Cardio or Strength Training for Weight Loss: Which Is Better?

By Roel van den Bogaard, personal trainer and founder of Aurora Personal Training in Eindhoven.

Cardio helps you expend energy and improve cardiovascular fitness. Strength training helps you get stronger and supports muscle retention during weight loss. For many people, combining them is practical: two weekly strength sessions, regular walking or cycling, and nutrition that supports their goal. Neither type of exercise guarantees fat loss on its own.

When you want to lose weight, the choice can seem straightforward: surely the workout that burns the most calories must be best.

However, the calorie figure on an exercise machine tells only part of the story. You probably also want to maintain strength, improve fitness and find a routine that fits around work and other commitments.

Here, you will learn what cardio and strength training contribute, what research shows and how to combine them without filling your entire schedule.

Your choice of exercise alone does not determine how much fat you lose. Your overall diet, activity and consistency also matter.

Your body weight includes more than body fat. Muscle, bones, organs, fluid and the contents of your digestive system all contribute to the number on the scales.

A rapid weight change therefore does not automatically represent a change in body fat. After heavy sweating, for example, you may temporarily weigh less because you have lost fluid.

During weight loss, the aim is usually to reduce body fat while retaining as much muscle and strength as possible. This is why progress deserves a broader assessment than body weight alone.

Cardio includes activities that keep you moving for a period of time while increasing your breathing and heart rate. Examples include brisk walking, cycling, swimming, running and rowing.

These activities use energy and train your cardiovascular fitness. Everyday movement can contribute too: you do not need a separate gym visit for every active moment.

What does research say about cardio and weight loss?

A 2024 meta-analysis examined 116 randomised trials involving adults with overweight or obesity. Greater amounts of aerobic exercise, up to approximately 300 minutes per week, were associated with greater average reductions in weight, waist circumference and measures of body fat. These are group findings, rather than individual predictions. [1]

Cardio can therefore contribute meaningfully to fat loss. Describing it only as temporary calorie burning overlooks its broader value.

Benefits of cardio

• It improves cardiovascular fitness.
• It increases energy expenditure during the activity.
• It offers many different activities to choose from.
• Walking and cycling can often fit into everyday life.

Considerations when doing cardio alone

Cardio does not replace a targeted strength training programme. If maintaining muscle strength during weight loss matters to you, give it specific attention.

Large amounts of demanding cardio can also create fatigue. Whether the amount is appropriate depends on your progression, nutrition, experience and other training.

Cardio does not automatically cause muscle loss. A reduction in muscle mass cannot simply be attributed to running or cycling without considering other factors.

Strength training requires your muscles to produce force against resistance. This can involve free weights, machines, cables, resistance bands or your body weight.

During weight loss, it is particularly useful because you continue challenging your muscles while eating less energy.

What does research say about muscle retention?

A 2025 systematic review and meta-analysis examined resistance exercise during dietary weight-loss interventions in people with overweight or obesity.

Adding resistance exercise did not produce a clear additional reduction in body weight compared with the dietary intervention alone. However, it had favourable effects on fat-free mass, fat mass and strength. [2]

Fat-free mass includes more than muscle alone. Nevertheless, these findings help explain why looking only at the scales can miss important changes.

Benefits of strength training

• You work towards maintaining or improving strength.
• You support the retention of fat-free mass during weight loss.
• You can track performance in individual exercises.
• You practise movements that can also be useful in daily life.

Does more muscle burn lots of extra calories?

Muscle tissue uses energy at rest. However, gaining a modest amount of muscle does not automatically create a dramatic increase in daily energy expenditure.

The main reason to strength train should therefore extend beyond promises of burning much more fat afterwards.

Likewise, additional energy expenditure after exercise, often called the “afterburn effect”, is not a sound foundation for an entire weight-loss approach.

Does getting stronger mean you are losing fat?

No. You can become stronger without losing fat. When learning exercises, improvements in technique and coordination can increase performance without major changes in body composition.

Strength progress is a valuable training outcome, but it is not a direct measurement of fat loss.

Read about progressive overload and how to increase training demands gradually.

It depends on what you are comparing.

Want to improve cardiovascular fitness and increase energy expenditure through movement? Cardio is a suitable choice.

Want to keep challenging your muscles and work on strength while losing weight? Strength training deserves a place in your plan.

Want both benefits? Combine them in an amount you can maintain.

Combining the two is a practical starting point. It does not mean everyone needs several demanding sports sessions every week.

For someone with a busy schedule, two strength workouts and regular brisk walks can provide a manageable structure.

