Resistance Training vs. Cardiovascular Training

As you may or may not know, February is Cardiovascular Awareness Month. As we approach the month of February it’s important to start thinking about improving our hearts. We will be celebrating Cardiovascular Awareness month throughout February with t-shirts, new programs and a new way for members to save money on their monthly membership costs. So come in and ask us how.

For now, I’d like to say happy Tuesday to all of you out there (not sure if that even merits a cause for celebration). But I just wanted to check in and share an interesting article that I came across today. As the title indicates, we often place resistance training up against cardio training when evaluating our workouts. There isn’t a need for this sort of competition when they both present wonderful benefits and pair up well.

Often people value one over another which is fine, but it is important to explore them both and reap the benefits. It has often been viewed that cardio training is better for heart health than resistance training. MensFitness.com documents a study done at Appalachian State University that compares the cardiovascular effects of resistance training and cardio training. It turns out that resistance training has wonderful benefits such as widening blood vessels thus increasing blood flow to our limbs and a decrease in blood pressure after workouts which can be sustained with regular resistance exercise.

The question remains, which style of training is better? The answer is both! Mix in resistance training and cardiovascular training to gain the maximum amount of benefits and improve the health of your body.

So for all of you cardio freaks out there, it may not be a bad idea to venture into the weight room and try some resistance training. And all of you gym rats slamming weight plates together, jump on the elliptical or stair stepper to get your heart rate up. We have personal trainers on staff every day that would love to help you out as will any gym that you go to.

The link to the Men's Fitness article is here: http://www.mensfitness.com/fitness/general_fitness/844

We look forward to seeing you.

--Andrew