[Chojin]

Originally Posted by elx

first off, you're a jerk, i don't want to be kidnapped, if i wanted my words on 4chan i'd post them there myself

and i'll try to meet you in the middle here,
cardio is better for slimming down, it is faster and more efficient.
strength training is better for overall fitness in the long run.

this is proven, this is known, it's not even a debate. it's the way it is.

No it fucking isn't.

You have it backwards. People who lift weights become cosmetically better, but often are lacking in terms of actual fitness. THAT is what cardio is for.

Feel free to educate yourself!
http://liamrosen.com/fitness.html

And because I know you won't read it, here's the part of it that directly relates to this discussion:

Are you trying to lose weight? Lift weights. Lifting burns tons of calories, and lifting weights while dieting will cause you to retain more muscle and lose more fat than just diet and/or cardio. Because the name of the game when it comes to not looking awful is FAT LOSS, not weight loss. Do you want to be that guy who loses lots of weight and still looks flabby and useless? Of course not.

Are you just trying to “tone up”? Lift weights. “Toning” is kind of a nonsense term, because you don’t actually “tone” anything. You can only lose fat and gain muscle, and lifting weights helps you do both, by burning calories and promoting muscle growth. Like I said before, you get huge by eating huge, not lifting weights; lifting just determines how much of your weight is muscle vs. fat.

Are you a woman? Lift weights, because I already explained why lifting won’t turn you into a man, and all the other benefits still apply to you. And if you are a 1 in 1,000,000 woman who can pack on muscle mass like a man, just stop working out as hard and it will go away. This is a gradual process we are talking about here; you don’t go from Twiggy to Linebacker Bulldyke overnight.

Lifting weights also makes you stronger, less injury prone and promotes stronger bones and looking better naked. It speeds up your metabolism a bit and makes you healthier generally.

But what about cardio? For one thing, it burns lots of calories. But cardio is also good for everyone because it improves your overall endurance and ability to exert yourself over an extended period. It promotes cardiovascular health and contributes to increased bone density. Basically, your ability to perform pretty much any kind of physical activity is helped by being in good cardiovascular health, and it makes it less likely that you will eventually die from your heart exploding.

My suggestion is to alternate weights and cardio, for instance doing 3 days of weights, 2 days of cardio, and taking the other 2 days off. Doing both on the same day tends to cause one or the other to suffer from reduced effort, and generally burns people out.