when did boycotting cardio become the cool thing to do?

pcastagner

You people are arguing which type of exercise YOU do, and which YOU think is best. To answer the OP questions, the reason people "boycott" cardio is because there is ZERO benefit that is exclusive to cardio. Any benefit that cardio offers, resistance training offers, and more.

Runners are going to run, and lifters are going to lift. For the people that want to look/feel good, in the shortest amount of time, there is no reason to do cardio.

And for people into more than just looking pretty, it's essential.

Well no, not really.

Yeah, I can see you disprove my point, so I take it back.

Does a powerlifter need cardio to excel at their sport?

No. What's your point?

Breezy3

I think cardio is important unless you are doing mega, consistent lifting. Better something thank nothing.

I am just doing cardio now but plan to add lifting to my exercise routine. Can't afford a gym... maybe do some lifting cans, etc. Any ideas?

pcastagner

You people are arguing which type of exercise YOU do, and which YOU think is best. To answer the OP questions, the reason people "boycott" cardio is because there is ZERO benefit that is exclusive to cardio. Any benefit that cardio offers, resistance training offers, and more.

Runners are going to run, and lifters are going to lift. For the people that want to look/feel good, in the shortest amount of time, there is no reason to do cardio.

And for people into more than just looking pretty, it's essential.

Once you can offer me one benefit of steady cardio, that resistance training doesn't offer, I'll consider your argument.

I already did. Rhythm was high on the list for skipping rope. Helps me in my job.

And if "eye of the tiger" didn't convince you, you are lost and I can't help.

Seriously though. Unless you are juicing, body part splits are a waste of time, which leaves full body and upper/lower, push/pull kinda splits. Which leaves you with rest days. Which means not training every day. Which means not being as well conditioned, or half as good at coitus.



I can't imagine life without both resistance training and cardio. It would be either overtraining or under training.

CoachDreesTraining

You people are arguing which type of exercise YOU do, and which YOU think is best. To answer the OP questions, the reason people "boycott" cardio is because there is ZERO benefit that is exclusive to cardio. Any benefit that cardio offers, resistance training offers, and more.

Runners are going to run, and lifters are going to lift. For the people that want to look/feel good, in the shortest amount of time, there is no reason to do cardio.

The only problem with that little theory is that I like to run races, I train for the races as well as to stay fit and also burn the calories - all in that order.

Lifting weights and doing no cardio wouldn't do me any good, because when it came to me wanting to run my 10k race later on in the year, I wouldn't do very well now, would I.

Running is simply a learned skill. Any physiological adaptions to improve endurance can be accomplished through resistance training.

G2G get swole!!! We can continue the debate later.

CoachDreesTraining

You people are arguing which type of exercise YOU do, and which YOU think is best. To answer the OP questions, the reason people "boycott" cardio is because there is ZERO benefit that is exclusive to cardio. Any benefit that cardio offers, resistance training offers, and more.

Runners are going to run, and lifters are going to lift. For the people that want to look/feel good, in the shortest amount of time, there is no reason to do cardio.

And for people into more than just looking pretty, it's essential.

Once you can offer me one benefit of steady cardio, that resistance training doesn't offer, I'll consider your argument.

I already did. Rhythm was high on the list for skipping rope. Helps me in my job.

And if "eye of the tiger" didn't convince you, you are lost and I can't help.

Seriously though. Unless you are juicing, body part splits are a waste of time, which leaves full body and upper/lower, push/pull kinda splits. Which leaves you with rest days. Which means not training every day. Which means not being as well conditioned, or half as good at coitus.



I can't imagine life without both resistance training and cardio. It would be either overtraining or under training.

I'm not sure what you consider rhythm, but if you're referring to the body's ability to rapidly relax antagonist muscles, then that is best accomplished through olympic lifting, plyometrics, speed squats, etc.

pcastagner

You people are arguing which type of exercise YOU do, and which YOU think is best. To answer the OP questions, the reason people "boycott" cardio is because there is ZERO benefit that is exclusive to cardio. Any benefit that cardio offers, resistance training offers, and more.

Runners are going to run, and lifters are going to lift. For the people that want to look/feel good, in the shortest amount of time, there is no reason to do cardio.

The only problem with that little theory is that I like to run races, I train for the races as well as to stay fit and also burn the calories - all in that order.

Lifting weights and doing no cardio wouldn't do me any good, because when it came to me wanting to run my 10k race later on in the year, I wouldn't do very well now, would I.

Running is simply a learned skill. Any physiological adaptions to improve endurance can be accomplished through resistance training.

G2G get swole!!! We can continue the debate later.

Get a speed rope and let us know how you do. If you can keep up, you win and I'll gladly eat humble pie.


Eye of the tiger man. There's a difference between a fighter who can make it to the last round and one who drops his hands, and it ain't lifting.

GnomeLove

I love cardio!!! Helps with....endurance....if you know what I mean.

jwdieter

Running is simply a learned skill. Any physiological adaptions to improve endurance can be accomplished through resistance training.

Resistance training as a substitute to running while training for endurance running is beyond absurd.

pcastagner

I love cardio!!! Helps with....endurance....if you know what I mean.

