I feel like everyone needs to hear your ongoing message of "it's not strength training, it's cardio with weights." Seriously, you talking about that made me re-think my whole workout program and made me really choosy of what fitness peeps to follow on youtube. 💖
Awesome video! I'm a runner and I also do other forms of cardio for cross training. It's safe to say that cardio is my main focus and lifting kind of comes secondary to me. However, I do lift multiple times a week, and it's becoming more important to me as I get older. As a runner, it helps with injury prevention. As a woman who isn't getting any younger, it helps with my bone density and mobility. It's frustrating to see the weird competition between the lifting and cardio communities over who is doing things "better". People simply have different goals, and a balance between cardio and strength can benefit pretty much anyone. I appreciate you adding that balance to the conversation!
Right now in life, cardio gets me moving regularly. Which feels more important at this point in my life. I'm hoping strength training will come once my habit is formed.
Love this type of content. This was mostly review for me, but still super helpful to be reminded of why both cardio and strength training are important to have in my exercise routine.
I rarely comment but this video was so well done that I feel I must. I loved this so much, such good information and easy to reference with how you listed it out on the screen. Thank you!
I do both for different reasons and love both for different reasons. I think they are both important, especially for me personally in my perimenopause journey
Commenting a few days after watching, but as I was doing one of my workouts yesterday (large brand name routine) I realized “I’m doing cardio with weights.” And while it isn’t advertised as “strength”…the difference isn’t explained. Thank you for taking the time to make these videos…they are so informative and helping me understand, and hopefully make better choices about, my health and wellness journey and goals.
So informative! One of my 2025 fitness goals is being consistent with cardio. In the past years I almost never did cardio workouts because I was much more interested the esthetic of strenght training. Now I am much more interested into health and having fun, so I introduced some dance cardio in my shedule and I love it very much! I still love strenght training, but dancing and feel my heart pumping just makes me happy and alive and I love the sensation!
i recommend taking les mills bodycombat classes if you have any in your area. it’s cardio kickboxing to music and it is so much fun!!!!! a very good stress reliever which will definitely improve your cardiovascular health.
I’m a 60-year-old woman who has experienced significant improvements in my health since starting to work out for the first time in my life five months ago. I began with incline walking on a treadmill and exercising on an elliptical bike, and the changes have been remarkable: - I no longer have to wake up in the middle of the night to pee. - My gums no longer bleed when I brush my teeth. - My dry eye syndrome has improved so much that I can wear contact lenses again, which makes me incredibly happy. - I’ve completely stopped experiencing heartburn, something I’ve suffered from my entire life. A month ago, I also started weight training with dumbbells, and I’m excited to see how it will help improve my bone density and overall strength.
What you said about the beginning of strength training being about your nervous system- now it finally makes sense why I’ve only now started putting on muscle after 6 moments of strength training!
Very good video. Personally, a cardio focused routine provided more mental clarity, I was more consistent and the health benefits were evident. Strength training made me more obsessed with physical results (leading to a body dysmorphia spiral), and I was less consistent as I was always sore and needed time to recover. Hopefully I can find a balance between the 2, but cardio will always be my fave ❤
I think the biggest take away is that you shouldn't do one OR the other but both! Of course you have to adapt it to your goals and to your schedule but I feel like a lot of people have a black and white view when it comes to cardio and strength training.
Overall this was a great video! I could have misinterpreted what you were saying, but I believe the aerobic/anaerobic dichotomy is considered to be the out-of-date model. The Energy Systems Basics video on the Training Think Tank channel, as well as Evan Peikon’s Substack, is where I got a majority of my info from, but I believe the general consensus is “everything is aerobic all the time,” just to varying degrees. I really appreciate your efforts to communicate evidence based exercise info!
Hey! I consolidated a lot of systems here (PCr, fast glycolysis, slow glycolysis, oxidative phosphorylation, beta oxidation) to make it easier for people to understand. I don’t know anything about the updated studies that anaerobic training doesn’t exist, but I will say that I’m actively in the middle of CSCS prep and these are all still systems according to their updated guidelines for athletes. I’ll take a look at the resources you’re discussing and ask some other coaches about updated studies.
