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Are the buckets of sweat as beneficial as people think?
People love doing their cardio sessions, and it makes sense. Cardio feels fantastic because it releases endorphins. Furthermore, it is essential for heart health.
However, if your workout routine only includes cardio, you’re missing the other 70% that will help you maintain a healthy weight, and that is resistance training.
If you ever observe a bodybuilder’s diet, you will notice they eat considerably high calories, and it seems only to do one thing: it helps them look better.
They not only maintain their weight and build more muscle mass, but they can consistently eat what they want without experiencing adverse effects.
This is because muscle mass increases your metabolism.
It might seem like doing more cardio will help you in the big scheme of things because you’re burning calories, and it can – especially if you do fasted cardio. Still, it’s never solving the root issue of why you arrived at a place of having extra weight on your body.
I used to do long-distance and high-intensity cardio almost daily. I ran cross country, and I did long-distance bike rides and cycling. But my physique completely shifted after I started taking the weights more seriously. I also maintained muscle mass after giving up the extended cardio sessions.
I will never give up cardio because it’s a key contributor to heart health, but it’s also just as easy to implement into my weight training workouts.
You can treat these as cardio sessions if you train intensely enough during your weight training sessions.
There have been many times when my weight training workout ended in just as much sweat as a full-blown cardio session. It all depends on intensity, experimentation, and duration.
Weight Lifting’s More Effective In Weight Regulation
Cardio is excellent for the heart, but weight lifting is excellent for heart health, eliminating fat, and redistributing your fat-to-muscle ratio.
The more muscle you have, the less fat you have.
The less fat you have, the more you decrease your risk of gaining unhealthy weight. Maintaining muscle mass is the body’s way of weight regulation.
As soon as you start losing considerable muscle mass, you set yourself up to increase the amount of fat you have.
One thing I never stop doing in the gym is lifting weights. I don’t mind missing a cardio session, but missing weights is most important.
If you struggle with being overweight, I encourage you to start lifting weights immediately.
Don’t know what to do in the gym? Watch videos and ask questions.
I learned about 99% of what I do in the gym from watching other people, videos and asking questions.
Start light and modest. As your strength and endurance increase, continue to increase the difficulty level.
To increase muscle mass, you must consistently increase the weight you use. Each week there should be a natural progression of your strength.
The key to improving your physique and metabolism
This content is for informational purposes only — not professional advice. Consult a qualified professional before making any major decisions.