Yeah, but power lifters are more efficient and powerful about it. They don't need cardio, but you might need batteries.

Lol.

ironanimal

You people are arguing which type of exercise YOU do, and which YOU think is best. To answer the OP questions, the reason people "boycott" cardio is because there is ZERO benefit that is exclusive to cardio. Any benefit that cardio offers, resistance training offers, and more.

Runners are going to run, and lifters are going to lift. For the people that want to look/feel good, in the shortest amount of time, there is no reason to do cardio.

And for people into more than just looking pretty, it's essential.

Well no, not really.

Yeah, I can see you disprove my point, so I take it back.

Does a powerlifter need cardio to excel at their sport?

No. What's your point?

I think they're looking for more than pretty

pcastagner

You people are arguing which type of exercise YOU do, and which YOU think is best. To answer the OP questions, the reason people "boycott" cardio is because there is ZERO benefit that is exclusive to cardio. Any benefit that cardio offers, resistance training offers, and more.

Runners are going to run, and lifters are going to lift. For the people that want to look/feel good, in the shortest amount of time, there is no reason to do cardio.

And for people into more than just looking pretty, it's essential.

Well no, not really.

Yeah, I can see you disprove my point, so I take it back.

Does a powerlifter need cardio to excel at their sport?

No. What's your point?

I think they're looking for more than pretty

Oh great, now we have some false equivalence to go with the false dilemma.


If you are an elite powerlifter, and really have no time to spare for cardio, skip it then.


Specialists... Specialize.


Funny how you quote the statement to which I responded, then proceed to take my point out of context for your pointless exercise.

pcastagner

You people are arguing which type of exercise YOU do, and which YOU think is best. To answer the OP questions, the reason people "boycott" cardio is because there is ZERO benefit that is exclusive to cardio. Any benefit that cardio offers, resistance training offers, and more.

Runners are going to run, and lifters are going to lift. For the people that want to look/feel good, in the shortest amount of time, there is no reason to do cardio.

And for people into more than just looking pretty, it's essential.

Once you can offer me one benefit of steady cardio, that resistance training doesn't offer, I'll consider your argument.

I already did. Rhythm was high on the list for skipping rope. Helps me in my job.

And if "eye of the tiger" didn't convince you, you are lost and I can't help.

Seriously though. Unless you are juicing, body part splits are a waste of time, which leaves full body and upper/lower, push/pull kinda splits. Which leaves you with rest days. Which means not training every day. Which means not being as well conditioned, or half as good at coitus.



I can't imagine life without both resistance training and cardio. It would be either overtraining or under training.

I'm not sure what you consider rhythm, but if you're referring to the body's ability to rapidly relax antagonist muscles, then that is best accomplished through olympic lifting, plyometrics, speed squats, etc.

That's not rhythm. Rhythm is about timing along with what you just said. Did the rope hit your feet? You got no rhythm.


Get a speed rope and challenge yourself. And get your head out of your *kitten*. Life is not divided into mutually exclusive goals all the time. Do your lifts and do your cardio. You won't regret being well rounded and the one wil only help the other if you do them right.

ironanimal

Hah, you're funny.

Sorry you falsely implied that the only reason to skip cardio would be to look pretty.

My bad.

Joniboloney

Everyone should lift or otherwise do some sort of resistance training as well as cardio...most people I know who are at all into fitness do both because they understand that having an all around good level of fitness requires both.

^ This.

The cardio bashing on this site has gotten a bit ridiculous, IMO.

I also don't judge others by what exercises they choose to do. Unless it's washing the dishes, cooking, or vacuuming. Sorry, but that ain't exercise.

This!

Azdak

Can anyone offer one benefit of cardio that resistance training doesn't offer?...besides being better at running, that is.

I think you have to define your terms. I see the words "circulation" and "heart rate" and "fitness", "lifting weights", etc used indiscriminately in this discussion, so it is difficult to provide direct answers.

For comparison purposes, for starters, I would focus on VO2 max as a definition of aerobic fitness and traditional weight lifting (i.e. reps and sets) as comparison points.

And I am also referring to people who have been exercising for awhile, not newbie adaptations.

Here are some some things I know and have found:

In a story entitled "What are the advantages of Olympic Lifting?" I found this statement:

First, the most surprising aspect of Olympic Lifting is its effect on the cardiovascular system. A few years ago, Doctor Michael Stone studied the cardiovascular benefits of Olympic Lifting. He was shocked to find the improvements made by this form of training.

OK, so far so good. Olympic Lifting is not a big interest of mine, so I am open to learning new things. I noted that Dr Stone is a respected strength coach so he seems to have some credibility. Unfortunately, while attempting to get more detail or references to actual studies, all I could come up with was the same quote (and, in fact the entire article containing the quote) plagiarized and reprinted verbatim on 50 or 60 different web sites. With limited time to search, I gave up trying to find out more about Dr Stone's shocking discovery.