Love your videos and hope you're around for a long time! I'd love for you to check back in on the hormones are boring thing in 15 years. Yes they are! But when perimemopause and menopause come, we can't avoid them. It's so sad.
Hey! Sorry if it was unclear, but I mean explaining the nitty gritty of anabolic vs catabolic vs polypeptide hormones and their functions are simply boring to me. I don't think menopause will change my interests there, but if you find that stuff interesting then I think that's great!
Amazing: every time I have a doubt, your video comes along to solve it for me! I was just wondering if and how to incorporate sit workouts into a strength workout and I discover that they fall into the same group :)
You are the absolute best. I learn so much from you! Question: why is it that newbies can build muscle, at first, doing aerobic type workouts (cardo with weights)? It's hard to convince them to do traditional strength training when they are building muscle without it.
I've never participated in CrossFit but from what I understand, it's a lot of moving weight QUICKLY, and often focuses on Olympic lifts. Since there's really no set programming across the board (meaning each box programs for themselves and it's truly up to the coach/owner), it's hard to say what CrossFit's main focus is when it comes to programming.
And one more comment: mid 40s woman, I'm finding when I progress to heavier weights, my muscles are ready (if I'm working in a more strength way), my cardio system is ready (if I'm working in a more cardio way), but my knees and other joints seem to not be ready. Maybe an idea for a future video, or is this a simple "go see my PT" answer again?
I've made a ton of videos on mobility (joint) training! But at the end of the day, it truly comes down to WHAT is going on with your joints that's causing the pain. Maybe it's too high of volume or intensity. Maybe it's a restriction. Best way to figure it out is either your PT or work with a mobility specialist. I'd look for someone who is FRCms.
Hi again. Video suggestion & who better to break to down into layman's terms..but you😉 Cortisol & exercise! I've been reading (and trying to understand) the effects on the body and if it effects fat loss and can it cause muscle atrophy. When is too much cardio too much. I also read there may be two types of cortisol, one that is released during stress, anxiety etc and one which is released during exercise. ❤
That was really fascinating… So where do you draw the line between having too little rest and potentially just doing cardio when you intend to do strength training? There are so many metcon workouts and so called “HIIT” workouts which are often for 30 seconds or less of rest but as well as strength training videos with so little rest
Honestly I would have to see a program to comment on it, but that all comes from continuing education. I’ve made individual videos on training for different goals (strength, endurance, hypertrophy, etc) so that may help!
It's showing up for me as like the 4th most recent video: ruclips.net/video/eUlLS5QJSd4/видео.html You may be in a country where it's blocked due to music copyrights.
@ Sure, you're moving so it will utilize calories. But so would jump roping, cycling, running, lifting, etc. Anything you do movement-wise will use calories aka energy. And "enough" comes down to what your goal is.
very intersting. Thank You Justina. I have a question, i most youtube videos of strenght training have a recovery time of 20-30 seconds till next excercise/round so, my question is, is this considered strenght training? i know you mention an exampled but it confused me as most training videos on youtube have this method
@@gloRia-gv4eg it really depends on 1) your training goal and 2) what you have programmed. For a huge compound lift like front squats, I’m gonna take 2 min between sets most of the time whether it’s hypertrophy or strength focused. But for accessories you can get away with less rest time. Honestly the details of all of this come from education and experience!
Also confused. I don't think there are ANY home strength workouts online with more than 30s rest. So are NONE of them actually strength? If so damn, I have not done one strength workout in the last 10 years.
Hi Justina, greetings from Portugal 🇵🇹 I've been following you since around 2020 & love all your content ❤️ Can I share this video with my participants please? 😊
Eh, I wouldn’t qualify it as “bad” but more just something that happens. Basically your muscle fibers are growing but you’re not adding capillaries or mitochondria to the area. You may not WANT more oxidative fibers depending on your goals. That would be more specifically for strength and power athletes!
