Build A Heart That Lasts And A Body That Works

Cardio or weights? The choice feels urgent, but it’s the wrong question. We zoom out to show how blending the two builds a stronger heart, a leaner frame, and a routine you’ll actually keep. With real stories about recovery, family heart history, and big HDL improvements, we ground the science in life you can feel—more energy on a hike, steadier breathing on stairs, and the quiet confidence that comes from picking up heavier weight than last month.

We start by clearing the biggest myths: lifting won’t bulk you overnight, cardio isn’t the only path to fat loss, and beginners have every right to be in the weight area. From there, we explain why strength training changes your shape even when the scale doesn’t budge—muscle is denser and raises your metabolism—while cardio drives endurance, blood pressure control, and overall longevity. For practical structure, we share a five-day plan that mixes cardio-only days with efficient full-body strength sessions, plus the 7-7-7 method: seven minutes on a treadmill, seven on the stair climber, seven on the bike. It’s variety without chaos, intensity without burnout.

You’ll also get strategies to tailor your training: bump pace and incline for fat loss, increase load for strength, and keep your heart rate up between sets with 10 quick jumping jacks. Nutrition gets a reality check too—quality matters as much as calories when you’re fueling muscle and protecting your heart. Short on time? Use our 30-minute do-both template to make steady progress without living at the gym. The goal isn’t perfection; it’s a routine that moves you forward, week after week.

If this helped you rethink your training, follow the show, share it with a friend who’s stuck choosing sides, and leave a quick review so more people can find it. What blend are you trying this week?

Transcript

Cardio Vs Weights: Framing The Debate

Don 0:06

Hey everyone, welcome back to Better Every Rep. I'm Don, your average guy out here trying to get a little healthier one step at a time.

John 0:13

And I'm John, the trainer in this duo, but today I'm not here to argue with Don. Yeah, whatever. At least not too much.

Don 0:21

Well, today is definitely one of those fitness debate episodes because we're talking about something everyone asks when they start out should I be doing more cardio or more weights?

Weekly Wins And Recovery Check-In

John 0:31

Yep. That's the age-old question, Donovan. And honestly, a lot of beginners overthink this. So we're going to make this really simple today. What each does, who's it for, and how a regular person like you and I, more like you, can balance both without burning out.

Don 0:50

And avoiding burnout is very important. So let's go into weekly fitness wins, John. My my win was simply, you know, still recovering for so from surgery, still making it into the gym, expanding my cardio a little bit, starting to do a little bit more abs. I'm going to get on the uh leg press machine later this week. Okay, good. And do some stuff that I I think uh will avoid uh taxing my arm too much.

John 1:17

I think that's great. Now be careful putting those 45 pounds on, you know, with one hand.

Don 1:22

I I think my wife's gonna come in and and and she's gonna be my right hand. My right hand at the gym. She's my right hand anytime. So heavens.

John 1:31

Okay. I'm not here to argue with you. That's what we said in the opening segment. Yeah. Okay. So what was my win this week? Yeah, what was your win? My win was I did lunges.

Don 1:46

Ooh. You know, you keep you keep threatening lunges at me, and we never did them.

John 1:51

So I don't know if I've divulged my age on this podcast yet, and I'm not going to. But as you get older, your knees. You gotta be careful with lunges. But I I need them. I need to do lunges. You I did lunges this week.

Don 2:06

You you need them?

John 2:08

Yes.

Myths: Bulking, Fat Loss, And Beginners

Don 2:08

That's pretty good. I like that. Was that important on purpose or was that or was it hippopotamus? Hippopotamus. Oh, okay. That's still our safe word this week. So what what's funny is our winds kind of represent you know both sides of today's topic a little bit. You know, you're doing body weights by by doing those lunges. Correct. And and I'm sticking with that cardio pretty hot and heavy. So let's start with the myths because I believed every single one when I started. The biggest one is cardio is for weight loss, weights are for bulking.

