When it comes to working out, us women usually face one major dilemma: should we focus on strength training or cardio?
Surprisingly, there’s no one answer fits all to this.
However, there are certain benefits to each one that might make one choice or the other better for you.
For me personally, I prefer weightlifting all the way.
Although there are still some times when I find myself incorporating cardio into my routine.
This is because I’ve found a balance between the two that works for me. And you can do the same!
Determining your balance of weightlifting and cardio is all about personal preference.
In this post, I’m going to cover the benefits of each one and how to choose one over the other.
In this post you’ll find:
The impacts of weightlifting for women
Weight lifting has so many benefits for women, and really anyone, who’d be willing to give it a try.
If you’re curious enough to dive deeper into the benefits of weight training for women, then I wrote more about it in a previous post.
I’ll still touch base on the most important benefits of weight training for women.
Benefits of weight training for women
1. Weight lifting helps women build lean muscle
The main benefit of weight lifting is that it allows you to build lean muscle mass.
You might start to think, “oh no, weight lifting is going to make me look bulky”, but actually it won’t.
I used to think this too, but it’s not until I actually started lifting weight myself that I learned why this is totally wrong.
And, 1why I wrote a post on why weightlifting won’t make women look bulky.
Really, instead of making you look bulky, weight lifting is actually what gives you that toned look that so many women are trying to achieve.
This is because you become toned when you lose fat and reveal the muscle underneath.
Meaning that you can’t look toned if you don’t have enough muscle.
As a result, it’s building muscle that allows you to create the appearance of being toned.
2. Weight lifting boosts your metabolism
Since muscle burns more calories at rest than fat does, building more muscle will increase the number of calories you burn.
And when you burn more calories at rests, this means that your metabolism increases.
By building muscle and boosting your metabolism, this can help you lose weight and manage your weight better.
3. Lifting weights gives women stronger bones
As us women age, our bones become less and less dense.
This is something known as osteoporosis, where your bones become less dense and more fragile over time.
When you lift weights, your muscles begin to pull on your bones every time you lift heavy.
This constant pulling causes your bones to work more and strengthens them.
As a result, the more often you lift weights, the stronger and less fragile your bones become.
This can help you prevent your bones from becoming fragile over time.
While also helping keep them strong and healthy.
4. Lifting weights increases your strength and confidence
Lifting weights not only makes you look better, but it also makes you feel better.
For me personally, since I started lifting, I found myself becoming stronger both physically and mentally.
Everybody knows about the physical strength developed when you lift, you’re lifting heavy weights and building muscle.
However, not many people talk about the mental strength you develop.
There are a lot of mental battles you face when lifting.
It takes a lot of mental strength and control to keep yourself disciplined and sticking to it even when you feel like quitting.
I’ve found that the stronger you are, the greater your self confidence will be.
First off, you’ll gain confidence in knowing that you’re strong physically and mentally.
And second, you’ll feel better about yourself knowing that you’re committed to working on your health everyday.
Lifting weights keeps you knowing that you’re investing in yourself and your future.
And that’s what will give you the most self-confidence.
Versus the impacts of cardio for women
1. Cardio keeps your heart healthy
The primary benefit of cardio, or cardiovascular exercise, is that it’s extremely beneficial for heart health.
This is because cardio challenges your heart by making it temporarily work harder and also helps keep it active.
In turn, this improves cardiovascular endurance and lowers the risk of heart disease.
Cardio doesn’t even have to be high intensity.
For example, there are so many benefits to steady state cardio, even just walking can give you tremendous benefits.
As a result, your cardio routine can be as simple as going on a 30 minute walk around your neighborhood.
2. Cardio workouts (typically) burn more calories than weightlifting workouts
Another benefit of cardio for women is that it’ll burn more calories during your actual workout.
This is a good benefit for anyone trying to eat in a calorie deficit and burn some immediate calories.