Cardio works better for my squirrel brain when it just wants *activity* lol. I have yet to build a consistent strengh routine because procrastination. As wver thank you for presenting this info so clearly!
If you are going for fat loss though, is more strength training (cardio with weights) more beneficial than cardio? I get that I should still do both but if I’m doing a workout 5x per week- how many of them should be strength training?
(With the biggest silly grin on) Where is the Zoe content?? I'm here for my Zoe updates! (Lol) But in all seriousness, this is a great breakdown of the two main types of training. For people who do a lot of follow along RUclips fitness (like from Madfit, as I started out) what is done there can look and feel like strength training at the beginning, but is not necessarily true anaerobic strength training, unless it is done is a super well thought out superset format. Such an important message to get out there. Thanks, and love (from a woman already in a stable, serious relationship) from Canada!
Quick question. I broke my toe 😂 last Tuesday and gave been trying to figure out what I should do. I obviously can't lift heavy can't do certain lower body moves and can't do Hardley any walking and I'm usually a 10k plus girl. Currently only getting maybe 4000 what can I do to stayactive but make sure I heal well. I do have a son bike but notice when I do that after 10 minutes my foot starts to hurt what could I do to not put in the weight during recovering and still stay active exer I wise and currently not trying to build upper body muscle . Im 5'4 155 pounds looking to lose about 15 to 20 pounds and still build good muscle in my lower body tighten up
Hey! Honestly I’m not really qualified to answer this. It’s a much better Q for your physical therapist or podiatrist (whoever you’re working with for recovery.) But I will say you don’t want to be pushing yourself to a point of pain. You’re going to stall progress and/or injure yourself more. I would focus on recovery for right now and nutrition!
Does anyone know of any good resources on strength training w/o access to a gym/weights or coaches who are knowledgeable about that? -Signed, girlies who care about their health but also live in the middle of nowhere
It’s not appropriate to talk about your body, but can I talk about your brain?!?! Thank you for sharing your expertise and your passion for health and fitness. We get the benefits of your diligence in education! Thank you!
I feel like everyone needs to hear your ongoing message of "it's not strength training, it's cardio with weights." Seriously, you talking about that made me re-think my whole workout program and made me really choosy of what fitness peeps to follow on youtube. 💖
And cardio with weights isn't bad! It's simply different :)
Yes, totally! I guess when those workouts are being billed as strength training.
Awesome video! I'm a runner and I also do other forms of cardio for cross training. It's safe to say that cardio is my main focus and lifting kind of comes secondary to me. However, I do lift multiple times a week, and it's becoming more important to me as I get older. As a runner, it helps with injury prevention. As a woman who isn't getting any younger, it helps with my bone density and mobility. It's frustrating to see the weird competition between the lifting and cardio communities over who is doing things "better". People simply have different goals, and a balance between cardio and strength can benefit pretty much anyone. I appreciate you adding that balance to the conversation!
THIS THIS THIS!
Life is short! Enjoy what you love to do and don't over think it!😀
Right now in life, cardio gets me moving regularly. Which feels more important at this point in my life. I'm hoping strength training will come once my habit is formed.
Love this type of content. This was mostly review for me, but still super helpful to be reminded of why both cardio and strength training are important to have in my exercise routine.
I rarely comment but this video was so well done that I feel I must. I loved this so much, such good information and easy to reference with how you listed it out on the screen. Thank you!
You’re so welcome! ❤️
Almost halfway through and had to stop to say what a great video this is!
Aw thank you!
I do both for different reasons and love both for different reasons. I think they are both important, especially for me personally in my perimenopause journey
they're absolutely both important! hopefully that was the takeaway from the video :)
Commenting a few days after watching, but as I was doing one of my workouts yesterday (large brand name routine) I realized “I’m doing cardio with weights.” And while it isn’t advertised as “strength”…the difference isn’t explained. Thank you for taking the time to make these videos…they are so informative and helping me understand, and hopefully make better choices about, my health and wellness journey and goals.
