Do cardio — and lift
For heart health you shouldn’t choose between cardio and strength work — experts say do both. A cardiologist on TODAY explained that cardio improves cardiovascular fitness while strength training preserves muscle mass, supports metabolic health and long-term function, so a mixed routine protects your heart and overall fitness. (today.com)
A lot of people treat exercise like a fork in the road: either you walk, run, or cycle for your heart, or you lift weights for strength. A TODAY segment published on April 9 quoted cardiologist Dr. Tamanna Singh saying the better answer is both, not one or the other. (today.com) Cardio is the work that keeps your heart, lungs, and blood vessels moving oxygen like a delivery system under pressure. The American Heart Association says adults should get at least 150 minutes a week of moderate aerobic activity, or 75 minutes of vigorous activity, spread through the week. (heart.org) Strength training does a different job: it tells your muscles to stay on the payroll instead of shrinking with age. Federal guidelines say adults should train all major muscle groups on 2 or more days a week, which is why weights, resistance bands, and body-weight moves are in the same playbook as brisk walking. (cdc.gov) That split matters because your body does not age in one direction. Aerobic exercise helps your heart pump and can improve blood pressure, while muscle-strengthening work supports blood sugar control, daily function, and the ability to keep doing basic tasks like climbing stairs or carrying groceries. (nih.gov) The official U.S. guidance does not tell adults to pick a side. The Physical Activity Guidelines for Americans recommend 150 to 300 minutes of moderate aerobic activity or 75 to 150 minutes of vigorous activity each week, plus muscle-strengthening work on 2 or more days. (odphp.health.gov) The American College of Cardiology highlights the same combined formula, and it adds one more detail for older adults: balance work belongs in the mix too. That means a complete routine is closer to a three-legged stool than a single metric like step count or bench press. (acc.org) This also changes what “heart healthy” looks like in real life. A week that includes 30-minute brisk walks on five days and two sessions of squats, presses, rows, or resistance-band work fits the national target better than doing only one mode over and over. (heart.org) The advice is simple because the gap is large: the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says adults need both aerobic and muscle-strengthening activity, but many people still build routines around only one. The current message from heart experts is not to replace cardio with lifting or replace lifting with cardio, but to pair them. (cdc.gov)
