The Toy Box Years: Cardio Vs. Weights? What Do You Think?

The Creators of the Toy Box Years

The creators of the Toy Box Years are my two beautiful daughters and wonderful, handsome soldier husband.

"Nani" (our oldest) is a 11 year old 6th grader who loves Taylor Swift, ballet, books, fashion designing and sewing. Ask her what she wants to be when she grows up and it changes daily to anything from "an artist" to "a teacher" to "a singer/dancer". Nani is also currently fighting a battle against brain cancer -- recently diagnosed in June 2016.

"Nudgie" (our youngest) is a very smiley, very happy, very giggly, very spirited 8 year old 3rd Grader who's favorite toys are anything that gives mommy an anxiety attack - ladders, stepstools, the climbing wall at the playground. Like her sister, she has a love of reading and coloring, loves gymnastics and still provides mommy lots of snuggle time!

"My Marine" is my high school sweetheart. We've been married over 20 years and met when we were 17. (You do the math....) His favorite toys are Blackhawk helicopters, the lawnmower, our steam cleaner, and microbrew beer bottles. My husband is also my hero in that he proudly serves his country as a Blackhawk crew chief (hence his favorite toy!). And need I say that there is nothing hotter than my man in uniform!

All About Me......

Once upon a time I had a career and worked in the corporate world. Once upon a time, I dreamed about leaving that all behind to follow my true calling -- being a wife and mommy.

The first part of my calling was fulfilled in 1995 when I married my Marine (now soldier) and my love. Little did I know that being a military wife would change me in so many ways and that because of that, I would have an extended family all over the world from Japan, to California, to North Carolina.

The second part of my calling took a little doing, but I finally achieved that dream in 2004 with the birth of our first child, followed 4 years later by her baby sister.

So now, when someone asks me what I do for a living - I simply smile and say proudly that I'm following my calling - I'm a mommy and a wife -- and I couldn't be HAPPIER -- I'm living in the Toy Box Years!!

I have a specific "list" on my Facebook feed for fitness/weight loss/healthy living groups & pages, and over the past few days, I've seen some articles about cardio vs. weight training.

One was about cardio vs. weight training and should you do more of one than the other. You can find that article HERE.

The other one was again about cardio vs. weight training...but was which one should you do first. You can find that article HERE.

I wanted to read more and as I googled the topic and found a bunch of different articles saying why one was better than the other....why you should do one first before the other. I'd read one article by an "expert" only to find a contradicting one by another "expert" shortly after. I found that there was one thing that even the "experts" could agree upon -- it all depends on what your goals are. In the end, there is no "right" answer.

I am, by no means, a workout expert. I am not certified or trained. I'm just a mom trying to get healthy and in shape. All I can tell you is what worked/works for me.......and it's doing both.

When I first got serious about this journey, I started off with cardio only. Every day. It was amazing....the pounds dropped. But then I started with my trainer at Finding Fitness LLC, While I was doing lots of cardio, he also added some weight training to the mix.

I was immediately hooked.....especially when I started to see a difference in the shape of my body. When I would meet my friend at the gym, we'd do cardio first (for me, it was the elliptical) and then we'd use the machines in the weight room. (Cardio first/Weights second). Again -- it worked for me.

When My Marine came home from deployment and we started to go to the gym together, my routine was flip-flopped.......we started with weights and then finished with cardio.....usually a 45min/45min split. I will say that I found that I liked this much more. I can't quite explain why.....I just felt that I was working & pushing harder when I did weights first.

And I LOVED the weights. I wanted to learn more. I wanted to perfect my technique. I bought books on different weight training programs, read articles, watched YouTube videos. I.....LOVE....WEIGHTS!

And let me address one myth out there.....unless you are training for body building competitions....lifting weights will NOT make you big and bulky. Let me say this again......LIFTING WEIGHTS WILL NOT MAKE YOU BIG AND BULKY!

So, where do I come down on the cardio vs. weights?

I do both.....and when I'm at the gym, I do weights first, then finish with cardio. Right now, I'm doing a hybrid workout of Les Mills Combat and Les Mills Pump. The workout combines the two programs so that I'm getting the best of both worlds.....and I haven't been this psyched to start a workout since I got my TurboJam over a year ago!