How much cardio versus strength training for best results?

Have you ever wondered how much strength training versus cardio you should be doing for optimal results?

As a dietitian and personal trainer, here are some questions that I get asked a lot:

• Should I be doing cardio if I have a fat loss goal?
• How much cardio should I be doing?
• How many days a week should I do strength training?

I will answer all of these questions (and more!) in this post! 

As with most things that pertain to nutrition and fitness, there will never be a “one size fits all” approach or answer to these questions. These answers are also dependent on your goals, current fitness level, the amount of stress your body is currently under, and time that you can dedicate to exercise. Unless you are training for a specific event, like a half-marathon or marathon, sport, or crossfit competition, etc. then my general recommendations provided here will most likely apply to you. 

If you are a woman who simply wants to LOOK and FEEL good in your body (i.e lose some fat, get toned, have energy, sleep better) then consider these recommendations that I have around cardio and strength training.

Should I Be Doing Cardio For Fat Loss? 

The short answer to the question is… it depends. Cardio is NOT a requirement for fat loss. No form of exercise is actually required for fat loss, as fat loss is much more dependent on our nutrition choices. 

Fat loss can be accelerated with exercise, though, but it is important that we are exercising with intention and strategy. The idea “just burn more calories” to lose more weight isn’t going to be the best strategy. 

Prime Your Body for Fat Loss

Building muscle through strength training is going to increase metabolic function, which will accelerate fat loss. I recommend strength training a minimum of 3 days per week and no more than 5 days per week for optimal metabolic benefits. It is also important that you are implementing progressive overload into your strength training program. (I have discussed this in much more depth in previous posts.) 

Muscle boosts metabolic function because muscle tissue burns more calories at rest compared to fat tissue. So, the more muscle that someone has, the more efficient their metabolism is compared to someone with more fat tissue. 

Strength training workouts also increase something called EPOC (exercise post oxygen consumption) for up to 48 hours post workout which is just a fancy way of saying that your metabolism continues working AFTER your workout. 

Cardio does burn calories, but cardio does not have the same EPOC effect of strength training. Cardio usually is not a muscle-building form of exercise, either. For context, examples of cardio would be activities such as jogging, swimming, cycling, dance classes, or any type of cardio equipment. I am not classifying general walking as cardio. 

How to Accelerate Progress

When it comes to fat loss, the best exercise strategy is going to be 1) building fat-burning muscle through strength training and 2) low-stress movement that burns calories (i.e. walking) 

Why do we want to focus on low-stress? Stress makes fat loss harder due to hormonal signals that are fired, putting our body into a fight or flight state. Chronic stress triggers the release of fat-storage hormones that are important for our survival. 

We live in a very stressful world - demanding jobs, relational stressors, and financial stressors, not to mention most women aren’t putting adequate amounts of nourishing foods into their bodies. Add on top of that a high-intensity spin class or 60 minute cardio session and that could be a recipe for fat-loss resistance, poor energy, hormone dysregulation, and trouble sleeping. 

If someone is strength training 3-5 days per week, walking 10k steps per day, getting 7-9 hours of sleep, hydrating, eating enough to support their metabolism, then adding in 2-3, 20-30 minute low intensity steady state (LISS) cardio sessions per week (or 2-3,15-20 minute moderate to high intensity sessions) could be beneficial for accelerated progress.  

Example of low-intensity steady state cardio: jogging, biking, cardio equipment, rowing, etc. Breathing should be well controlled where you could carry on a very light conversation. If you have a heart rate monitor, try to keep your heart rate below ~120 bpm. 

HIIT (high intensity interval training) is a great way to incorporate strength training with cardio in a quick, efficient workout. HIIT workouts usually include working at max (or near max) capacity for a short interval, followed by a short interval of rest.

In my professional opinion, following a strength training plan  + plenty of low-intensity movement (walking, general movement) is going to be the best strategy for fat loss, looking fit, supporting healthy hormones, and regulating energy and sleep. 

As long as someone is prioritizing sleep and eating enough calories from nourishing foods, then adding in cardio in any form can be a great addition! 

Rachel is a Registered Dietitian and the founder of Everwell Nutrition, an insurance-covered virtual nutrition practice serving clients across the United States. If you're ready to stop starting over and build a plan that actually fits your life, fill out an interest form — Rachel personally reaches out to every new inquiry within a business day.