John 2:40

Yeah, so I hear this a lot from everybody in the gym. When's the best time to do cardio, first or last? And that's one myth that needs to die already, okay? Cardio is great for your heart, it's great for health, calorie burning during the workout, but strength training helps you burn calories also because muscle boosts your metabolism.

Don 3:05

Yeah, I kind of learned that the hard way. Early on, I would just walk on the treadmill, like we've talked about, and kind of call it a day. I lost weight, but I also felt like I might have been losing muscle mass instead of actual fat.

John 3:20

That's right. And weights won't magically bulk you up. Trust me. Look at me. Well, you can't see me because we're on a podcast, but trust me, I'm not bulky. It takes years of consistent work, not three sets of dumbbell curls.

Don 3:33

So myth number one, you won't get bulky overnight. And myth number two, you do need cardio to lose fat. And myth number three, weights are for advanced users only.

John 3:46

Yeah, exactly. Weights are for are also for beginners. You just start light and focus on form. So I always told you, right? Do lighter weights, more reps, you know, depending on what you're trying to do. And if we're trying to bulk up, what do you do, Donovan? You increase the weight. Correct. He's one out of two. Let's see if he gets the next one. And you increase the reps. No. Reps are less. The weight is more. It's okay. And and some I want people to fact check us.

Why Cardio Matters: Heart Health Stories

Don 4:17

And there are some folks that even talk about lifting to failure too. True. When you're when you're trying to balk. Yep. So and that's something we can talk about in a later episode. So, John, what what does cardio really do?

John 4:31

Heart health. I want to start there. I've got a family that has heart health issues. My dad ran marathons up until he was 78 years old. Wonderful, wonderful human being. Now, however, at 56, he had two stints put in. He had four heart attacks, and he had four stints put in through his entire life. Now, this is a guy that continued to run up until his 78. So his heart got stronger. He was an avid smoker up until 40. You a lot of people out there probably have seen these people. Yeah. And so if you've been a smoker all your life, you're going to have that damage done. So heart health is big for running. Stamina, endurance, blood pressure, all that kind of stuff helps you feel better day to day. Now, I'm just going to use myself as an example because that's all I can do. I'm just going to say, I turned 60. I'm 60. Okay? All my life, track athlete, ran, blah, blah, blah. Still run to this day. Treadmill. All that kind of good stuff. What happened to me last December, a year ago?

Don 5:47

I believe you had a stroke, didn't you?

John 5:49

I had a little mild, a little mild stroke. Mild stroke. Heart history. But you know what saved me? Probably the cardio. Cardio. And I've never been a smoker, but all the cardio. So now I'm just on a little low dose pill. Yep. And I'm doing great. So heart health is big on cardiovascular. Everybody.

Don 6:11

Yep. I'd like to talk about the cardio and and weight loss for a second.

John 6:15

I'd like to talk about how I don't look 60.

Don 6:18

Okay. You can certainly talk about that. I I I would like to talk uh just a win on the cardio side. So uh uh 14 years ago I had a heart attack, had two stents put in, and you know, I've been struggling trying to get in shape. You know, I'd I'd bounce, I'd you know, lose 30 pounds, then I'd gain 40 and back and forth. So this year it's been revolutionary for my my health. Doing a lot of cardio, just you know, love the steer master.

John 6:52

You love running outside.

HDL, Stamina Gains, And Active Rest Between Sets

Don 6:53

Uh there are moments, yes. I'm not fun. I'm not very good at it, but I wish I had that on video. Yeah. Oh well, I'm I'm not very good at it. Sure, it's a fire. Yeah. That would be good. But in all those years, you know, and struggling and and taking this medication and that medication, I've never had a significant increase in some of my uh blood work vitals. I had my physical last week, and I had one of the largest moves in my healthy cholesterol, the uh HDL, it went up almost 30%. Wow. Which is huge for me because I typically have a low uh HDL. I've chronically had a low HDL. Even though my c cholesterol has been typically really good, always below 120 total, I've always had just low HDL. And for it to go up 30 percent was just to me, that was a bit huge.

John 7:54

Did the doctor say why? What did they accredit it to?

