“The two things that stop people from losing weight with exercise are either boredom or injury,” says physical therapist and strength and conditioning specialist Ben Quist, PhD, NSCA.
The truth is that weight loss is about creating a calorie deficit – in other words, burning more calories than you take in. So, they say, while running at an 8-minute-mile pace might be a great calorie burner, if you’re not going to do it, it’s not going to help you. Instead, start with something you can do, like walking or working out on an elliptical machine or exercise bike.
In all cases, however, you’ll burn more calories with cardio (aerobic) exercise than with strength or resistance training.
“Strength training itself will not lead to an appreciable amount of weight loss because it just doesn’t burn enough calories,” says Glenn Gaesser, PhD, FACSM, kinesiology professor and department head at the University of Virginia in Charlottesville.