks.
You miss some workouts, lose some progress and the motivational wind has been absolutely sucked from your weight-loss sails.
You’re going to want to quit because you’re feeling so depressed about the situation.
Don’t do it.
Just because you were doing perfectly at one point, doesn’t mean you have to go back to being perfect all at once again.
Remember, progress happens like a dimmer, not like a switch.
If you feel weak after missing a bunch of workouts, cut your workout time in half and drop the amount of weight you’re supposed to lift.
Just start, and before you know it you’ll be back to where you were if you don’t give up.
The last thing I want to say is that if exercise is part of your weight loss journey, it needs to be a part of your weight maintenance strategy.
People who pay off huge amounts of debt by keeping a budget keep budgeting to stay out of debt!
You simply cannot stop exercising if you want to keep the weight off. Maybe you’ve even proven this to yourself in previous weight loss attempts.
The good news is that if you were working out 5 days a week, you might be able to get away with 3 or 4 now. But you cannot stop altogether.
I hope that is clear!
If you like what you’ve heard and you’re ready to go about this process once and for all…
We’d love to be the coaches that provide you with the plan, guidance, accountability, and compassionate coaching that make it a reality.
Please apply for coaching today, and let’s talk.
Thanks for reading!