For adult health, the World Health Organization recommends:

• 150–300 minutes of moderate-intensity aerobic activity per week; or
• 75–150 minutes of vigorous-intensity aerobic activity; or
• an equivalent combination;
• plus muscle-strengthening activities involving the major muscle groups on at least two days per week. [3]

These are health recommendations, rather than a guarantee of a particular amount of weight loss.

You do not need to organise all those minutes as separate gym sessions. Brisk walking and cycling can count, depending on intensity. If you currently do little activity, build up gradually.

A practical weekly schedule

This example includes two strength workouts and 150 minutes of aerobic activity, provided the walking and cycling reach moderate intensity.

It is not a compulsory starting schedule. Begin with a manageable amount and increase it when appropriate.

For help organising your strength workouts, read full-body versus split training.

Do you need 10,000 steps every day?

No. A step target can help you move more, but 10,000 steps is not a compulsory minimum for weight loss.

First, look at your current activity. A manageable increase can be more useful than an ambitious target you rarely reach.

Cycling and swimming also provide activity that a step counter does not represent well.

Prioritise the activity that requires the most quality for your main training goal while you are relatively fresh.

If performing your strength exercises well is the priority, lifting before a tiring cardio session is often practical.

A short, easy warm-up is different from a demanding run. You do not need to avoid all cardio before strength training.

If combining the activities affects your technique or recovery, shorten the cardio, reduce its intensity or separate the sessions.

The best option depends on what you enjoy, can build up appropriately and want to do regularly.

You do not need HIIT to lose weight. A workout does not need to feel maximally difficult to be worthwhile.

Choose an activity you repeat regularly rather than an intense method you continually dread.

1. Following only the calorie figure on your fitness watch

The figure is an estimate. Avoid treating it as an exact calculation of how much extra food you can eat.

2. Adding training while recovery is falling behind

More is not automatically better. If fatigue persists or performance declines, review sleep, nutrition and total training demands.

3. Repeatedly replacing strength training with extra cardio

This can remove the targeted work on muscle strength. Plan both deliberately when both goals matter to you.

4. Judging progress by one weigh-in

Body weight can change with fluid, salt intake, digestive contents and other factors. Look at a trend over several weeks.

5. Changing too much at once

A restrictive diet, daily cardio and several demanding strength workouts can be difficult to maintain together. Start with a clear, manageable approach.

Consider several indicators together:

• Weight trend: compare measurements taken under similar conditions.
• Waist circumference: use the same measuring method each time.
• Training performance: record weights, repetitions and technique.
• Fitness: does a comparable walk or bike ride feel easier?
• Practicality: can you maintain the approach during busy weeks?

Body-composition measurements are estimates with measurement variation. Interpret small differences cautiously.

Progress may also involve getting stronger or fitter while body weight changes little. That does not prove fat loss by itself, but it remains useful information.

Can you lose weight with strength training alone?

Yes, if your overall energy balance leads to weight loss. Strength training does not guarantee this independently. Nutrition and everyday activity still matter.

Can you lose weight without running?

Yes. Running is not compulsory. Walking, cycling, other activities and appropriate nutrition can form part of your approach.

Does cardio make you lose muscle?

Not automatically. Muscle loss depends on several factors, including nutrition, strength training and overall training demands.

Is strength training twice a week enough?

Two well-designed sessions can provide a practical foundation. What suits you depends on your goals, experience and what those sessions contain.

Which is better for belly fat: cardio or strength training?

You cannot reliably choose where your body loses fat. Both cardio and strength training can contribute to an approach that reduces overall body fat. Abdominal exercises train your abdominal muscles but do not guarantee local fat loss.

Why am I not losing weight even though I exercise frequently?

Look at your weight trend over several weeks alongside your overall diet and activity. Additional food intake, less movement outside training and fluid changes can all affect the picture.

How quickly will you see results?

This varies between people and between outcomes. Fitness, strength, weight and circumference measurements do not necessarily change together. A fixed promise about weekly weight loss would therefore be inappropriate.

At Aurora Personal Training in Eindhoven, we combine strength training with attention to nutrition, everyday movement and recovery.

Strength training is an important part of our coaching. We adapt cardio to your fitness, preferences and available time. That might involve a separate session or a regular walk or bike ride.

You train in a quiet private studio with a programme suited to your experience. We monitor performance and discuss how the approach fits into your daily life.

Would you like to find a combination that suits you? Book a free intake at Aurora Personal Training to discuss your goals, experience and schedule.

1. Jayedi et al. (2024): Aerobic Exercise and Weight Loss in Adults — systematic review and dose-response meta-analysis.
2. Systematic review and meta-analysis (2025): resistance exercise during dietary weight loss in people with overweight or obesity.
3. World Health Organization: physical activity recommendations.