Cardio vs. Strength Training: How to Unlock Better Fitness With This Powerful Combo

If you’re looking to change up your exercise routine, you may be wondering whether you should invest your time in cardio or strength training. Cardio enthusiasts believe the benefits of heart-pumping exercises for weight loss and endurance are supreme, while strength training fans argue that building muscle is the key to long-term health and fitness. 

But what if both can be true? The truth is, cardio and strength training each offer unique benefits that can ultimately complement one another. When combined, they can lead to a more well-rounded fitness routine, boosting strength, endurance, and overall health. 

Let’s dive into the following topics together about combining cardio and strength training:

• Understanding cardio exercise

• Understanding strength training

• The key differences between cardio and strength training

• The benefits of combining cardio and strength training

• Tips for combining cardio and strength training

• How to balance cardio and strength training based on your fitness goals

• Common myths about cardio and strength training

Let’s jump in!

Understanding cardio exercise

Cardio, short for cardiovascular exercise, refers to any activity that raises your heart rate and keeps it elevated for a long period of time. This type of exercise strengthens the heart and lungs while boosting blood circulation and oxygen delivery to your muscles. Common examples include:

• Running

• Rowing

• Cycling

• Swimming

The hype about cardio comes from its many benefits. Regular cardio workouts are known to improve heart health and reduce the risk of heart disease. Moreover, these workouts can aid in weight management by burning calories and increasing your metabolism over time while enhancing your lung capacity. Finally—and perhaps most enjoyably!—cardio boosts your mood by releasing endorphins, dousing you in a full-body glow at the end of your workout. 

The best examples of cardio workouts begin with simple movements like walking, running, or jogging. Both can be done at home or outside surrounded by your favorite scenery. Cycling and swimming are both excellent choices, too, yet both require access to equipment. Nevertheless, they can be enjoyed year round if you have an indoor pool and a stationary bike. Finally, rowing is a fantastic low-impact exercise that engages multiple muscle groups at once and burns a ton of calories in a short amount of time. 

Understanding strength training

Strength training, also known as resistance training, involves exercises designed to build muscle mass, strength, and muscular endurance. This type of training uses resistance—whether from weights, body weight, or resistance bands—to challenge your muscles. Strength training isn’t just for bodybuilders; it’s essential for anyone looking to build functional strength, improve bone density, and boost metabolism.

Just like cardio exercise, strength training yields a host of benefits as well. Obviously, it increases muscle mass and strength. Furthermore, regular strength training can boost your metabolism, burning calories even while your body is resting. It can also improve posture, balance, and coordination while preventing injuries by fortifying muscles and joints.

Strength training workouts can be completed both at home or your local gym. Both bodyweight exercises (using your own body as resistance) and resistance band exercises (lightweight and affordable elastic bands) can be easily done at home with little monetary investment. 

Weightlifting does require the use of kettlebells, dumbbells, or barbells to complete a variety of strength training exercises. 

Related blog: 12 Beginner Strength Training Exercises to Add to Your Workout Routine

The key differences between cardio and strength training

While both cardio and strength training are essential for a balanced fitness routine, they work in different ways. Cardio primarily targets the cardiovascular system (also known as the aerobic system), improving heart and lung function, while strength training focuses on building muscle mass and increasing metabolic rate. 

The cardio system requires oxygen and primarily uses carbohydrates for fats and fuel, supporting long-lasting energy and making this type of exercise effective for burning fat. Strength training, on the other hand, builds muscle, which can lead to long-term fat loss by boosting metabolism. 

The benefits of combining cardio and strength training

Combining cardio with strength exercises allows you to harness the benefits of both forms of exercise for a more comprehensive fitness routine. This powerful combo has a host of advantages you’re sure to experience:

1. Boosts fat loss

2. Improves heart and lung strength

3. Increases endurance and stamina

4. Reduces risk of injury

1. Boosts fat loss

Cardio and strength workouts maximize fat loss while supporting a healthier metabolism. Cardio workouts burn a significant amount of calories during your workout, while strength training increases muscle mass, raising your metabolic rate and leading to more calories being burned throughout the day, even at rest. 

2. Improves heart and muscle strength

Getting your blood pumping during cardio gives your heart the workout it needs to stay healthy and get your blood flowing to your engaged muscles. Simultaneously, pairing cardio with strength means you’re working on muscular endurance as well as cardio. As a result, your body will grow stronger to support the exertion you experience while training. 

