Burn calories? Running or lifting?

I'm sure this question has been asked 1 million times, but what burns more calories, cardio or lifting weights? Say 45 minutes of each.

The amount of calories expended during exercise depends on the intensity and duration of activity, not the mode.

However, let me add a side note. If you do an activity for long duration that is below 70%-75% of maximal heart rate your Basil Metabolic Rate (BRM) returns to it's baseline level within 10 minutes of the cessation of the activity. But an activity that is above 80% of maximal heart rate will keep your BMR elevated for as long as 8 hours. So, even if you were to do a short duration bout of high intensity exercise and burn fewer calories during the actual time of activity you would still have a higher total calorie expenditure at the end of the day because of the elevated BMR.

Best in Health and Training, J. R.

JRS has interval trained the correct.

And if we look at this question over a long period of time, the muscle you gain from lifting weights should trump the running.

But is one easier to get your heart rate up than the other?

Jog for five min to warm up than run at a high pace for another 5 min. Then immediately start your lifts. Only give yourself 1-2 min rest between sets. You will burn calories like crazy.

Cardio gets your heart rate up way more.

Why don't you combine the two and do anaerobic stuff? Do resistance stuff combined w/ stuff meant to get your heart rate up (dumbell swings for example). Really effective for burning fat.

wow, thats really cool info JRS. what kind of duration does the exercise need to be before it produces that prolonged effect?

doesnt it also take calories to repair damaged muscle?

"But an activity that is above 80% of maximal heart rate will keep your BMR elevated for as long as 8 hours."

JRS.. this makes perfect sense because when I lift late let's say I stop at 8:30 and eat @ 9:00 I can't sleep at all like last night!

So because of the elevated HR, will you burn more Kcal in those 8 hours than you would have with a hour long cardio workout below 70%-75% of maximal heart rate?


Say I can burn 1000kcal per hour on an eliptical walker. I can burn 300kcal with 30min of Taku's intervals. Will the elevated heart rate from the intervals burn 700kcals over the next 8 hours?

Sandyholt, the difference has to do with an elevated BMR, not an elevated HR. And yes, you will burn more total calories with the high intensity training overall because of this even though it is of shorter duration.

Best in Health and Training, J. R.

Good info, thanks

But an activity that is above 80% of maximal heart rate will keep your BMR elevated for as long as 8 hours."Which is why intervals work so well... you get the "immediate" calorie burn from doing the work on the (elliptical | treadmill | stairclimber | whatever ), PLUS you get the elevated BMR effect...

Wouldn't an activity like lifting that builds muscle mass in turn generally raise your base metabolic rate for longer periods, thus consuming more overall calories?