Strength Training vs Cardio: Why You Need Both

There’s an ongoing debate in the fitness world:

Which is better: strength training or cardio?

But the truth is it’s not a competition.

They’re both essential. They just serve different purposes.

At Core, we don’t view strength and cardio as opposing sides. We see them as complementary tools, each playing a unique role in keeping your body healthy and capable for the long haul.

What Strength Training Does

Strength training is all about creating tension and resistance to build stronger muscles, bones, and connective tissue. It’s not just for athletes or bodybuilders. It’s the foundation for moving well and living well.

Here’s what consistent strength training can do:

• Maintain and increase muscle mass, which naturally declines with age

• Improve bone density and reduce the risk of osteoporosis

• Strengthen joints and ligaments for better stability

• Boost metabolism by increasing lean tissue

• Improve posture, coordination, and balance

• Support functional movement such as carrying groceries, climbing stairs, lifting kids, shoveling snow, and endless more examples

In short, strength training makes your body more capable. It helps you do more, move better, and feel better.

What Cardio Does

Cardio training, things like walking, running, biking, rowing, or interval training, strengthens your heart and lungs. It improves your ability to deliver oxygen and nutrients throughout your body, supporting endurance, recovery, and overall health.

Benefits of cardio include:

• Strengthening your heart and cardiovascular system

• Improving blood flow and circulation

• Boosting endurance and energy levels

• Enhancing recovery between strength sessions

• Supporting mental health and stress relief

• Lowering blood pressure and improving insulin sensitivity

Simply put, cardio keeps your engine running efficiently.

Why You Need Both

Strength and cardio each fill a different role in keeping your body performing at its best. Strength training builds the structure, the muscles, joints, and stability that let you move with control. Cardio supports the system, the heart, lungs, and endurance that keep you going.

Focusing only on one leaves gaps. You can be strong but not recover well or have longevity with optimal heart health, or have great endurance but struggle with stability and power. The real benefit comes from the combination, when your muscles, heart, and lungs all work in sync.

At Core, our programs integrate both elements intentionally. You’ll lift heavy, move dynamically, build strength, and challenge your heart. Because the goal isn’t to pick sides. It’s to build a body that can handle whatever life throws your way.

Train for Life

Strength training and cardio are not competing priorities. They’re two sides of the same coin.

So instead of asking which is better, ask how you can include both, in a way that fits your goals, your body, and your life.

Because the best fitness plan isn’t about doing more of one thing. It’s about doing enough of the right things to have you moving and feeling your best, now and in the future.