Don 7:58

They they didn't accredit it at all, but I accredited it myself to just being more physically active. And certainly the weight loss helped, but I think it had more to do with the cardio thanks.

John 8:09

Okay, I I want to say something else because I and if I get off topic, just shut the machine down. One of the things that we did when we worked out, and I'm encouraging people to do this, and I encourage more and more people I see at the gym. When we lifted, what did we do between sets? We were doing jumping jacks. That was one thing. There was so many things. Why? Do you remember why I said to keep the heart rate up? Yep.

Don 8:36

Uh and just to help increase that endurance.

John 8:40

Yes, keep burning that fat, keep the heart rate up, and it it's gonna help you burn. Yep. Yeah, I loved it. I I don't see people doing it. I got people doing it at my gym now that I talk to, and they love it. Yeah. So everybody in between sets, just do 10 jumping jacks, or something you don't like doing is per make-believe jump rope. Yeah, well, I think jumping jacks, just I don't have any coordination. Yeah, you're a great dancer.

Don 9:07

Yeah, I I am a great no hippopotamus.

John 9:12

Oh, where were we?

Don 9:14

But yeah, you know, the cardio cardio definitely has helped my stamina. I know I I I've been I love hiking. I've always enjoyed hiking. But there have been times when I have been in the middle of a hike, I'm like, all right, I'm done. Last few hikes I've been on.

John 9:32

I think you told me you were the guy you've always hiked with for all these years, said, Whoa, who are you? You're passing him now.

Don 9:39

Absolutely. And and it's it's a great feeling. You know, I'm getting off the trail now and I'm feeling fantastic. You know, I could go for another three, four hours.

John 9:48

Up and down the Appalachian Trail again from Georgia to Maine, all in the same day.

Don 9:52

All in the same day. And, you know, and it's amazing. It is just so good feeling that good getting off the trail. Now, I've always enjoyed it, but now I absolutely love it.

Daily Cardio, Goals, And Realistic Routines

John 10:07

Walk in the gym. Let that be your first adventure. Yep.

Don 10:12

And and you know, and John, you're you're you're absolutely right. Getting that cardio and having, you know, it's great walking outside, but you know, what we tend to do when we're walking outside, we kind of stop and smell the roses and we're going a little bit slower than we want to go. And what's nice about the gym is on the treadmill, you have it it sets the pace for you. You can set it and you can keep that steady pace. Right. And I like that. You could you want to walk up a 5% incline for 10 minutes, you can do that. And the other thing about cardio is it is the simplest thing for for beginners to start with. It's the easiest win. It's the easiest thing to get that sweat going, to make it make you feel like you actually did something.

John 11:01

So I I well, I want to take this one step further because we're talking about cardio versus weights. I have a lot of gym goers that say, Hey, hey, John, do I have to do cardio every day? What's your take on that, Donald?

Don 11:14

Oh, absolutely. I think I think if you do nothing else, you do cardio every day.

John 11:19

I've got guys though, and I'm gonna judge them. I've got guys that come in, hey, this is my day to lift. I lift four days a week. I do cardio too. Right. Again, what are you trying to accomplish?

Don 11:32

Right. What what is your goal? And and again, and with that said, I think that's really important for people to to your distinction.

John 11:41

What's your athletic preference? What are you trying to do?

Don 11:42

What are you trying to do? But I would think majority of our listeners are not about they're not here to bulk up.

John 11:49

They're looking for a Yeah, they're listening to Hans and Franz if they're trying to bulk up.

Don 11:53

Right. Most of our most of the folks that I believe are our listeners are going to be more of the getting in shape, improving their quality of life, losing, you know, a couple extra pounds. Absolutely. I think that's where where our guys are. So I would I would suggest that cardio is, if nothing else, it's part of your routine.

John 12:15

Stretch, cardio, lift.

Strength Training: Metabolism, Shape, And Confidence

Don 12:17

Okay, John. We've talked about cardio and the importance of cardio and and how we both feel that cardio should be something that you're doing every single time you walk into the gym. Tell me about strength training and how does that fit into the overall picture.