3. Increases endurance and stamina

When you incorporate both cardio and strength training into your fitness routine, you’re not only increasing your endurance to engage in your heart-pumping cardio workouts, but you’re also increasing your stamina in the amount of weight you’re able to lift. Over time, you should notice you’re able to put more effort into your cardio workouts or increasing the weight on your deadlifts during your strength workouts. 

4. Reduces risk of injury

By engaging your whole body by combining cardio along with strength exercises, you will inevitably reduce your risk of injury by building stronger muscles, increasing your mobility, and improving your cardiovascular health. This is a great practice to develop to support your body as you age.

Tips for combining cardio and strength training

If you’re ready to unlock the full potential of combining cardio and strength training, we’ve included some thoughtful tips to help you get started:

1. Alternate days

2. Combine in one session

3. Tailor workouts to your goals

1. Alternate days

One option is to dedicate specific days to cardio and strength workouts to give your body time to recover between sessions. It’s important to alternate muscle groups to allow them time to recover and avoid risk of injury.

We recommend dedicating two to three days per week on cardio only and one to two days on strength training only. Then, one day a week, you can perform a circuit training or high-intensity interval training (HIIT) workout to combine both strength and cardio training in one. 

2. Combine in one session

Another option is to incorporate exercises into one day of working out by starting with cardio and then completing strength training or vice versa. 

Related blog: Should You Do Cardio Before or After Weights?

3. Tailor workouts to your goals

Focus more on cardio if you’re aiming for endurance or fat burning, or prioritize strength training if you’re looking to build muscle and burn fat. Whichever is your priority should come at the start of your workout so you are fresh and ready to hit the ground running—literally. 

How to balance cardio and strength training based on your fitness goals

Your approach to balancing cardio and strength training will depend on your personal fitness goals. Consider what outcome you’d like to achieve in order to determine how to proceed:

1. Burning fat

2. Muscle gain

3. Endurance

4. Overall fitness

1. Burning fat

Prioritize a balance of cardio and strength training. Cardio burns calories, while strength training builds muscle, increasing your resting metabolism to ensure you’re torching calories while you’re resting. 

2. Muscle gain

Focus on strength training, but perform cardio to maintain your cardiovascular health and endurance on separate days. If you do combine strength and cardio on the same day, be sure to start your workouts with resistance training and end with gentle cardio to avoid undermining the benefit from the strength workout. 

3. Endurance

Emphasize cardio workouts while incorporating some strength training to prevent muscle imbalances and improve overall performance. 

4. Overall fitness

For a well-rounded fitness routine, aim for a 50/50 split between cardio and strength training or try exercises that combine the two together. 

Common myths about cardio and strength training

Despite the many benefits of combining cardio and strength training, the Internet will always circulate myths. Don’t believe everything you hear on TikTok! Here are a few common myths we’d like to debunk for you.

1. Myth: Too much cardio can inhibit muscle gain

2. Myth: Strength training makes you bulky

3. Myth: You can’t lose weight with strength training

1. Myth: Too much cardio can inhibit muscle gain

In reality, light to moderate cardio does not lead to muscle loss if you maintain a balanced diet and strength train regularly. In fact, moderate cardio can be an excellent way to help lower your body fat percentage and reveal more of the muscle you’ve developed.

2. Strength training makes you bulky

Unless you’re specifically training to build large amounts of muscle and consuming enough protein and calories to nourish a small elephant, you don’t have to worry about beefing up like Arnold. Typically, a well-structured training plan can result in a lean, more toned appearance once you’re managing your nutrition intake. 

3. You can’t lose weight with strength training

Cardio and strength training both boost your metabolism, but muscle needs more calories and therefore burns more fat—promoting long-term weight loss when combined with a healthy diet. Think of strength training like your retirement plan. You won’t see the results right away, but over time, you’ll reap the benefits of the hard work you save for later.

Let’s get to work!

In the cardio vs. strength training debate, it’s not about choosing one over the other. The most effective fitness routines incorporate both for a powerful combination of endurance, strength, and overall health. By creating a balanced routine that blends these two forms of exercise, you can achieve great results. 

For those looking to supercharge their workouts by harnessing the power of combining strength and cardio training, consider trying Hydrow’s rowing machines and our extensive library of workouts. Hydrow is an indoor rower that offers incredible cardio and strength training classes with many workouts being just 30 minutes or less! Remember, the key to success is consistency, safety, and enjoying the journey toward better health. 

Learn more about the benefits of a Hydrow rowing machine today!