Significant weight loss benefits are attached to weight training in and of exercise. The basic equation is this: the more muscle tissue you have, the more calories you will burn. This is why world class weight lifters must eat thousands of calories a day to maintain their weight. Muscle is active tissue, fat is not. Thus, muscle "burns" a significant number of calories each day for its own maintenance.
In her book Strong Women Stay Slim, Miriam Nelson, a Tufts University researcher, showed that a group of women who followed a weight loss diet and did weight training exercises lost 44% more fat than those who only followed the diet. While aerobic activity can help burn calories, muscle's where it's at when it comes to giving your metabolism a significant daily boost even at rest.
A lot of cardio work, particularly of the endurance-based variety (e.g. distance running), will inhibit your maximal strength gains and ability to put on muscle mass. In other words, if your goal is to max out on the squat or bench press, or to get super huge, keep the long distance running to a minimum.
When done in the same workout, put strength training first. The body uses fuels in a particular order of preference. If you put a lot of cardio in before you do strength training, you’ll run out of gas.
If you’re just looking for general fitness, one no-brainer way to organize things is just to alternate weight training and cardio days. This gives you daily activity but mixes things up so you’re fresh.
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