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Author: Michael Holland
Lowering Body Fat Percentage: Resistance Training vs. Cardiovascular Training
Under-active people grow weaker, lose muscle, and develop a sluggish metabolic rate. This is also eventually accompanied by inches of fat, even if caloric intake does not increase. While body weight may or may not change, body fat percentage increases when fat gain and muscle atrophy occur. Body fat percentage lowers when lean muscle mass increases and or stored fat mass decreases. So, when it is time to lower body fat percentage, what is more effective, resistance training or cardiovascular training? Resistance training is more effective than cardiovascular training for lowering body fat percentage because of the fuel burned during exercise, the after-burn effect, long term effects, and the raise in metabolism.
The human body uses different sources of fuel depending on the task that it is performing. The body burns fat as the primary energy source during cardiovascular exercise. Armed with this knowledge alone, it would make sense to lace-up the old running shoes, and hit the pavement. Fortunately, years of research - thanks to the many educated professionals involved in the health and fitness fields - have uncovered much more information. The result of the body burning fat as its primary source of energy during cardiovascular exercise is that the body adapts by up-regulating the enzymes that store body fat. This means that the more any individual performs cardiovascular training, the harder it becomes to burn fat. Cardiovascular training sessions elevate cortisol levels in the body, and the longer the session, the higher cortisol levels are raised. Cortisol has a direct relationship to gluconeogenesis (Miyaki, 2010). Gluconeogenesis is the process in which the body breaks down its own muscle tissue and converts it to glucose, to be used as fuel. This means that cardiovascular training can force the body to use lean muscle as fuel. Glucose and glycogen are burned as the main source of energy during resistance training. The body responds by up-regulating the enzymes that store muscle glycogen. This means that the body will have a readily available source of energy to perform future resistance training sessions. Cortisol levels are raised by resistance training as well. The difference is that resistance training raises Testosterone and growth hormone levels as well. Testosterone and growth hormone offset cortisol, and are vital in both the fat burning and muscle building process (Miyaki, 2010). All together, the effect of these hormones is lean muscle gain and protein synthesis.
During an exercise session, resistance training and cardiovascular training are as different as day and night. In-session calorie burns vary from one individual to the next. Researchers can only put an exact number on how many calories are burned during resistance training versus cardiovascular training in small, controlled studies. There are many studies that show resistance training to be superior for in session calorie burning, and there are equally as many to support cardiovascular training being superior. In the long-run, the amount of calories burned during any given one hour training session are relatively small in comparison to the amount of calories burned during the other twenty three hours of the day. Between training sessions is when the majority of fat oxidation occurs. For this reason, metabolism boosting and muscle building should be the primary focus of training sessions. That being said, natural hormone production is inhibited and resting metabolic rate is greatly decreased by muscle loss due to excessive cardiovascular training (Miyaki, 2010). After a strenuous workout (resistance or cardiovascular), muscles need extra oxygen to recover. This occurrence, known as excess post-exercise oxygen consumption (EPOC), helps the body restore itself to a resting state and adapt to the performed exercise. According to Rob Fitzgerald, research shows that resistance training (anaerobic in nature) burns more fat and causes a longer period of EPOC than steady-state (aerobic in nature) cardiovascular training (2010).
The recovery process following a resistance training session requires a high number of calories to be burned after exercise. When compared, cardiovascular training burns calories during the exercise itself, while lean muscle mass (the result of resistance training) burns calories twenty four hours a day (Sussman, 1991). The extra calories required, following resistance training, are due to maintenance and repair. Some of the steps involved in the resistance training recovery include protein synthesis, satellite cell activation, and tissue repair. All of these processes require a certain amount of energy; measured in calories. After a resistance training session, the metabolic rate can be elevated for up to forty eight hours. This far exceeds the post-exercise effects of cardiovascular training (Miyaki, 2010).
Muscles are for much more than looking good at the beach. Muscle happens to be the most metabolically active tissue in the human body. This means that increasing the amount of muscle mass on your body substantially increases your body’s ability to burn fat. Sussman points out in the article “Muscle Bound” that, “Pound for pound, muscle burns forty to fifty more calories a day than fat burns. So putting on just three pounds of muscle will consume an extra one hundred twenty to one hundred fifty extra calories every twenty four hours, even while you sleep” (2010). The enhancement of fast twitch muscle fibers is desirable because it has the greatest potential for hypertrophy, which is the process that firms and shapes the body, boosts metabolic rate, and leads to increased fat burning. There are certain muscle fibers that are considered intermediate. They are deemed intermediate because they can take on the properties of either slow-twitch or fast-twitch muscle fibers. Different modes of training encourage intermediate muscle fibers to convert to slow-twitch or fast-twitch. Strength training encourages those muscles to convert to fast-twitch and cardiovascular training leads to slow-twitch conversion. In addition, resistance training will not cause men or women to look like a professional body-builder unless they want live in the gym for the next five years. In fact, resistance training encourages slim and tone features, while cardiovascular training encourages burned-out, over-trained, and loose bodies.
Resistance training releases hormones that encourage fat loss and muscle gain, causes longer periods of EPOC, and has an after-burn effect in the post-exercise recovery. Cardiovascular training may burn muscle as fuel, burns calories during workout but not after, and does not promote muscle gain. Resistance training is an effective way to incinerate stubborn layers of fat because building muscle stokes up the metabolic engine. Alyssa Shaffer, in her article “Maximize Your Metabolism” wrote that according to Gary Hunter, Ph.D., a professor in the department of nutrition sciences at the University of Alabama at Birmingham, “Regular resistance training will increase your daily energy expenditure by about 10 percent” (2010).
References
Fitzgerald, R.(2010). Metabolic Mayhem, Joe Weider's Muscle & Fitness, April, Vol. 71, Issue
4, p176-184.
Miyaki, N.(2010). The Best Damn Cardio Article — Period, Testosterone Nation, the Intelligent
And Relentless Pursuit of Muscle, published October 14, 2010 at www.t-nation.com.
Shaffer, A.(2010). Maximize Your Metabolism, Tennis, April, Vol. 46, Issue 3.
Sussman, V(1991). Muscle Bound, U.S. News & World Report, May, Vol. 110, Issue 19, p85-
87.
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