“I have been involved in cellulite reduction for 24+ years now and I can remember that back in the early 2000s most women used to almost exclusively do cardio and no weights. Now (2025) the reverse is true: most women think that resistance exercise is better than cardiovascular exercise for cellulite. Indeed, both types of training have their merits but where does truth lie, in relation to exercise for cellulite prevention and reduction? Full analysis below.”
Resistance training vs cardiovascular training, cellulite and skin tightening
Weight training is better than cardio for fat loss, right?
One kg of extra muscle burns an extra 13 calories a day- hardly life changing
Fat loss (and consequently cellulite fat loss) achieved after 90 days of resistance vs cardio training
The ideal ratio: 2/3 cardio + 1/3 weights
Yes, but for skin tightening weight training is better than cardio, right?
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Weight training is better than cardio for fat loss, right?
Wrong. In the past few years people started to believe that resistance exercise is better than cardiovascular exercise for almost everything and especially for weight loss and cellulite reduction. The rationale is that with weight training you build muscle and that that muscle has higher metabolic needs, leading to more calorie burning, “even in your sleep”.
However, this effect is exaggerated and the notion that weights contribute so much to metabolism increase could not be further from the truth.
Cardiovascular exercise, especially high intensity “cardio”, like HIIT, interval running, spinning etc, burns way more calories than weight training. At the same time CV exercise also leads to long-term calorie burning - not via increased muscle mass, as with weight training - but via increased overall body metabolism and thermogenesis.
In fact resting metabolic rate is increased with both cardio and weights with the difference between the two depending on the intensity and frequency of each exercise.
Furthermore, the heart is also an important muscle and blood vessels are also comprised of tiny yet important muscles that need to be exercised and - as the name cardiovascular training suggests - weight training doesn’t do that as well as cardiovascular exercise.
One kg of extra muscle burns an extra 13 calories a day- hardly life changing
Now in relation to extra muscle mass burning calories 24 hours a day even when you rest, the effect is welcome but practically insignificant, at about 13 cal/kg/day.
So if you manage to gain 4kg of extra muscle (quite a lot for women who have an average of 43kg of free muscle mass) you will burn an extra 49 calories a day, i.e. one large rice cake’s worth. The effect is insignificant and not exactly what your personal trainer promised you.
Another drawback of resistance exercise is the bulking up which is observed in some people - mostly in men but also in some women - which is sometimes unwelcome (of course, if you start from a very low muscle mass point that bulking up is not just welcome but absolutely necessary).
Don’t get me wrong: weight training is essential to increase muscle tone and improve body shape. Also, by strengthening muscles around joints, resistance training protects joints from the vigours of CV training, and in this way it indirectly supports cardio training.
But the gains in calorie burning, and consequently slimming and cellulite reduction, are far higher and much more immediate with cardio than with weights - especially in the short term but also in the long term too.
Practically, I would dedicate about 2/3 of my exercise hours to cardio training and 1/3 to resistance training. This would provide the best - and fastest results - in terms of cellulite reduction, while also supporting joint stabilisation and muscle toning and lifting areas such as the buttocks.
Fat loss (and consequently cellulite fat loss) achieved after 90 days of weight vs cardio training
Please see calculations below of the difference between the two types of training:
Weight training, three hours a week for three months (weight training at 65% 1RM, 60kg woman):
13 weeks x 3 sessions/week =
~39 sessions x 300 cal/session =
11,700 cal / 9 cal/g of fat =
1,300 g of fat lost (a percentage of it being cellulite)
If we assume that during those 3 months an extra 1 kg of lean muscle mass is gained, we will have an additional:
13 cal/day / 2 x 90 days =
585 cal / 9 cal/g of fat =
65g of fat lost (a percentage of it being cellulite)
Total fat loss in 90 days: 1300 + 65 = 1365 g of fat lost (a percentage of it being cellulite)
Vs:
Cardiovascular training three hours a week for three months (running at medium intensity, 6-7km/hour, 60kg woman):
13 weeks x 3 sessions/week =
~39 sessions x 640 cal/session =
24,960 cal / 9 cal/g of fat =
Total fat loss in 90 days: 2,773 g of fat lost (a percentage of it being cellulite)
All in all, CV exercise burns more than twice the calories and reduces more cellulite than resistance exercise, even when increased free muscle mass (FMM) resting metabolic rate (RMR) is taken into account.
This will have a much higher impact in your cellulite - plus the increase in circulation and blood vessel tone from the cardiovascular exercise will also benefit your cellulite and reduce your water retention. Weight training does not have such an effect.
The ideal ratio: 2/3 cardio + 1/3 resistance
A mix of 2/3 cardio and 1/2 weights will yield: 2,773 x 0.67 + 1,365 x 0.33 = 2,312g of fat lost (a percentage of it being cellulite).
This will offer you both immediate fat and long term fat reduction due to CV exercise plus some immediate and long term fat reduction due to weight training.
As a reader of this article, you are probably interested in fast results in the next few weeks and months, and for those CV exercise is unbeatable.
With two days a week of cardio training and the addition of 1 day a week of weight training you can also achieve your goals of higher resting metabolic rate in the long term, beyond those three months.
Yes, but for skin tightening weight training is better than cardio, right?
Wrong. Weight training tightens muscles, not skin*. Sure, via the increase in overall body anabolism you should expect a bit tighter skin (not a lot) but that would be over months and years (definitely not over a few weeks).
And no, there is neither spot fat reduction nor spot skin tightening with exercise - any type of exercise.
This means that you cannot reduce fat or tighten your skin on top of your quads if you exercise the quads. And the same applies to stomach, buttocks, arms etc. This is biologically impossible and has been debunked decades ago, so if someone claims otherwise they are either clueless (yes, clueless is the word) or simply lying (yes, lying is the correct word).
* For fast, significant and SAFE skin tightening there is only one option: deep-acting, high-power radiofrequency, ideally combined with high-power LED phototherapy. Vibration plate training can also help to some extent.
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At LipoTherapeia we have specialised 100% in skin tightening and cellulite reduction for more than two decades and 20,000+ sessions.
This is all we study and practise every day and have researched and tried hands-on all the important skin tightening equipment and their manufacturers.
As strong, deep acting radiofrequency and deep-acting, high-power ultrasound cavitation are the technologies of choice for skin tightening and cellulite reduction, we have invested in the best RF/ultrasound technologies in the world.
(Of course, we keep looking for new technologies every day and if/when a better technology materialises we will be the first to provide it. However, we will never follow the latest ineffective gimmick, just because it’s good marketing to offer the latest hyped up - yet ineffective and/or unsafe treatment.)
Furthermore, over the last two decades we have developed advanced RF and cavitation treatment protocols in order to make the most of our technologies, for maximum results, naturally and safely.
And for even better, faster results, we now combine our RF/ultrasound treatments with high-power red/infrared light LED treatment.
Our radiofrequency/ultrasound/LED treatments are comfortable, pain-free, downtime-free, injection-free, 99.5%+ safe and always non-invasive.
(No unsafe and ineffective RF microneedling or HIFU and no safe but ineffective acoustic wave therapy, superficial RF (bipolar/tripolar/multipolar etc), low power RF/cavitation, electrical muscle stimulation, lymphatic massage, cupping, dry brushing and no ridiculous bum bum creams.)
Our focus is on honest, realistic, science-based treatment, combined with caring, professional service, with a smile.
We will be pleased to see you, assess your cellulite, skin laxity or fibrosis, listen to your story, discuss your case and offer you the best possible treatment.
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