So informative! One of my 2025 fitness goals is being consistent with cardio. In the past years I almost never did cardio workouts because I was much more interested the esthetic of strenght training. Now I am much more interested into health and having fun, so I introduced some dance cardio in my shedule and I love it very much! I still love strenght training, but dancing and feel my heart pumping just makes me happy and alive and I love the sensation!
makes me feel *
i recommend taking les mills bodycombat classes if you have any in your area. it’s cardio kickboxing to music and it is so much fun!!!!! a very good stress reliever which will definitely improve your cardiovascular health.
@@hannahkieranify thank u for the advice! 🥰
@hannahkieranify i did a quick research online and it seems to be so funny! Definitely I'm gonna try it!
Love these type of videos where you break down the science behind these buzz words! Thank you!!
I’m a 60-year-old woman who has experienced significant improvements in my health since starting to work out for the first time in my life five months ago. I began with incline walking on a treadmill and exercising on an elliptical bike, and the changes have been remarkable:
- I no longer have to wake up in the middle of the night to pee.
- My gums no longer bleed when I brush my teeth.
- My dry eye syndrome has improved so much that I can wear contact lenses again, which makes me incredibly happy.
- I’ve completely stopped experiencing heartburn, something I’ve suffered from my entire life.
A month ago, I also started weight training with dumbbells, and I’m excited to see how it will help improve my bone density and overall strength.
i love this so much!!
That’s fantastic, keep it up 😊
What you said about the beginning of strength training being about your nervous system- now it finally makes sense why I’ve only now started putting on muscle after 6 moments of strength training!
Very good video. Personally, a cardio focused routine provided more mental clarity, I was more consistent and the health benefits were evident. Strength training made me more obsessed with physical results (leading to a body dysmorphia spiral), and I was less consistent as I was always sore and needed time to recover. Hopefully I can find a balance between the 2, but cardio will always be my fave ❤
One of my goals this year is to include more cardio into my workout routine. Thanks for the info. :)
This was soooo clear and helpful!! Thank you!
You're so welcome!
I think the biggest take away is that you shouldn't do one OR the other but both! Of course you have to adapt it to your goals and to your schedule but I feel like a lot of people have a black and white view when it comes to cardio and strength training.
Exactly!
Overall this was a great video! I could have misinterpreted what you were saying, but I believe the aerobic/anaerobic dichotomy is considered to be the out-of-date model. The Energy Systems Basics video on the Training Think Tank channel, as well as Evan Peikon’s Substack, is where I got a majority of my info from, but I believe the general consensus is “everything is aerobic all the time,” just to varying degrees. I really appreciate your efforts to communicate evidence based exercise info!
Hey! I consolidated a lot of systems here (PCr, fast glycolysis, slow glycolysis, oxidative phosphorylation, beta oxidation) to make it easier for people to understand. I don’t know anything about the updated studies that anaerobic training doesn’t exist, but I will say that I’m actively in the middle of CSCS prep and these are all still systems according to their updated guidelines for athletes. I’ll take a look at the resources you’re discussing and ask some other coaches about updated studies.
Loved this video. Super valuable, practical and clear information!😊
Love your videos and hope you're around for a long time! I'd love for you to check back in on the hormones are boring thing in 15 years. Yes they are! But when perimemopause and menopause come, we can't avoid them. It's so sad.
Hey! Sorry if it was unclear, but I mean explaining the nitty gritty of anabolic vs catabolic vs polypeptide hormones and their functions are simply boring to me. I don't think menopause will change my interests there, but if you find that stuff interesting then I think that's great!
Amazing: every time I have a doubt, your video comes along to solve it for me! I was just wondering if and how to incorporate sit workouts into a strength workout and I discover that they fall into the same group :)
You are the absolute best. I learn so much from you! Question: why is it that newbies can build muscle, at first, doing aerobic type workouts (cardo with weights)? It's hard to convince them to do traditional strength training when they are building muscle without it.
