A well-rounded fitness routine is always going to combine cardiovascular/aerobic exercises and resistance/strength training. Even if you choose to focus on one—for example, if you’re a marathon runner or a bodybuilder—you don’t want to completely neglect the other.
Tip: Health experts recommend at least 150–300 minutes of moderate aerobic activity per week (or 75–150 minutes of vigorous aerobic activity) plus strength training to target all major muscle groups twice per week.
Most people divide up their workouts: They’ll go for a run or a bike ride one day, and they’ll lift weights the next. They might even try to vary a workout session by doing a little of each. But the reality is you can easily do a workout that gives you the benefits of both. Here’s what three exercise experts recommend:
“You can train strength and cardio at the same time, but it’s less about finding special ‘hybrid’ exercises and more about structure,” says sports performance coach Bryce Holmes. “A resistance training program using high volume and short rest periods generally allows for adaptations in both areas.”
In other words: If you do more reps and sets (higher volume) with a lighter weight, taking shorter breaks between your sets, you keep your heartrate elevated during your entire weightlifting workout—which gives you aerobic benefit. Instead of lifting a 50-pound weight five times, you could lift a 25-pound weight twenty times.
Lois Manzella Marchitto, a personal trainer and the founder of Fitness Knocking, echoes this sentiment. “Most weight training can be made into cardiovascular training by limiting the time of rest in between sets,” she says. She recommends:
Squats, Pushups, Glute Bridges, Reverse Lunges
The exercises act as bodyweight calisthenics you can do to work both your cardiorespiratory system and your major muscle groups.
Finally, don’t assume every cardio workout strictly uses your lower body—workouts like swimming and rowing work your arms, shoulders, and chest. Nutrition and lifestyle coach Dr. Shawn M. Talbott says a mere 20–30 minutes on a rowing ergometer will hit all your major muscle groups in a time-efficient way. “As a former elite-level rower, and former rowing coach, I can tell you that there really is no better exercise that combines cardio and strength in one activity—and it is low-impact and can be completed by anyone at any age,” he says.
So, whether you speed up your strength workouts, do calisthenics, or hit the rowing machine, you can build up muscles while working your heart and lungs at the same time—no need to choose one or the other!