John 12:33

Strength training is going to build the muscles, it makes you stronger, improves your joint stability, and keeps your metabolism working as well.

Don 12:41

And it changes the way you look, even if the scale doesn't move. That was the biggest shock for me. I had several times where, you know, my weight wasn't changing, but I would look in the mirror and like, this guy's looking different. Bingo. Yes. Like things were moving around.

John 12:58

I love that you said you looked in the mirror and the scale didn't reflect what I saw in the mirror. That is perfect because muscle takes up less space than fat. So even if the number doesn't change, your body's changing. People look in the mirror. And what else? What about your waist size? Pants, clothes.

Don 13:19

Uh everything. It just starts, and it's like, it's almost like it's overnight, even though I know the process isn't, but it's like it's I went from X size to Y size, and I'm like, how did that happen? When did that happen? Yeah, I love it.

John 13:31

I love it. And I and I I hear it all the time. John, I I weigh 196. I weighed 196 last month. And I said, Yeah, so but look at your shirt. Look at look at your pants. Yeah, how is that possible? I could because you're moving it around, you're tightening it all up.

Don 13:48

That's right. And muscle weighs more than fat. Yep. And the the other thing that's really cool about building muscle, and I think this is where we people that are trying to lose weight should understand is that building muscle increases your metabolism because it it the body requires more energy to sustain that muscle.

John 14:12

Whereas fat, it's just you're just a storage. So and and here's the here's this here's a struggle. Man, I'm lifting heavier weights and I'm gaining weight. Yeah, because muscle weighs more, but what do you have to do to fuel that muscle? You might have to eat a little bit more. So you know, intake the protein, intake the water. We're not going to talk about supplements just yet. I'm sure we'll have an episode on that as well. But, you know, yes, take in the right nutrients, though. I know your body's starving, you're you're feeling, you're fueling up, you're getting gaining muscle, but fuel up with the right things.

Don 14:48

So let me make sure I understand this right, John. You're saying a a healthy 2,000 calorie diet is different than a 2,000 calorie diet of Oreos?

John 14:58

Are you judging?

Don 15:00

No, I'm just I I know you've you've I've looked into your pantry, sir.

Nutrition Basics And Lifting Progress

John 15:04

They're double stuff. And I figure if you eat four double stuff comparatively to one whole row of regular Oreos, you're route even. So you're still losing.

Don 15:15

You are losing. Not weight with skim.

John 15:18

I use two percent milk.

Don 15:20

Oh, yeah. Oh, not even skim. So the other thing about strength training that that it it really helped my confidence. You know, being able to get in and and and once we went to free weights, it was like a whole new door opened for me that I felt comfortable doing stuff that I never felt comfortable doing before. And there's something about lifting a little bit more, even if it's just two and a half pounds more, that I mean, it's a boost. You know, I'm like, man, and and and there's nothing like it that says you're winning than doing that. You know, there's been times when I've gone home to my wife and I was like, I know we'd never talk about this, but you know, when I first started, I was only labeled to lift X as my max, my absolute max. And now I'm doing that as part of my reps. I was like, I know it doesn't mean anything to you, but it's incredible.

John 16:17

It's it's hard for those people around us when you're making these changes in your life to to get on the excitement wagon that you're on. I mean, they see it, but they are not feeling it. So you're yeah, you're not alone.

Don 16:29

Yeah, yeah. And and and that's okay. You know, but she's very supportive and she's like, that's fantastic. And you probably get a little bit more hugs. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Because you look good. I I get a I get hugs from everybody now. Whoa, slow down. Yeah, hippopotamus. So let's go back to our our whole premise of this episode. So answering the big question, so John, which one should beginners do?

John 16:56

Well, Donovan, both. You need to do cardio every day. All right, you're gonna incorporate that with your strength building.

Don 17:05

Okay. So what would be a really good program? You're let's say I'm going in five days a week.