Because they went from zero training with weights to something! The uptick when you pick up a new skill is always higher at the beginning.
Silk question - so CrossFit? Or CrossFit type workouts where folks are moving heavy weights with little to no rest. Would love a video on this!
I've never participated in CrossFit but from what I understand, it's a lot of moving weight QUICKLY, and often focuses on Olympic lifts. Since there's really no set programming across the board (meaning each box programs for themselves and it's truly up to the coach/owner), it's hard to say what CrossFit's main focus is when it comes to programming.
And one more comment: mid 40s woman, I'm finding when I progress to heavier weights, my muscles are ready (if I'm working in a more strength way), my cardio system is ready (if I'm working in a more cardio way), but my knees and other joints seem to not be ready. Maybe an idea for a future video, or is this a simple "go see my PT" answer again?
I've made a ton of videos on mobility (joint) training! But at the end of the day, it truly comes down to WHAT is going on with your joints that's causing the pain. Maybe it's too high of volume or intensity. Maybe it's a restriction. Best way to figure it out is either your PT or work with a mobility specialist. I'd look for someone who is FRCms.
Hi again. Video suggestion & who better to break to down into layman's terms..but you😉 Cortisol & exercise! I've been reading (and trying to understand) the effects on the body and if it effects fat loss and can it cause muscle atrophy. When is too much cardio too much. I also read there may be two types of cortisol, one that is released during stress, anxiety etc and one which is released during exercise. ❤
I actually already made this video last year!
@JustinaErcole Oh, sorry, I'll take a look 👍🤗
Favoriting this video! Awesome breakdown for general public.
Also - are you gonna sell clothing with your logo?
maybe one day! just testing some stuff out :)
That was really fascinating… So where do you draw the line between having too little rest and potentially just doing cardio when you intend to do strength training? There are so many metcon workouts and so called “HIIT” workouts which are often for 30 seconds or less of rest but as well as strength training videos with so little rest
Honestly I would have to see a program to comment on it, but that all comes from continuing education. I’ve made individual videos on training for different goals (strength, endurance, hypertrophy, etc) so that may help!
Thanks, this was really helpful. Can you still increase muscle with 30-60 seconds rest?
Yes! Recommended rest for hypertrophy is 30-90s depending on the exercise and intensity prescribed.
Very informative, thank you! ❤
You’re so welcome!
Hi Justina, thanks for the video! The 30 min cardio ladder video isn't on RUclips, though? Couldn't see it on your videos listing.
It's showing up for me as like the 4th most recent video:
ruclips.net/video/eUlLS5QJSd4/видео.html
You may be in a country where it's blocked due to music copyrights.
I added low impact indoor walking after every strength good for my joints .
I’ve been doing that too!
@ does it burn more extra calories ? After a strength sesh ? Would 20-30 walk mins be enough ?
@ Sure, you're moving so it will utilize calories. But so would jump roping, cycling, running, lifting, etc. Anything you do movement-wise will use calories aka energy. And "enough" comes down to what your goal is.
very intersting. Thank You Justina. I have a question, i most youtube videos of strenght training have a recovery time of 20-30 seconds till next excercise/round so, my question is, is this considered strenght training? i know you mention an exampled but it confused me as most training videos on youtube have this method
30s is the bare minimum for hypertrophy. For max strength (1-5 reps) you want 2-5 min.
@@JustinaErcole thank you :)
Same for me: I find a lot of confusion about this because some say that 30 seconds is too few, others suggest 45, others two minutes.🤔
@@gloRia-gv4eg it really depends on 1) your training goal and 2) what you have programmed. For a huge compound lift like front squats, I’m gonna take 2 min between sets most of the time whether it’s hypertrophy or strength focused. But for accessories you can get away with less rest time. Honestly the details of all of this come from education and experience!
