The cardio or weights debate: Fitness guru reveals how strength training can boost your metabolism for 36 HOURS (and why you shouldn't skip carbs)

  • Sophie Guidolin explained strength training is key to ramping up metabolism
  • She said that this is why weights are better for fat loss than the treadmill
  • But a balanced diet and nutrition are most important to either fitness program
  • If you want to do cardio, Sophie recommended HIIT training

By Anneta Konstantinides For Daily Mail Australia

Published: 21:26 EDT, 12 March 2017 | Updated: 01:09 EDT, 13 March 2017

Many a fitness craze has come and gone that asks us to submit to the cardio gods. 

Whether its spin classes, running clubs, or zumba, we have long been taught that sweating up a storm on a machine or the floor is the ticket to our dream body. 

But one fitness blogger is trying to fight that notion and break down the myth that lifting weights will lead to bulky muscles rather than turning us into lean machines. 

Gold Coast trainer and nutritionist Sophie Guidolin took on the long-running battle between the treadmill and the dumbbell in a new blog post titled 'Cardio vs Weights for Fat Loss'. 

Trainer and nutritionist Sophie Guidolin is trying to break down the myth that lifting weights will lead to bulky muscles rather than turning us into lean machines

Trainer and nutritionist Sophie Guidolin is trying to break down the myth that lifting weights will lead to bulky muscles rather than turning us into lean machines

'In the war between cardio and weights, weights win,' she declared in the article. 

Sophie, 27, goes on to explain that this is because strength and weight training are key to ramping up our metabolism - their 'secret advantage' over cardio. 

'Even though you might not burn as many calories in a weight session straight away, the results later on speak for themselves,' she wrote.

'Simply sitting or resting will have you burning calories at a faster rate due to the larger amount of muscle you're carrying.' 

The Queensland mother-of-four claimed that weight training can actually boost our metabolism for up to 36 hours, burning calories long after we've left the gym.

And the trainer - who revealed in the past she doesn't do any cardio herself - is hoping to dispel the fear that hitting the squat rack could lead to a bulky figure.

'Yes, you'll be building muscle,' she wrote. 'But you'll also be burning fat - so no, you aren't going to get bulky.'

Sophie explains that this is because strength and weight training are key to ramping up our metabolism - their 'secret advantage' over cardio (file photo) 

Sophie explains that this is because strength and weight training are key to ramping up our metabolism - their 'secret advantage' over cardio (file photo) 

The mother-of-four revealed that weight training can actually boost our metabolism for up to 36 hours, burning calories long after we've left the gym
The trainer is hoping to dispel the fear that hitting the squat rack could lead to a bulky figure

The mother-of-four revealed that weight training can actually boost our metabolism for up to 36 hours, burning calories long after we've left the gym

And, Sophie added, it will also lead to improved strength, endurance and even our own mood levels.

Although a faster metabolism means you can consume more calories, Sophie warned that - at the end of the day - healthy eating is essential to losing weight.

'Fat loss is related to your diet above anything,' she wrote. 'No amount of cardio or weights can counteract poor nutrition'. 

But that doesn't mean suddenly cutting out carbs or going on a low-fat diet, Sophie warned.

Sophie adds that cardio can still be an important factor in one's fitness, especially if they're looking to lose a lot of weight (file photo)

Sophie adds that cardio can still be an important factor in one's fitness, especially if they're looking to lose a lot of weight (file photo)

Instead it's about balance and burning more calories than you consume.

And cardio can still be an important factor in one's fitness, especially if they're looking to lose a lot of weight, Sophie added.

The trainer advised that one of the best workouts to do so is high-intensity interval training which combines short bursts of intense cardio exercise with low-intensity 'recovery' periods, usually for up to 30 minutes. 

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