I’ve been a “lifter” for the best part of 20 years.

It’s something I’ve prioritised it ever since learning the why and the how of resistance training in my first year of university studies.

So for a long time, lifting has been firmly baked into my identity. That part hasn't really changed.

But lately I realised I’d been neglecting something pretty important…

Getting in enough consistent weekly aerobic activity.

And the more I digged into some of the newer data on the links between the dose of aerobic and resistance training on health-related outcomes, I decided I had to take action.

That’s why I’ve recently overhauled not just my weekly routine, but also how I think about exercise altogether.

So here’s why my routine looks different now compared to 6 months ago - and why I think it’s an important shift.

Out with the old, in with the new

For nearly two decades, my week looked something like this:

3–4 resistance training sessions in the gym, plus 1–2 runs if I was lucky (and that’s a big “if”…).

Lifting always came first, and running was an afterthought (and the first thing to go when time or energy was lacking).

But over the past 6 months I’ve completely flipped the script.

I now run at least 3-4 times per week, and do 2 full-body weights sessions. So the resistance training is absolutely still there, but it’s no longer the focus point.

This is a bigger shift than it might sound - for someone who’s spent two decades identifying as a “lifter”, I’ll be honest that reducing my focus on the weights wasn’t easy.

But the growing evidence made it hard to argue otherwise.

First of all, it’s best to do both

I often get asked which is better - resistance or aerobic training?

My first response is anything is better than nothing - simply because I don’t believe we should downplay any form of movement as “not enough.”

But the data shows doing both resistance and aerobic training provides the largest risk reduction (relative to no exercise) for a range of chronic health conditions:

You’ll note the benefit is substantial (and reasonably similar) for doing either resistance OR aerobic training alone, but the combination is clearly better.

So the next question, then, is how much of each do you need?

A tale of two dose-response curves (and why it matters)

This is where it gets interesting…

Because the dose-response curves for the effects of aerobic and resistance training on health outcomes look quite different.

And this matters for how you can effectively balance each in your routine.

For example, here’s the dose-response curve for aerobic exercise (specifically, moderate-vigorous physical activity or MVPA) and mortality from all causes:

The main thing to note here is the risk reduction benefits are steep at the start, and keep increasing with higher doses - but with diminishing returns (meaning the benefit continues, but reduces at higher doses).

Now compare that to the same curve with resistance training:

As you can see, the shape of the curve is quite different. The peak benefit (or the greatest risk reduction) happens very early, and seems to reduce with higher doses.

Some studies even show very high doses of resistance training (we’re talking 140+ minutes per week) is linked to an increased risk of mortality - although whether this is an artefact of confounding factors is not clear.

Now the main limitation here is a self-reported duration of resistance training is a pretty crude marker of resistance training dose.

How long you spend in the gym says nothing about intensity (load) or volume (think sets x reps) - both of which are clearly important for resistance training outcomes.

But unfortunately, it’s the best marker of resistance training dose these larger observational studies have.

Now a key point here is for both aerobic and resistance training, the largest (relative) benefits come from going from nothing or low levels to a little more.

But it’s clear the “more is better” argument applies more easily to aerobic than resistance training.

The good news is you don’t need much resistance training

One of the best aspects of resistance training is you don’t need a lot.

The risk reduction happens at low doses, and the same goes for strength gains specifically too.

A 2025 dose-response study found strength benefits occurred in the range of 1–5 sets per exercise per week.

When you look at the dose-response curves - this time for the association between weekly volume (number of sets) and muscle hypertrophy and strength - it’s clear most of the benefit comes early on, particularly for strength:

This applies to frequency too, with the vast majority of strength gains realised when you train a given exercise or movement twice per week.

That means two full-body sessions per week - or training each exercise or movement pattern twice weekly - is enough for most people.

Which is great, because it leaves room for other forms of activity too.

Why I think this matters

Time and energy are very precious commodities.

Exercise is undoubtedly important, but after all, so are many other things in life.

Which is exactly why I think it pays to allocate your exercise time accordingly.

After dedicating most of my exercise time to resistance training for the past 20 years, I’ve flipped the balance to build some more aerobic activity into my week.

This isn’t anything extraordinary.

My routine now better aligns with our activity guidelines, which suggest 2 sessions of resistance training is enough, and getting in more aerobic activity (150+ min per week of MVPA) is ideal.

As for why I think this matters?

Ultimately, I’ve made this shift because I’m preparing myself as best I can for anything life unexpectedly throws my way.

There are no guarantees, of course.

But I’m going to stack the odds in my favour anyway.

Hope you enjoyed this!

PS: I’d love to hear about your exercise routine, and how you effectively balance a mix of aerobic and resistance training - or if you usually focus on one. Hit reply and let me know!

Until next week,

Jackson

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IMPORTANT:

The information contained herein is of general nature only and does not constitute personal advice. You should not act on any information without considering your personal needs, circumstances, and objectives. Any exercise program may result in injury. We recommend you obtain advice specific to your circumstances from an appropriate health professional before starting any exercise program.