John 17:11

Okay. So easy. Monday, cardio, full body workout. Tuesday, strictly cardio, bike, but I would change it up. Stairmaster, bike, any of those kind of combinations. Wednesday, you're back to weights because your body's had a day to recover as far as the lifting goes. And you're gonna incorporate your cardio as well, so you're gonna keep that going. Thursday, what are we doing, Donovan?

Don 17:37

We're doing cardio.

John 17:39

Cardio. Friday, cardio weights. Yeah, cardio and weights. That's a great beginner's workout. You're gonna see transformation in your body, the and just it's it's perfect. And you're gonna be cutting those weights, that calories down.

Don 17:54

And you know, and that's exactly what we were doing. We incorporated your seven seven seven block program.

John 18:01

Yes, my brother-in-law actually complimented me on this seven seven seven idea. That's good. I need can I patent that? 7777.

Don 18:09

You can. You can. So that you know, to remind everyone, seven minutes on the treadmill, seven minutes on the stairmaster, seven minutes on the on the stationary bike.

John 18:19

Correct.

Don 18:20

And you can do it whatever you want to. And some days, you know, I was doing seven minutes on the stairmaster, and then I was just doing 14 minutes on the bike. Right. Whatever worked, you're trying to m to get that magic one. 21 minutes of cardio. 21 minutes of cardio.

John 18:35

And you're breaking it up, and you're not you're not that gerbil on a wheel if you're doing the treadmill.

Don 18:41

So bored after like 10 minutes on any piece of equipment.

John 18:45

Years ago, I I I learned the 777 method because you're gonna shock your system and you're you're even though you're doing even though you're doing cardio.

Don 18:54

It's a different type of cardio. You're using different muscle groups. Yes, sir. Yeah, absolutely.

John 18:58

I want everybody to try it and then give us their feedback on how they feel about it.

Fat Loss Vs Strength: Adjusting Intensity

Don 19:02

So what would we do if, let's say, I wanted to concentrate on losing more fat? How would I how would it take your your five-day a week where we're doing three days of combo and two days of just cardio, how would I make it more beneficial for losing fat?

John 19:23

Well, stop eating those Oreos. Step one. Cardio.

Don 19:28

Adding more cardio in?

John 19:29

Yes.

Don 19:30

All right.

John 19:30

Yeah.

Don 19:30

So maybe going eight, eight, eight or ten, ten, ten.

John 19:34

Well, that's what we did with you. Yep. Okay. And and and you want to increase the cardio, absolutely. And the pace and the the levels.

Don 19:45

Yeah, the the intensity, right? Yeah.

John 19:46

So I and I say pace, look at your treadmill if you're going at 3.2, move it up to 3.6 and at a 2% incline. Yep. Stairmaster, you're doing 33 floors. Kick it up a little bit more. And if you're going at a 5% pace, kick that up to you know seven or eight.

Don 20:07

That's good. That's good information. So if I wanted to get stronger, then I need to do more lifting. Correct. Right? But I'm still doing my cardio.

John 20:14

Yeah, yeah. I'm telling people that are into our podcast and that are just the average Joe. This is what we're trying to do. We're we're trying to maintain our strength at this stage of our lives, increase cardio to lose that fat and maintain our endurance and just live a healthier, better life with Oreos.

Don 20:36

And so you're you're saying you want basic general health. We're doing a mixture of both. Yep. Every day. But most importantly, John, I think it's very important to have that plan when you walk in the door. Do something you enjoy. If you hate doing the elliptical, then just use the the steer master or or use the bike.

Enjoyment, Adherence, And Pushing Comfort Zones

John 20:58

I I agree with you to a point, and I know I'm not supposed to argue with you.

Don 21:01

No, you're not. Because here's the bottom line. If you don't enjoy it, you're not going to stick with it.

John 21:07

Okay. I'll side with you on that one.

Don 21:10

Because if it becomes a job, then it is a job. Right. You won't. I enjoyed going to the gym. And that's one thing that I told you early on. It's like I look forward to walking into the gym because it's my time, because I was owning that space.

John 21:25

But I also want I want people to do sometimes you have to go out of your comfort zone, and then I'm going to reverse back to when you're lifting, you're going to do jumping jacks. Keep that cardio going. Yep. It's a jumping jack. Absolutely. Did you did you not like the jumping jacks?

