Let’s get this out of the way first: cardio isn’t evil. It’s just overrated — like kale smoothies, detox teas, and the guy at the gym who thinks 47 minutes on the elliptical “burned off” his weekend pizza.
After 35, the game changes. You’re not just working out to “burn calories.” You’re fighting for muscle, testosterone, and your right to still feel like a badass. And that’s exactly why strength training crushes cardio every single time.
“You Can’t Flex Cardio” — Arthur Jones Said It Best
Arthur Jones — the eccentric genius behind Nautilus — once said,
“If you want to get strong, train hard. If you want to get tired, run around in circles.”
That pretty much sums it up.
Cardio is like paying rent. Strength training is like owning real estate. One just keeps you afloat. The other builds something that lasts — muscle, metabolism, testosterone, and resilience.
Reason #1: Muscle Is Your Midlife Insurance Policy
After 35, you start losing muscle faster than your tolerance for TikTok dances. Without resistance training, that slide accelerates. Muscle isn’t just for looks — it’s a metabolic powerhouse. It keeps your blood sugar stable, your bones dense, and your body composition in check.
Cardio? It doesn’t protect muscle — it often burns it. And the moment you stop, your “fat-burning engine” clocks out too.
Strength training keeps your metabolism roaring even when you’re binge-watching Netflix later that night.
Reason #2: Strength Training Boosts Testosterone, Cardio Can Drain It
Steady-state cardio might build endurance, but too much of it turns your hormones into a sad trombone.
Chronic cardio elevates cortisol (your stress hormone) and can suppress testosterone — the very thing that keeps you lean, energetic, and interested in things that require, uh, energy (get it?).
Heavy lifting and short, intense bouts of training — like High-Intensity Training (HIT) — do the opposite. They tell your body, “We’re still in the fight.” Your hormones respond accordingly.
Reason #3: HIT = Maximum Results in Minimal Time
Arthur Jones’ High-Intensity Training philosophy was simple:
“Train harder, not longer. Stimulate, don’t annihilate.”
That’s gospel after 35. You don’t have time (or recovery capacity) to live in the gym.
A well-structured HIT program — 30-45 minutes, 2-3 times a week — builds strength, muscle, and cardiovascular fitness all at once.
That’s right: heavy strength work is cardio when you do it right. You’re huffing, sweating, and seeing stars — all while building actual tissue that matters. The idea that you have to do steady state cardio to improve "heart health" is a myth.
That is not to say that cardio is useless, it is just a box that should only be checked after you have lifted sufficiently for the week.
Reason #4: Strength Training Builds a Body That Ages Well
Cardio might help your heart, but it won’t stop you from looking like a stick figure with an AARP card. Strength training makes you durable. It keeps your joints stable, your spine supported, and your posture strong.
You don’t want to be the guy who can run a 10K but tweaks his back carrying groceries. You want to be the guy who still deadlifts his luggage into the overhead bin at 55 without wincing.
Plus, if you stop lifting your ass will fall off and you'll look terrible in jeans. It's sad but true. Ladies spending hours trying to win walking challenges and 5ks, then bitch and moan when they lose the glutes they had when they were 25.
If you want to keep your curves, you have to work those muscles and tell your brain to preserve them until you die.
Reason #5: The Warrior Mindset
Lifting weights isn’t just physical — it’s psychological armor. Every rep is a reminder that you’re in control. After 35, life throws plenty at you — stress, kids, work, a metabolism that’s starting to ghost you.
Strength training is where you reclaim your edge. It is a great escape from band practice, travel baseball, club basketball, soccer practice, or <insert other responsibility here>.
The Takeaway
Cardio has its place, sure. But strength training is the fountain of youth — the thing that keeps your body, hormones, and confidence from sliding downhill after 35....and from looking skinny fat.
So if you’ve been living on the treadmill, it’s time to change your religion.
👉 Start lifting 3 days per week.
👉 Push hard using Arthur Jones–style HIT principles (super-slow reps, isometrics, high rep sets, etc.)
👉 Stop chasing calories — start building capacity.
Because you can’t out-run aging or a bad diet, but you sure as hell can out-lift it.