Because of this, adding cardio to your workouts is great for losing or maintaining your weight.
Since you burn more calories during your workout.
This is different from weight training, where you usually won’t burn as many calories during your workout, but instead your metabolism increases over time.
And therefore causes you to burn more calories throughout the day, even when you aren’t working out.
3. Cardio reduces stress
You know how after you go for a run or a bike ride you feel really good about yourself? Well, there’s actually a reason for this.
When you do cardio, your body releases endorphins, which are hormones that make you feel good about yourself.
Endorphins help to reduce stress, improve your mood, and increase your overall sense of well-being.
That’s why it’s great to do cardio if you’re ever feeling down about yourself or need to clear your mind.
More often than not, you’ll find your workout greatly improves your mood. Leaving you feeling way better than you did before.
4. Cardio increases your endurance
Every time you do cardio, your entire body is challenged to keep your energy levels and your body moving efficiently.
On top of that, your body also needs to work to continue circulating blood and oxygen throughout your body to keep you moving.
Both of these require many of your organs and muscles to put in a great amount of work to maintain the activity you’re doing.
As a result, this challenges these organs and systems and makes them much stronger.
Because of this, cardio is great for increasing your muscle, heart, and lung endurance.
This is essential for your overall fitness. Allowing you to be in the best, most athletic shape of your life.
How to find the perfect balance of weightlifting and cardio
Now that we know the different benefits of weight lifting versus cardio, the next step is to determine the best balance between the two for you.
Here are the best steps to determine your perfect balance of weightlifting and cardio in your fitness routine.
1. Determine your goals
The first step to finding the perfect balance of weightlifting and cardio is to define your goals.
To do this, you need to ask yourself what it is you want to get out of your workouts.
Ask yourself things like what benefits do you want to see? What is your goal physique? And what changes do you want to make?
Once you determine this, you can use this to set realistic and achievable gym goals for yourself.
Then, use these goals to structure your workout routine.
For example, if you want to gain strength and lean muscle, you should prioritize weightlifting.
Whereas if your focus is on loosing some extra pounds and improving your heart health, you might be better off focusing on cardio.
2. Create a workout schedule
Creating a weekly schedule is similar to creating a workout split.
Doing this will help you set aside certain days for cardio, whereas other days for weight lifting.
Creating a workout schedule is one of the best ways to keep yourself on track to achieve your goals.
This will help you stay more organized and consistent in your workout routine.
How to start making your workout schedule
To make a workout schedule with a balance of weightlifting and cardio, you’ll first want to establish which type of workout you’ll do on each day.
Or, if you want to do both weightlifting and cardio in a single workout, on the same day.
From there, you can play around with your new workout routine, and determine what type of schedule works best for you.
3. Listen to your body
My best advice to achieve the results you want in the gym is to pay attention to the way your body responds to different exercises.
For example, if you see better improvements prioritizing cardio, then prioritize cardio more often.
Additionally, you’ll want to determine which of the two you enjoy more.
For me personally, I enjoy weight lifting more, so that’s mainly what I stick to.
Determining what type of exercise you enjoy is the best way to get yourself to stick with and stay motivated in your routine.
I enjoy lifting so much that working out doesn’t even feel like work anymore. I look forward to it everyday and thoroughly enjoy it.
As a result, how much you enjoy each form of exercise is also something you’ll want to consider when finding a balance between the two.
Begin your new routine
Whether you’re striving for strength, weight loss, or overall health, understanding the benefits of both weight lifting and cardio can help you determine which is your best bet.
You can experiment with a mixture of the two or prioritizing one over the other until you find an equilibrium that suits you, your goals, and your lifestyle.
Remember, you want to find what works best for you, that way you’ll stick with it.
Then, incorporate what you’ve learned into your routine and see how your workouts transform.
And eventually, how you start to achieve your goals.
More of my posts on women’s health and fitness
Why weightlifting WON’T make you look bulky