Don 21:42

I did not like them, but I appreciated the what we were doing.

John 21:45

And I remember once or twice when we were working out together, I pushed you. You're like, you didn't do your 10 jumping jacks between that set. That's exactly right. Who are you to tell me in my safe space?

Don 21:55

And those of you who have not gotten a personal trainer yet, I will tell you something that is a universal truth, capital T truth. Trainers cannot count.

John 22:05

I want anybody who's had me as a trainer to call in and dispute that.

Don 22:11

Trainers can't count. So let's talk about the tip of the week. We want you to combine cardio and strength in the same workout. If you only have 30 minutes, five minutes, warm-up, stretching, get that 15 minutes of cardio in, and then do another 10 minutes of strength training.

30-Minute Solution: Do Both

John 22:33

Yeah. Be super efficient, get a full body workout, zero confusion.

Don 22:39

So bottom line is cardio helps you feel better. Strength helps you look and function better long term. So it's important to be able to do both.

John 22:52

I agree with that.

Don 22:53

You want to do both. I agree. Again, we haven't had any questions yet because we're some of these episodes we were we're recording early.

John 23:01

What? This isn't live?

Don 23:03

John. I feel like it's live. It is live for you and I, but not for the folks that are actually listening at home. Or in their cars, stuck in traffic. Poor guys. I'm sorry. I feel for you. Don't worry, I'm right there with you. I'm in traffic as well. John's nine. So so today's question, John, if I only have 30 minutes, which should I choose? Cardio or weights?

John 23:30

Well, that answer is simple. Both. All right. So use a circuit or a combination format or alternate days. The best plan is the one you're actually doing. That is so true.

Don 23:41

If you're not doing it, it doesn't matter which one's both. If you hate running, don't run. Walk, bike, elliptical. It doesn't matter. Just move.

John 23:52

You'll build up to it.

Trail Running Dreams And Gear Talk

Don 23:53

Absolutely. Yeah. And you know, I hated it because I didn't, I never felt comfortable enough to do it. I gotta tell you something that I've been thinking about really hard, and I'm not sure if I'm gonna do it. I love hiking. My love of running is still in its emphasis. I I'm not sure that I'm there yet, but I'm like, I think I might like to trail run.

John 24:18

Whoa.

Don 24:19

I know. That's something that's been I did.

John 24:22

You know what I did do? I bought some trail running shoes.

Don 24:25

Wow, can I borrow them?

John 24:27

What size are you? 13.

The Real Takeaway: Blend Cardio And Weights

Don 24:29

Oh, yeah. Oh, cool. We can share them. Good, good. So let's wrap this one up, John. The cardio versus weights debate is a false choice. You you need both, but not in a overreaching, intimidating way. You're you're not spending three hours in the gym.

John 24:46

No, don't be that guy.

Don 24:47

Don't you know what? It doesn't help anyone. No.

John 24:52

You're just you're you're you're hurting yourself. You're hurting yourself. Unless you have nowhere else to go. Like me. I mean, I'm there like eight to ten hours a day.

Weekly Challenge And Subscribe Reminder

Don 25:00

Yeah, yeah. And you only look that the way you look. Well, that's you know. Okay. Hippopotamus. So your challenge this week is add one thing you normally would avoid. Cardio people, pick up a weight. Weight people, go for a walk. And remember that every rep counts, and so does every step you take toward a better you.

John 25:27

And we'll see you next week. Tell people to subscribe. That's right, John. Because I want to do this for the rest of my life.

Don 25:36

You're good at it.

John 25:37

Well, thanks, Donovan.

Don 25:39

Yeah.

John 25:39

You're a sweetheart.

Don 25:40

Yeah, I know. Hippopotamus, hippopotamus. Let's talk about this again. So we we talked about this. I'm recording, but I want to get this on on air that I I had this conversation with you before I give you your PIP. Okay, I got you.

John 25:59

Hit me, I'm ready. Got it. That's the deal.