Great moments are born from great opportunities.

-Herb Brooks

One of the biggest fitness myths out there is, that cardio burns the most fat. It’s not true. Resistance training burns the most calories overall. When you’re doing cardio you burn calories during the activity. With resistance training you burn calories during and even up to 48 hours afterward. It’s called EPOC (excess postexercise oxygen consumption) or also known as afterburn. The added benefits of resistance training are; it ramps up your metabolism, improves insulin resistance, builds muscle mass and bone density, and shuts off  fat storing enzymes in your body. I still think cardio is important and should be part of your fitness program, but make sure you add variety to the mix. Change up machines, go outside and walk or run, change the tempo of your workouts, and play sports or games. If you’re just starting a workout program, include 2-3 days of resistance training and 3-4 of cardio. If you’ve been working out for awhile, and your strength training workouts include HIIT training (high intensity interval training) those can be counted as a cardio day. Just make sure you only do 2-3 HIIT workouts spaced out in a week.

Always check with your doctor before starting any exercise program.

For more information or help with designing a fitness program for your home or gym, contact me, Gale Volk by email at gale@fitnesswithpurpose.com or call (360)901-6056.