Training
Strength vs Cardio
Date:
Mar 18, 2025
Author:
Aria Mendes
001
The Wrong Question, Honestly
People ask this like it's a coin flip, but it's not. The real answer depends on what you want your body to do six months from now. Want to lose weight and keep it off? Strength training wins. Want to run a half marathon? Obviously cardio. Want to feel good, look strong, and live longer? You need both, but the ratio matters.
For most people walking into Rep Republic, the answer is 70% strength, 30% cardio. Here's why that ratio works for almost every goal that isn't competitive endurance.
002
What Strength Training Actually Does
Lifting weights builds muscle, and muscle is metabolic real estate. More muscle means you burn more calories sitting on the couch than you did before. It also strengthens bones, improves posture, protects joints, and is the single biggest predictor of how independent you'll be in your seventies.
Cardio burns calories during the session. Strength training changes your body so it burns more calories all the time. That's a fundamentally different return on investment, especially after age 30 when muscle starts disappearing whether you train or not.
Where Cardio Earns Its Place
Cardio is non-negotiable for heart health, endurance, and mental recovery. Twenty minutes of zone two cardio — easy enough to hold a conversation — three times a week is the floor. Above that, more cardio mostly trains you for more cardio, not for fat loss.
The sweet spot for most people: three strength sessions and two short cardio sessions per week. That's five workouts under five hours total. Anyone telling you fitness requires more than that is selling you something.
