Cardio or Weights

One of the most common questions I'm asked is "What's better for me cardio or lifting weights?"
In all my workouts both personally and professionally I do a mixture of both. I rotate from one move to next with very little rest in between and in each move you're essentially working your entire body. I prefer a squat and bicep curl as opposed to a simple bicep curl. Why should the legs just be standing there when they could do something? The result- an hour of torture (pleasure when I'm inducing the pain) but complete bliss when finished and results that speak for themselves. But, for those that have a free hour and are contemplating which form of exercise they should attempt- consider the following..

Acc to Womans Health, there are definite benefits to both and its all a matter of what you need..

For weight loss and keeping the weight off- any form of cardio will give you a minute to minute calorie burn- but what you see is what you get. So, run for a minute- you'll burn anywhere from 8-10 calories depending what you're doing (maybe more). Weight lifting on the other hand will torch 10-12 calories per minute, considering you're lifting a challenging weight, plus this will cause your metabolism to spike for an hour after that to allow your muscles to recover. So if you're burning 200 calories for the hour, make it more like 250 for the extra work at the end. Plus for an extra 3 lbs of muscles you gain, you'll burn an extra 120 calories a day. So for weight loss, weight lifting takes the cake.

To reduce stress, cardio is known to reduce stress levels after only 15 minutes. "Cardio elevates serotonin levels in the brain, a key neurotransmitter involved in improving symptoms of depression" says Madhukar Trivedi, M.D., director of the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center Mood Disorders Research Program and Clinic. I enjoy running a lot. I'm not a marathoner runner and dont think I ever could be, I run for max 6 miles mainly to clear my head, de-stress, relax, and it doesnt hurt knowing I'll torch some calories by doing so. If I'm ever lazy and not in the mood to think up a workout or need the outdoors and the fresh air, I almost immediately turn to running. There is no proven link to weight lifting and de-stressing so in this case, if you need to clear your heard- cardio is the way to go.

There are plenty benefits to both. Toning- weights. . Run a marathon-cardio.  Add years to your life- cardio.
Look better naked- weights. Get to the finish line faster- definate draw!