5 reasons why strength training is better than cardio: a personal trainer weighs in
With modern life only allowing a limited amount of time for most people to dedicate to exercise, making the right choice is crucial, writes Eran Chan
It is not that you should never run, or that running is bad for you, or that you should never do any form of cardio because your personal trainer told you it will eat away at your muscle.
There is a time and place for most forms of exercise and I enjoy taking long hikes myself.
However, if time is a limiting factor, should you do a cardio or strength based workout?
Traditional cardiovascular exercise such as running, hiking and swimming is well known to help with improving heart health, general fitness and reducing body fat.
However, strength training can bring all those benefits and more, including improving posture and strengthening your bones.
If given an extremely busy work schedule with little time to get any exercise done across the week, I would probably choose to do strength over cardio nine times out of 10.
Strength training or weight/resistance training with the use of free weights, weight machines or body weight has many benefits on top of what traditional cardio has to offer.