Also confused. I don't think there are ANY home strength workouts online with more than 30s rest. So are NONE of them actually strength? If so damn, I have not done one strength workout in the last 10 years.
Hi Justina, greetings from Portugal 🇵🇹 I've been following you since around 2020 & love all your content ❤️ Can I share this video with my participants please? 😊
Absolutely!
Me starting the video knowing it will be both ❤
Great video!
Thanks!
So reduced capillary density is a bad thing, right?
In that case, cardio is a must with strength training to compromise that ?
Eh, I wouldn’t qualify it as “bad” but more just something that happens. Basically your muscle fibers are growing but you’re not adding capillaries or mitochondria to the area. You may not WANT more oxidative fibers depending on your goals. That would be more specifically for strength and power athletes!
Cardio works better for my squirrel brain when it just wants *activity* lol. I have yet to build a consistent strengh routine because procrastination.
As wver thank you for presenting this info so clearly!
If you are going for fat loss though, is more strength training (cardio with weights) more beneficial than cardio? I get that I should still do both but if I’m doing a workout 5x per week- how many of them should be strength training?
Honestly the recommendations for exercise don’t change in a fat loss. It’s all about nutrition!
(With the biggest silly grin on) Where is the Zoe content?? I'm here for my Zoe updates! (Lol) But in all seriousness, this is a great breakdown of the two main types of training. For people who do a lot of follow along RUclips fitness (like from Madfit, as I started out) what is done there can look and feel like strength training at the beginning, but is not necessarily true anaerobic strength training, unless it is done is a super well thought out superset format. Such an important message to get out there. Thanks, and love (from a woman already in a stable, serious relationship) from Canada!
haha the queen will come back in an upcoming video soon :) laid off the vlog content after filming daily in December!
Even when it is "done is a super well thought out superset format" do you still need proper rest between supersets? How much do you think?
@ 10000% depends on your program design and what your goal is!
Quick question. I broke my toe 😂 last Tuesday and gave been trying to figure out what I should do. I obviously can't lift heavy can't do certain lower body moves and can't do Hardley any walking and I'm usually a 10k plus girl. Currently only getting maybe 4000 what can I do to stayactive but make sure I heal well. I do have a son bike but notice when I do that after 10 minutes my foot starts to hurt what could I do to not put in the weight during recovering and still stay active exer I wise and currently not trying to build upper body muscle . Im 5'4 155 pounds looking to lose about 15 to 20 pounds and still build good muscle in my lower body tighten up
Hey! Honestly I’m not really qualified to answer this. It’s a much better Q for your physical therapist or podiatrist (whoever you’re working with for recovery.) But I will say you don’t want to be pushing yourself to a point of pain. You’re going to stall progress and/or injure yourself more. I would focus on recovery for right now and nutrition!
@JustinaErcole how can I find out how much I should be eating so I'm not putting weight on but more so losing
At least back to maintenance to improve recovery .. you can use online calorie calculators and start experimenting from there @@LindseyMurphy-g9z
@ you can use a TDEE calculator! I love the one from Precision Nutrition.
to boost:
Another easy like.
Does anyone know of any good resources on strength training w/o access to a gym/weights or coaches who are knowledgeable about that?
-Signed, girlies who care about their health but also live in the middle of nowhere
Calisthenics may be a better option if you don’t have access to weights. Check out Hybrid Calisthenics and Summer Fun Fitness!
It’s not appropriate to talk about your body, but can I talk about your brain?!?! Thank you for sharing your expertise and your passion for health and fitness. We get the benefits of your diligence in education! Thank you!
Aw thank you!
I feel like we need the bit around why your free YT workout isn’t strength as an Instagram reel (around min 9) 😅😅😅
Looks like i am the only one loving all sort of cardio 😅
haha that's amazing! it's a huge chore for me lol
I love cardio, too! especially HIIT. I find it's most effective for me in weight loss.
Hahaha me too! Look at all the fitness videos from the 80s! They looked great too!😃