Why Is Aerobic Exercise A Better Cardiovascular Workout Than Resistance Exercise?

Though there are quite a several lifestyle changes you’d want to adopt to obtain better heart health, and exercise, in particular, plays a major role in achieving the goal.

Why Is Aerobic Exercise A Better Cardiovascular Workout Than Resistance Exercise?

Research is still being conducted to determine which one is better for your heart: aerobic exercise or resistance exercise. Although both of them have their perks, here is why aerobic wins the game.

Shed more fat in less time:

A strong supporting finding of aerobic exercise is that individuals were able to shed more fat in less time when compared to resistance exercise. And in case you didn’t know: overweight or obesity can put you at risk for cardiovascular diseases. It is one of the main causes of heart diseases. A controlled diet, eating low on carbs and choosing more vegetables can sure help you reduce weight, but exercising is not to be taken lightly whatsoever.

Promotes cardiorespiratory fitness

Resistance exercises should not be overlooked, though. They strengthen body muscles and have positive effects on bone density and muscle mass. But your heart wants you to go aerobic. This is because aerobic exercise promotes cardiorespiratory fitness and cardiometabolic variables.

Improves the pumping capacity of the myocardium

Studies have shown that the heart rate recovery (HRR) – the speed at which heart rate declines to normal levels from maximum or minimum – is a strong predictor of cardiovascular health. Again, the upper hand goes to the aerobic exercise. It improves the pumping capacity of the myocardium. Also, it gradually enlarges the heart leading to easier workouts in the future.

Lower Blood Pressure

Hypertension is one of the leading causes of cardiovascular issues all around the world. In a study where systolic and diastolic blood pressures were observed after aerobic and resistance training, the blood pressure was found to be much lower in aerobic exercise. when compared to the other one.

The two hormones

Epinephrine and norepinephrine are involved in the lowering of blood pressure that followed the aerobic exercises. The aerobic exercise brought more vascular compliance, reducing peripheral resistance. This reduction in sympathetic neural activity helped decrease blood pressure.

Weight loss

Aerobic exercise activates lipolysis which results in increased energy expenditure. This is likely to be followed by weight loss and reduction in the body fat percentage.

Improving functional abilities

Both resistance and aerobic exercises are capable of improving functional abilities like climbing stairs, walking and running. But in a comprehensive treatment program for enhancing back health, aerobic exercise is chosen.

The decrease in blood sugar levels

Diabetes is one of the leading causes of cardiovascular diseases. Aerobic exercises play a role even in this area. It improved the sensitivity of liver, skeletal muscle and adipose tissues to the action of insulin on our body. Hyperglycemic participants have shown a decrease in blood sugar levels after aerobic training. But resistance exercise is not far behind. Smutok et al. (1993) concluded that strength training and aerobic training improved glucose tolerance and reduced insulin responses to oral glucose.

Reduce blood triglycerides.

Several studies have shown that resistance training has a positive effect on blood lipids but the other hand, many others failed to prove this. In the case of aerobic training, the regular practice has shown to reduce blood triglycerides.

Cardiovascular health can be improved by these exercises but there are other not-so-hard-to-follow tips you can make use of if you want to do good to your heart. Here are a few of them:

• quit smoking
• lose weight (exercise!)
• maintain a balanced diet in all meals
• monitor your heart health regularly

If you constantly put in efforts to keep getting better at these, you’ll improve your heart health. Though these seem simple, they result in powerful outcomes.

Even though both the exercises provide their benefits without fail, these findings are proof enough that aerobic exercises are considerably more effective than resistance exercise in improving cardiovascular health. But what is interesting is that a certain study has put forward another effective treatment method that is not partial to any one of them: a combination of aerobic and resistance exercise training will contribute to your cardiorespiratory fitness, lean body mass, and improved blood pressure. Now that might be true as the combined effects of both are not to be ignored, but considering the heart health, in particular, aerobic exercise is superior.