Learn how cardio and strength training affect your body in different ways and how a Dexa Scan helps track muscle, fat, and bone changes.
Exercise improves health in many ways, but not all forms of training affect the body the same way. Two of the most common forms of exercise are cardiovascular training and strength training. Both provide important benefits, but they influence body composition, metabolism, and long-term health differently.
Understanding how cardio and strength training affect the body helps you build a balanced training program and achieve better results.
This article explains how cardio and strength training affect your body in different ways, and why tracking changes with a Dexa Scan can help you see how your training is shaping your body composition.
Cardiovascular training, often called cardio, includes activities that elevate heart rate for an extended period.
Examples include:
Cardio primarily trains the cardiovascular system and improves the body’s ability to deliver oxygen to working muscles.
Regular cardio strengthens the heart muscle and improves circulation.
Benefits include:
These adaptations allow the body to perform sustained physical activity more efficiently.
Cardio burns calories during exercise, which can support fat loss when combined with proper nutrition.
However, cardio alone does not significantly increase muscle mass.
Cardiovascular training supports metabolic function by improving:
These changes can reduce long-term cardiovascular risk.
Strength training involves exercises that create resistance against muscles.
Examples include:
Strength training primarily stimulates muscle growth and structural adaptation.
Strength training stimulates muscle growth when paired with adequate nutrition and recovery.
Higher lean muscle mass supports:
Muscle also plays a key role in maintaining metabolic health.
Resistance training stimulates bone remodeling and supports bone mineral density.
Maintaining strong bones reduces the risk of fractures and supports long-term mobility.
Strength training helps shift body composition by:
This often leads to visible physical changes even when body weight stays the same.
Cardio and strength training complement each other.
Cardio supports:
Strength training supports:
A balanced training program includes both to support overall health and performance.
Scale weight alone does not reveal how training is affecting your body.
You can:
Without body composition data, these changes are difficult to see.
A Dexa Scan provides a detailed breakdown of body composition.
It measures:
This allows you to see how cardio and strength training are influencing your body over time.
The scan itself takes about six minutes, making it efficient and easy to incorporate into a training routine.
To monitor training adaptations effectively:
Frequent tracking helps ensure your program is producing the intended results.
Full body composition Dexa scans are not covered by insurance, making them a proactive investment in long-term health and performance.
Cardio and strength training affect the body in different but complementary ways.
Cardio improves:
Strength training improves:
Combining both creates a more complete approach to fitness and longevity.
Tracking body composition provides the insight needed to see how these training methods are shaping your body.
If you want to understand how cardio and strength training are affecting your body composition, accurate measurement is essential. Kalos provides advanced Dexa Scan services to help you track muscle, fat, and bone changes with precision.
Schedule your scan today, your journey to data-driven fitness starts now.
Bay Area residents trust Kalos to deliver results. We proudly serve the entire Bay Area including the following locations:
