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The Exhaustive Debate: Cardio or Strength Training?
Why lifting weights is not better for you than running, and the other way around
People know they need to exercise more. Massive public health campaigns are aimed at getting them off the couch and onto a bicycle. Tweets from fitness experts bandy about words like “myofibril,” “isometric,” and “sweat.” Nearby gyms will sell people the ability to do a pullup in six months if they’d only sign away 10% of their income. People know they need to exercise more. What they don’t know is how.
There’s a lot of debate about whether cardio (aerobic) exercise beats resistance (strength) training. Cardio usually takes the form of running, cycling, or swimming. Resistance training often involves weightlifting.
A common refrain is that cardio is the best thing for losing weight or improving heart health, and resistance is the best thing for building muscle (though without any cardiovascular benefits). But is that really the case?
Sports science is complicated
The problem is that in sports science, solid advice based on big scientific studies is quite rare. It makes sense when you think about it: Unlike clinical medicine, where a company can earn hundreds of billions of dollars down the road after…
