cardio vs strength training

Let’s cut to the chase.

Cardio or strength training for fat loss?

As a necessity? None. You can 100% lose fat without doing any cardio or strength training (case in point, me. I lost over 50kg with zero cardio or training).

Ideally? Both. Cardio can help you burn more fat on a regular basis along with so much health benefits, and strength training helps build & preserve muscle while you’re on your fat loss journey.

So which should you choose?

The number one thing to worry about is your diet. If your main goal is to lose fat, you gotta figure out your diet first. If you haven’t figured out your diet, don’t bother with strength training or cardio for now. Diet is the number one driving factor to losing fat. Without your diet in check, no amount of cardio or strength training is gonna help you lose weight.

Once you’ve got your diet routine down, you’ve been able to keep it up for a couple of weeks without much issue, then you can start worrying about exercise. That’s when you decide, cardio or strength training. Or both if you really wanted to.

So which to choose?

Start with the one you enjoy most.

Like going on bike rides and hikes? Go do that first. Like the gym and lifting heavy stuff? Go do that. Whichever you choose it’s going to benefit your journey as a whole regardless. The goal is to choose one and aim to be consistent with it. Consistency with exercise doesn’t have to be on a daily basis, but more of a weekly basis.

Over time once it’s become routine, then consider picking up the other one you didn’t pick. If you picked strength training first, sprinkle in some cardio like a daily step count or bike rides. If you picked cardio first, sprinkle in some strength training. Could be simply body weight workouts like push ups, sit-ups, squats, lunges etc.

Remember, diet + cardio + strength training is an ideal scenario. Ideal is not a necessity. It’s simply a direction to aim for in the long term. And by long term I mean years, there’s no rush to do everything at once.

When fat loss is the primary goal, diet is key.

There’s no need to headache over cardio vs strength training for fat loss, just choose one and aim for consistency. There’s no “better” choice. The better choice is the one you can stick to the longest.

—Po