strength training - Hope Clinic Care

When it comes to exercise, there are two main types of workouts: cardio and strength training. Both offer many benefits, but which one is better? The answer depends on your goals and personal preferences.

What is Cardio?

Cardiovascular exercise, commonly known as cardio, is a type of exercise that increases your heart rate and breathing rate. Examples of cardio exercises include running, cycling, swimming, and jumping jacks. Cardio is an excellent way to improve your cardiovascular health, burn calories, and lose weight. It can also help to reduce your risk of heart disease, stroke, and other chronic health conditions.

What is Strength Training?

Strength training, also known as resistance training, is a type of exercise that involves lifting weights or using resistance bands to build strength and muscle mass. Strength training exercises include squats, bench press, deadlifts, and bicep curls. Strength training is an excellent way to build muscle, increase your metabolism, and improve your overall strength and endurance.

Cardio vs. Strength Training: Which is better?

As previously stated, the answer to this question depends on your individual goals and fitness level. If you want to lose weight, improve your cardiovascular health, or reduce your risk of chronic health conditions, cardio is the way to go. Aim for at least 150 minutes of moderate-intensity cardio per week, or 75 minutes of vigorous-intensity cardio. This can be broken up into shorter sessions throughout the day.

On the other hand, if you want to build muscle mass, increase your strength and endurance, or improve your athletic performance, strength training is the way to go. Aim to work each major muscle group at least twice a week, using weights or resistance bands. This will help you build lean muscle mass and increase your metabolism, which can lead to weight loss over time.

Cardio and strength training can also be combined to provide a well-rounded fitness routine. A combination of both can help you to achieve your goals faster and provide a more comprehensive workout. For example, you can start your workout with a 20-30 minute cardio session, followed by 30-40 minutes of strength training. This way, you get the benefits of both types of exercise in one session.

Benefits of Cardio

Cardiovascular exercise has numerous benefits, including:

Improving cardiovascular health: Cardio helps to strengthen your heart and lungs, reducing your risk of heart disease, stroke, and other chronic health conditions.
Burning calories: Cardio is a great way to burn calories and lose weight.
Reducing stress: Cardio can help to reduce stress and anxiety, improving your mental health.
Increasing endurance: Cardio can help to increase your endurance, making it easier to perform everyday tasks and participate in physical activities.

Benefits of Strength Training

Strength training also has numerous benefits, including:

Building muscle: Strength training is an excellent way to build muscle and increase your strength.
Boosting metabolism: Strength training can help to boost your metabolism, making it easier to burn calories and lose weight.
Improving bone density: Strength training can help to improve your bone density, reducing your risk of osteoporosis.
Reducing injury risk: Strength training can help to improve your balance, flexibility, and coordination, reducing your risk of injury.

In conclusion, both cardio and strength training offer many benefits. The best one for you depends on your goals and preferences. Consider trying both and see what works best for your body and lifestyle.

We probably think that seniors and lifting weights are an unlikely combination. However, as we get older, our physical bodies will naturally experience changes. Our bones may shrink in size and density, our muscles may lose strength and flexibility as well. On average, after you reach the age of 50, your muscle tone declines by 15 percent per decade, leaving you more susceptible to poor balance. Staying active and lifting weights can help slow down the weakening process of your muscles and bones. How? Well, here are the 3 reasons why strength training is important for seniors!

Strength training develops stronger bone mass and slows down the pace of age-related muscle loss (also known as sarcopenia).

Sarcopenia occurs faster once you’ve reached the age of 75, and its symptoms include muscle weakness and loss of stamina. There are several factors that cause sarcopenia (source: https://www.webmd.com/healthy-aging/guide/sarcopenia-with-aging), which are:

Reduction in nerve cells responsible for sending signals from the brain to the muscles to start movement.
Lower concentrations of some hormones, including growth hormone, testosterone, and insulin-like growth factor.
A decrease in the ability to turn protein into energy.
Not getting enough calories or protein each day to sustain muscle mass.

Weight and resistance training can delay this process by improving endurance, developing range of motion, converting protein to energy, and increasing lung capacity. It also helps with your hormones and neuromuscular system.

Strength training helps provide pain relief, especially for those dealing with arthritis.

By strengthening the muscles, tendons, and ligaments around your joints, weightlifting can significantly improve your range of motion. It can minimize your pain as well by increasing the strength of muscles surrounding the afflicted joint, which eases stress on the joint itself.

Strength training helps you to maintain your independence in doing daily activities and improves your overall well-being.

When you commit to a strength training program, it will improve your endurance and ability to walk. This is important because among seniors, insufficient leg strength is a powerful predictor of future disabilities. Your endurance comes in handy to maintain your independence as well, so that you won’t need to completely rely on other people to do day-to-day activities, such as getting up from a chair, carrying groceries, etc. Weight and resistance training is not only beneficial for your physique, but for your mental health and mood, too! You will feel good about yourself, you can sleep better, and it’s less likely for you to develop depression.

Before jumping in, however, it’s important to talk with a doctor first. Make sure that the workout and exercise program you want to do is suitable for you based on your health conditions and fitness status. Consulting with a healthcare professional will help you determine which exercises to include or avoid to keep your strength-based workouts safe.

When it comes to exercise, there are two main types of workouts: cardio and strength training. Both offer many benefits, but which one is better? The answer depends on your goals and personal preferences.

What is Cardio?

What is Strength Training?

Cardio vs. Strength Training: Which is better?

Benefits of Cardio

Cardiovascular exercise has numerous benefits, including:

Improving cardiovascular health: Cardio helps to strengthen your heart and lungs, reducing your risk of heart disease, stroke, and other chronic health conditions.

Burning calories: Cardio is a great way to burn calories and lose weight.

Reducing stress: Cardio can help to reduce stress and anxiety, improving your mental health.

Increasing endurance: Cardio can help to increase your endurance, making it easier to perform everyday tasks and participate in physical activities.

Benefits of Strength Training

Strength training also has numerous benefits, including:

Building muscle: Strength training is an excellent way to build muscle and increase your strength.

Boosting metabolism: Strength training can help to boost your metabolism, making it easier to burn calories and lose weight.

Improving bone density: Strength training can help to improve your bone density, reducing your risk of osteoporosis.

Reducing injury risk: Strength training can help to improve your balance, flexibility, and coordination, reducing your risk of injury.

In conclusion, both cardio and strength training offer many benefits. The best one for you depends on your goals and preferences. Consider trying both and see what works best for your body and lifestyle.

Strength training develops stronger bone mass and slows down the pace of age-related muscle loss (also known as sarcopenia).

Sarcopenia occurs faster once you’ve reached the age of 75, and its symptoms include muscle weakness and loss of stamina. There are several factors that cause sarcopenia (source: https://www.webmd.com/healthy-aging/guide/sarcopenia-with-aging), which are:

Reduction in nerve cells responsible for sending signals from the brain to the muscles to start movement.

Lower concentrations of some hormones, including growth hormone, testosterone, and insulin-like growth factor.

A decrease in the ability to turn protein into energy.

Not getting enough calories or protein each day to sustain muscle mass.

Weight and resistance training can delay this process by improving endurance, developing range of motion, converting protein to energy, and increasing lung capacity. It also helps with your hormones and neuromuscular system.

Strength training helps provide pain relief, especially for those dealing with arthritis.

By strengthening the muscles, tendons, and ligaments around your joints, weightlifting can significantly improve your range of motion. It can minimize your pain as well by increasing the strength of muscles surrounding the afflicted joint, which eases stress on the joint itself.

Strength training helps you to maintain your independence in doing daily activities and improves your overall well-being.