Sometimes I do weird stuff in the gym. I stare (to learn new moves), I make badass psycho faces (to amp myself up), and I mouth the words to almost every single song I listen to (because it’s fun). But today, I think my weirdness reached a new level: I walked around the gym and counted people.
There were 27 people doing cardio work. 20 of them were women.
There were 19 people doing strength training. 2 of them were women.
Are men & women really that different that our bodies require completely different forms of exercise? Absolutely not.
I watch a lot (read: all) of The Biggest Loser for a number of reasons, and something that I have been recently paying attention to is that the workouts that the trainers put the men & women through are essentially the same. You don’t see Bob screaming, “Ladies–ellipticals! Men–squat presses!”.
I’m not a fitness professional, but it’s easy to see that both strength work and cardio work are crucial for fitness. Strength work builds muscle, and cardio work uses muscle — they balance each other out. If your muscles are stronger, they’ll be more effective during cardio. read more »
