A recent study has shown that when it comes to boosting the metabolism with exercise, resistance training and cardio training have similar effects. In a study on overweight and lean women, researchers from Cal State and Cedarville University showed that weight training and vigorous aerobic exercise both trigger excess post-exercise oxygen consumption (EPOC); a measure of the increase in metabolic rate and calories burned in the hours after exercise.
The results of this study showed that weight lifting and intense cardio workouts both cause an increase in metabolic rate (assessed by EPOC) equally as effective as each other. Also, this research showed that overweight and lean women respond to exercise with a similar increase in metabolic rate; something researchers did not suspect. These results suggest that weight training and cardio are equally effective for fat loss in overweight people and fat loss should occur when performing either activity as long as a calorie-restricted diet is followed.
Source: J Strength Conditioning Research
