Cardio vs. Strength Training: Which Burns More Fat?

Here’s what you need to know about building the best fat-burning workouts, and what supplements can help you maximize calorie burn during all your training!

You only have so much time to exercise in any given week. So deciding what type of workout you’re going to do – and NOT do – can feel like a big choice. This is especially the case when you have a very specific goal, like losing body fat. 

Look around online, and you’ll find plenty of people advocating for either cardio or strength training to be your highest priority when fat-loss is the goal. Who should you believe? Well, it’s complicated. 

The truth is that both strength training and cardio provide unique benefits for fat loss. So you’ll need to do both! But both workouts can be also tailored to burn just a few more calories than usual. Here’s what you need to know. 

Strength Training for Fat-Loss

Do you burn calories during lifting workouts? Sure. But probably a lot less than you think – even during brutal “leg day” workouts. The primary “strength” of strength training is, and will always be, building and maintaining muscle mass. That’s never going to change! 

But this doesn’t mean that strength training doesn’t help you get leaner. Muscle is what is known as “metabolically active” tissue. It doesn’t burn fat directly, but the more of it you have, the more calories your body burns as compared to weighing the same amount but with body fat instead of muscle. 

Every pound of muscle you add helps to burn an extra 6-10 extra calories per day, more or less. That’s not nearly as much as your brain, heart, and other major bodily organs, but it’s enough to make a difference over a period of months and years, as you get progressively leaner and more muscular! 

And here’s another big reason to prioritize strength training: muscle mass helps you be more active! The more of it you have, the harder you can work both in workouts and life. The indirect payoff can be huge!

But there are also some key ways you can help boost calorie burn during your strength workouts. They include: 

• Pair up: Perform supersets, where you pair two exercises back-to-back. Numerous studies have also shown that performing supersets helps burn more calories during a workout, helping you inch closer to a sustainable caloric deficit. 

• Preserve what you have: Take 5 grams of creatine monohydrate daily, either as a creatine powder or as creatine gummies, to help build and maintain muscle mass while losing body fat. Creatine can also help you get more reps and lift more weight, making each workout a little more effective.

• Power with a pre: Caffeine from a pre-workout supplement like Steel Pump can help you get more total work done in every workout, fighting fatigue and lagging energy. But caffeine also boosts metabolism and fat oxidation by at least 10%, and sometimes up to 30%!

Cardio for Fat-Loss

Cardio may be what comes to mind when you think of exercising for fat-loss, and for good reason. A number of studies have found that for most populations (but especially overweight and obese people), aerobic training is superior to strength training for both fat loss and weight loss. If you spend an hour doing moderate cardio or an hour lifting weights, you’ll almost definitely burn more calories with the cardio – around 350 lifting vs around 450 for a moderate jog, according to research from the American Council on Exercise.  

So what’s the catch? Time! An hour a day of cardio is a lot for any of us to fit in – especially if you’re trying to lift as well. Here’s how to get the most out of every minute on the treadmill or other machine. 

To burn more fat during cardio: 

• Take L-carnitine: This amino acid, which is found in animal products and in plant-based supplements like SteelFit Steel Burn, can help you use body fat as the primary source of fuel during cardio workouts. This can help lead to a higher overall energy expenditure. And unlike caffeine, it’s not a stimulant. 

• Caffeinate: Power up with a moderate amount of caffeine, like 100mg from a serving of Steel Sweat. Research has shown that caffeine’s calorie-burn boost is more pronounced during cardio than in strength training.

• Do your cardio after strength training: Research from the American Council on Exercise showed that doing strength training before cardio helps cardio raise the heart rate further and increase calorie burn. This helps every minute of aerobic work to be just a little more effective for fat-loss. 

Don’t forget about HIIT! 

You’ve probably heard about using “high-intensity interval training” as a way to boost calorie burn both during and after a workout, due to what is called the “afterburn effect.” And the science backs it up! HIIT can burn over 30% more calories than an equivalent amount of cardio. 

But there’s a catch: HIIT has to be VERY intense to work. So doing it for every cardio session isn’t feasible. Once a week is plenty! 

To get the most out these days, consider supplementing with a combination of electrolytes and branched-chain amino acids. This can help you maximize intensity by: 

• Controlling fatigue and staying hydrated during your workout

• Fighting muscle soreness and boosting recovery so you don’t miss your next workout

You can get both BCAAs and electrolytes, plus other fatigue fighting aminos like L-citrulline and taurine, from a strategic drink blend like SteelFit’s vegan BCAA formula Steel Fuel.