Should I Lift Weights or Should I Run?
As someone with an exercise science degree and personal training experience, I love to use that knowledge to geek out over fitness. A common question we see in our community is about strength training vs cardio - how much should I be doing of each? Is one better than the other? How do I know which is right for ME?
There are also A LOT of misconceptions about lifting weights.
And, as a company that has a fitness app that has both strength training programs AND running - we know it can be confusing about which should be prioritized.
Understanding Our Body
I think the thing that is FIRST and FOREMOST is understanding a woman’s body and biology. I know that a lot of women are very nervous that they are going to get- and I quote- “BULKY” from lifting heaving weights.
That’s just not true. And let’s talk about why.
Our male counterparts have FAR more testosterone than we do. In fact, we only have about 1/10th to 1/20th of the amount of testosterone as men’s bodies. Testosterone is a big piece of increased muscle mass.
Another big difference is the muscle fibers themselves. Men have more and bigger muscle fibers - research shows that males will be more likely to experience higher levels of strength and speed performances compared to females due to muscle fiber cross sectional size and muscle fiber distribution. So for physiological reasons, most of the time- men will be able to have bigger muscles if training the same way.
“TONING” is another term that might have been marketed to you. This idea was packaged as lighter weight and higher reps to achieve a “toned” look. But if we break down what we’re talking about when we say toned, it’s the idea that you’d have less fat and more muscle so that your muscles showed through. Which, if we’re talking about building muscle and losing fat, scientifically speaking- the best way to do that is higher weight.
Women, in general, report being afraid to “lift heavy” - this is something we’ve been conditioned to feel like is too “masculine” and it’s just not true. In general, if you put a man and a woman on the same training program and same relative nutritional program - the difference of their outputs aren’t going to be the same! You will not get masculine results. Muscle growth is a slow process.
What About Cardio?
What is the difference in terms of results from cardio vs strength training?
For the most part, the goal of a cardio workout routine is to perform better and improve. If you’re a runner, you usually want to get better at running- whether that’s wanting to run longer, wanting to run faster, or because you just love it. A lot of the times, those who are doing cardio are training for something -race, marathon etc, or you just like to get out and let your mind go and be in nature.
What happens to the body when you do cardio as the primary mode of exercise? Your body becomes more efficient at that type of exercise. As you become more efficient in the movement and increase your cardio capacity, you become efficient with calories. Meaning - if your goal is to burn calories, doing a bunch of cardio runs its course very quickly. Overtime, you will burn less calories doing the same runs - meaning losing less body fat!
So if we’re looking at cardio, it loses its effectiveness because WE become more efficient. VERSUS weight lifting and building muscle. Muscle is a very inefficient tissue to keep around - our body has to work harder to maintain muscle mass than fat mass. If you are working to build muscle, then you increase the amount of calories you burn while you’re at rest.
Now don’t get me wrong - I LOVE running. My sister Krystle and I have always been runners, and it’s something we will forever be passionate about. As we get older, we have prioritized our strength training because of the many benefits of it over running.
AND if you too love running, or maybe you want to pick it up for the first time - make sure you try out our Return To Running Program in the Expecting and Empowered App!
Now that we’ve covered why strength training is a good option and you might want to consider it over cardio, let’s get into the benefits of strength training.
Benefits of Strength Training
Lose more fat: “When Penn State researchers put dieters into three groups—no exercise, aerobic exercise only, or aerobic exercise and weight training—they all lost around 21 pounds, but the lifters shed six more pounds of fat than those who didn’t pump iron. Why? The lifters’ loss was almost pure fat; the others lost fat and muscle.” –Women’s Health.
Increase metabolism: Your metabolism increases for up to 39 hours post lifting session because your muscles need energy as they repair + build. A weight lifter will burn more calories throughout their day than a person that only does cardiovascular training.
You’ll be happier + handle stress better: Lifting weights is a mood booster! People that lift weight have less stress hormones floating around their body + are better able to handle stressful situations.
Better quality of sleep: Recent studies have shown those who participate in resistance training experience better, uninterrupted sleep. Improved sleep can help keep your overall wellness in alignment, especially as you age. And also as moms - who can’t use a better quality of sleep?!
