Does Weight Training Make You Hungrier than Cardio?

Whether you are a new or experienced trainer, you might have tried your hand at cardio and weight training.

While we never really stop to notice the effects of these on the body, many of you have complained that doing weight training can make you feel hungrier than cardio, but why is this the case for many athletes?

Does Weight Training Make You Hungrier Than Cardio?

One of the most powerful sensations you can feel after weight training is that you often feel hungry, especially if you do fasted training.

Whilst this is also true for cardio, weight training can significantly increase your metabolism throughout the day, which makes you feel hungrier.

Let’s dive into the science!

How Do Weight Training and Cardio Affect Your Metabolism?

The first thing to look at would be your metabolism, and you must understand the effect of the training routine on your metabolism.

Metabolism is best defined as the internal processes which enable the body to convert food and beverages (calories) into the energy that you use every day.

Energy is an essential part of not only performing daily activities but keeping you alive in the form of brain function and allowing your organs to continue working.

Many trainers also refer to this as BMR (Basal Metabolic Rate), which refers to the rate at which your body burns through calories you consume.

In essence, consuming more calories than your BMR would allow you to put on weight, whereas consuming fewer calories allows you to lose weight.

Weight Training Effect on Metabolism

Weight training tends to increase the metabolism significantly, or at least initially when you start.

However, this is also compounded by the fact that you build more muscle, which requires nutrients and calories to remain anabolic.

By depleting your body of calories, you will enter what is called a catabolic phase and lose muscle mass.

Since weight training works by damaging the muscles, where after the body needs to repair the muscle membranes and build new proteins, you can see how much energy this requires.

However, the real catch is that your new muscle tissue will be bigger, demanding more and more calories to sustain the size and form.

This is why you can see your BMR increase and often feel hungrier.

Cardio Effect on Metabolism

When it comes to cardio, you might think that the same is true. Yes, cardio does burn calories whilst you are working out, but you are not overloading the muscles.

By not overloading the muscles, you are not forcing the body into creating new protein markers, which build new muscle membranes.

This means your muscles stay the same.

In essence, you will be burning plenty of calories whilst doing cardio, but once you are done with an exercise, it stops.

The body would still need to repair the damaged tissue of the muscles you used, but it does not have to sustain any large muscles.

Why Do I Feel Hungrier If I Do Weight Training?

The simplest way to understand this if you don’t care much for science is to look at animals. The larger the animal, the more it will need to eat to sustain its size.

A lion cannot survive on the same diet as your home cat due to the significant size differences between the two.

Additionally, your cat might not be as active as a lion that is hunting, which also factors in.

It all boils down to size and muscle mass when it comes to how many calories you will be expending and why you might feel hungrier.

When you are resting, for instance, these muscles are still active tissue in the body. This means they are consuming calories whilst you do nothing.

The most muscle mass you carry, the more calories your BMR will be.

So what truly affects the hunger feelings after weight training?

1. Muscle Mass

As I have touched on, the more muscle mass you carry, the more active tissue needs to be fed. This is how the body sustains size.

This means that you will be hungrier due to the muscle membranes demanding more nutrients.

It is a warning sign that tells you that your body might go into a catabolic state.

2. Activity Level

Someone more active will see a larger requirement of calories in their daily intake need.

If you are sitting at a desk job, you are sitting for a large part of the day.

However, a miner might be more active, which requires far more calories to sustain their energy levels.

Their muscles are constantly working, which means more calories are needed to repair and leads to increased feelings of hunger.

3. Genetics

Muscle training and carrying a lot of muscle mass can have a severe effect on your eating habits, but a 2012 study has shown that genetics can also affect your eating habits.

If you have recently started weight training and you think you need to eat 4000 calories, you might just be dealing with genetics.

Why Do I Feel Hungrier Days After Weight Training?

Many of you might have experienced an overall uptick in the hunger sensation after a few weeks of weight training.

This effect is called an afterburn and could last much longer than a day, according to Dr. Jaime Shehr, ND, RD.

So what is afterburn?

Afterburn in Weight Training

Afterburn refers to the effect of the body continuing to burn calories after the weight training session.

Some experts estimate this to be around 36 hours. However, others would go as far as to put it at 48 hours depending on the muscle groups you have trained.

The body would use additional calories to repair the muscles and build new muscle proteins. Cardio does not provide the same benefit.

In many cardio workouts, your training is the main area of calories you will burn.

Should I Eat More If I Feel Hungry After Weight Training?

Your body is the best thing to speak to you. When you listen carefully, you will note that it tells you when you need to eat.

However, you can also use many online apps like myfitnesspal to help you understand your calories or BMR.

If the body is making you feel hungry after weight training sessions, you should eat. This could mean you need to eat more than you do. However, there is a catch!

You will need to focus on providing your body with the nutrients it needs to fulfill the functions it is aiming to fulfill.

Here are a few acceptable things that you should eat when you feel hungrier after weight training:

• Proteins (Meat, protein powder, fish, vegan protein, peas, and beans)
• Carbohydrates (Potatoes, sweet potatoes, rice, quinoa)
• Greens/ Veggies

You mustn’t stuff your body with junk food. This will fill you up, but most of the calories are wasted.

Additionally, it does not have any effect on bettering your health or improving your muscle growth.

Conclusion

Nothing beats the satisfactory feeling of a meal after a hard session hitting the weights.

If you want to improve your metabolism, weight training is the number one way to go.

Now, I would like to read some of your expert comments on weight training and how it has helped you.