Online and on social media, fitness advice is everywhere with a mix of workout recommendations – some influencers glorify strength exercises like squats and bench presses for building muscle growth and supporting bone density, while others champion cardiovascular exercises like running and cycling for their lung and heart health benefits. But when it comes to healthy aging, which exercise is best for you?
Ultimately, experts discourage picking sides in the strength training versus cardio debate. Both forms of exercise are good for you, and doing them together can be essential for aging healthily.
Physical Activity Recommendations
It’s never too early to start working out for healthy aging, and building healthy exercise habits is important for all adults.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends that healthy adults, defined as people between 18 and 65, get at least 75 to 150 minutes of physical activity a week and include at least two days of strength training.
- 30 minutes of moderate aerobic exercise, or cardio, a day for five days a week, plus two strength training sessions a week
- 25 minutes of vigorous aerobic exercise a day for three days a week, plus two strength training sessions a week
- A mix of moderate and vigorous aerobic exercises on various days for a total of 75 to 150 minutes a week, plus two strength training sessions a week
According to the CDC, strength training should work all major muscle groups, including the legs, hips, back, abdomen, chest, shoulders and arms.
What Is Strength Training?
Strength training, or resistance training, is a form of exercise where your muscles work against a force. That force can be a weight, such as a kettlebell, barbell or dumbbell that you lift or swing, or resistance equipment, such as a hanging cable that you pull or kick or a band that you wrap around a body part while you bend or extend it.
Strength training can also be performed without equipment, using only your body weight and the resistance of gravity or a solid surface like the floor. Pushups and pullups are two well-known strength training exercises that rely on body weight. Planks and crunches, body weight exercises that support your core, are also forms of strength training.
Strength training can help you work up a sweat, but usually won’t leave you breathless in the same way that cardiovascular exercise does. However, there are exceptions to this – especially if you are working out hard.
What Is Cardio?
Cardio, or cardiovascular exercise, is a form of workout that elevates both your breathing and heart rate.
Cardio workouts are often rooted in movement – examples being running, biking and swimming – and typically, do not involve as much muscular force as strength training. That doesn’t mean cardio workouts don’t recruit your muscles, however, and some forms of cardio are more resistance-based than others. To make a cardio workout more strength-based, you can add force to your body or terrain – for example, by wearing a weighted pack on a hike or biking uphill.