Increases energy: Exercise causes the body to release endorphins, which boost mood and energy. However, long bouts of cardiovascular exercise can deplete the body’s energy stores. Strength training, on the other hand, can be completed in 30 to 60 minutes, leaving you with more energy to power through the day! Our Expecting and Empowered workouts are designed to be 30-40 minutes so they fit realistically into your day.
Stronger bones: This one is huge for women! As we age, our bones get weaker + more susceptible to fractures. Strength training is a sure fire way to maintain bone density + can even increase it.
Decrease your risk for injury: Stronger bones + stronger connective tissue are both benefits to strength training. The stronger connective tissue strengthens your joint stability, lessening your risk for injury. Another plus of strength training? Many moves—like squats and lunges—actually strengthen your joints while mimicking functional movement patterns (think bending down to pick up a baby, pushing a heavy door, or getting up from a chair). So, you'll be helping to keep your hips, knees, ankles, wrists, elbows, and shoulders healthy while also training your body to make every day activities easier, too.
If you train properly + learn fundamental movements (ex. squatting, pushing, pulling) you decrease your risk of injury in all aspects of life. I 100% think weight training made my pregnancies A TON more comfortable than if I hadn’t weight trained or only done cardio before it!
Improves your heart health: Recent studies show that weight training can be JUST as effective as cardio in promoting heart health. Researchers from the American College of Cardiology in 2018 determined that strength training was better at reducing a person's risk of heart disease than cardio exercise like walking or cycling—though both types of physical activity are necessary for overall health.
A 2019 study published in Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise found that people who did at least one hour of strength training per week had a 40 to 70 percent lower risk of heart attack or stroke compared to those who didn't.
Longevity: In fact, a 2019 review published in Frontiers in Physiology suggests that strength training may be even more effective at reducing risk of all sorts of common, age-related chronic diseases than cardio. The more healthy the skeletal muscle you have, the better your chances of survival, increased metabolic health and overall wellness.
Knowing Your Goals
Okay, so what changes should you make?!
It really all comes down to YOUR goals. What you are looking to accomplish? If you LOVE to run, you love the escape it provides - then do that! Especially if you have a 5k in mind that you’re really wanting to do, then continuing to run makes sense.
If your goal is fat loss or toning and cardio is your go-to exercise routine, you should rethink this. Strength training my friends!!!!! Increasing your muscle mass will help you to burn more calories/fat at rest (aka the 23 hours a day that you aren’t working out).
As I said earlier, when you hit the treadmill, you burn a lot of calories up front but the burn stops working shortly after you do. Additionally, if you are marathon training or training long distances in general your body might start holding onto that fat that you want to lose. Say what?!!! It’s true. If you are putting in miles on miles, your body can head into a catabolic state. Meaning, it could start breaking down that lean tissue for energy. You’ll stop burning fat and your body will start holding onto it, because your body is a smart machine that has a main goal of survival. If you are always spending so many calories running, it will slow down metabolism and go into conservation mode.
Okay, so back to talking about strength training. In order to increase muscle, you need to challenge your weight load. This is not accomplished by repeatedly lifting pink dumbbells. Get yourself into some sizeable weights + change up your routine. Most women prefer to stay in the higher repetition range, usually completing endurance sets of 10-15 repetitions. In order to challenge your body + create a new stimulus for it to adapt to it can mean lifting heavier weights + dropping your repetition range down.
So for example - our newest strength training program that we created is specifically designed for graduates of our Postpartum Program, and it’s intended to be that next level up for women. Elevated + Empowered is an advanced strength training program with intention load progressions build into the workout - this means, we are challenging you to increase your weights each round to help you break down those muscle fibers to rebuild and build strength!
I am on my third round through Elevated + Empowered and I love to challenge myself with my weights. It’s fun for me to see how much I have improved each round and how much I can push my weights by. My body has been responding REALLY well to this program and I’d encourage anyone who is looking for a new, challenging program to try this out!
What are your thoughts? Are you convinced to give strength training a go?!
Join the Expecting and Empowered App
The good news? We’ve got both strength training AND cardio in our app - so you’ll never had to choose. Download the app today and start your fitness journey with thousands of other women like you.
