Some people love to do
cardio. They will run or zumba or
bike all day. They like the music
or the sweat or the wonderful feeling of being done. Other people love weights. Power! Moving
heavy objects! Shove over, Wonder
Woman, I’ve got this!
The first group needs to tolerate
weight lifting and the second group needs to put up with cardio. Both are necessary for good health and
fitness.
Cardio(pulmonary) activity, as
the name suggests, works the heart and lungs. We need our hearts and lungs to work so we can go on living
for a long time. Cardio burns
calories, elevates mood, improves brain function, and sometimes even feels
good. It enables us to run around
with children and dogs, be the last kid out of the bounce house, and scoff at
elevators.
Weight training also burns
calories, both directly and indirectly.
We all feel the calories sweating right out of our bodies when we lift,
but we are also secretly building up our metabolisms. Muscle tissue burns more calories than fatty tissue; the
more of the former you have, the higher your metabolism (within reason. We all need some body fat for optimal
functioning.). Weight training
also strengthens bones. We do not
want to be that fragile old codger bent in the middle and so delicate that a
breath can cause a fracture. And,
obviously, when we are stronger we can dare the folks at the supermarket to
pack our bags heavier, we can move our own furniture, and we can amaze our
friends with our ability to open the stickiest of jars.
So: even if we like one kind of exercise better than the other,
we have to suck it up and do the other one, too. As Deion Sanders said in a commercial a long time ago, “Both,
Coach.”
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