If there are any links to actual data, I would be interested in looking at them. In my experience, weight lifters are desperate for social acclamation of the "superiority" of their sport, so they tend to exaggerate the cardio benefits. But that doesn't mean there aren't any, so I am curious to read anything factual.

I have also seen two other areas of possible confusion. One is the relationship between heart rate and exercise. I did a quick little search on "cardiovascular benefits of weight lifting" and came up with a list of forum answers that illustrate my point. In response to the question, the overwhelming response was "YES!!", mostly from a bunch of NASM "Elite Trainers". The typical response read like this:

Yes, definitely! The heart’s job is to pump oxygen, nutrients, and energy to our working muscles via the blood, regardless of the type of activity. With that said any activity that increases your breathing rate and requires the heart to pump and circulate more blood, such as weight lifting, will provide benefits similar to those from cardio training.

OK--well this is just flat out wrong (and confirms everything I have ever thought about NASM training). As I have pointed out numerous times before, the elevated heart rate that occurs with heavy resistance training and the heart rate response that occurs during aerobic training are driven by two completely different physiologic mechanisms. The elevated heart rate that occurs during aerobic exercise results in increased cardiac output and increased oxygen uptake. The elevated heart rate that occurs during heavy resistance training is not. It is a pressure load, not a volume load.

So, if the claims of "cardiovascular benefits" of weight lifting are based on an observation of increased heart rate, that would be a false conclusion, a false interpretation of the evidence. So how do we tell? I'll get back to that shortly.

The second area of confusion is the conflation of different types of resistance training as "weight training". Specifically I am referring to the inclusion of "circuit training" under the heading of "weight training" and the cardiovascular effects of circuit training used to support the claims of "cardiovascular benefits" from weight training.

Well, no.

Circuit training is not "weight training" per se. Circuit training is "tain't training"---tain't weight lifting and tain't cardio. If you do traditional circuit training--i.e. alternating lifting sets with cardio intervals--then it's pretty obvious where the cardio benefits are coming from. If you do a circuit consisting of plyo exercises, kettlebell swings, etc, well that's not really "weight lifting" either. Just because you are not doing a traditional cardio movement --running, cycling, etc--doesn't mean you "aren't doing cardio". All movements have a resistive component and an aerobic component and they are more or less inversely proportional. So the more cardio effect a movement has, the less resistive effect, and vice versa. So anyone who is doing crossfit or metabolic circuits and saying "there is no reason to do cardio"--well, guess what: you are doing cardio.

So back to: how do we test that a weight lifting routine actually has a cardio training effect? It's pretty simple: do a VO2 max pre-test, lift some weights for awhile, do a VO2 max post test.

And what do we find?

I work for a living so I didn't have time to do an exhaustive literature search for this purpose. However I invested a few minutes in a PubMed search on the topic "resistance training VO2 max" and here is what I got. Not complete by any means, but certainly consistent with all the other research I have read over the past decades. (Note: I am not going to cite the specific titles--it's easy enough to go to pubmed and type in the same search term I used if anyone wants more detail).

1. "The effects of strength training on some parameters of aerobic and anaerobic endurance".
11 young men, 12 weeks of "Olympic lifts" training. Results: 2.7% increase in VO2 max, no improvement in running performance at threshold.

2. "Cardiopulmonary responses during high intensity weight training in male handball players" (note: European handball)
The training consisted of 4 exercises (squat, bench press, lat pull, and neck press), each performed for ten repetitions at an intensity of 80% of one repetition maximum over a 30-seconds period with a 1:4 work/test ratio.
RESULTS: During weight training, the VO2 ranged from 0.8 +/- 0.2 l x min(-1) to 2.4 +/- 0.4 l x min(-1). The lowest values were measured during load, while peak values were reached 40 to 70 seconds after load. Mean (+/- SE) VO2 was 1.22 +/- 0.05 l x min(-1), or 26.5% of the treadmill-determined VO2(max). Mean (+/- SE) HR was 117 +/- 4 beats x min(-1), or 61% of the treadmill-determined HR(max).
CONCLUSION:
The findings in the present study indicate that high intensity weight training is not able to produce adaptive improvement in cardiovascular function. The physiological responses measured during this experiment provide support to previous studies, that the lack of cardiovascular adaptation may be due to the low percentage of VO2(max)elicited by this form of training.

(My Note: Two things: 1) VO2 during lifting was only 26.5% of VO2 max. 2) Mean HR was 61% of HRmax but VO2 was only 26.5% of VO2 max. This disconnect between the HR/VO2 relationship is why heart rate (and HRMs) cannot be used as a valid estimate of aerobic effect during weight training).

3. "The effects of aerobic and resistance exercises in obese women"
60 obese women assigned (20 each) to resistance group, aerobic group, control group. 12 weeks of training.
RESULTS: VO2max increased in aerobic group only.
CONCLUSION: aerobic exercise appeared to be beneficial with regard to improving depressive symptoms and maximum oxygen consumption, resistance exercise was beneficial in increasing muscle strength.

(My Note: in all fairness, the increase in VO2max, while statistically significant, was minescule)

4. "Physiological changes with periodized resistance training in women tennis players"
The study was looking at the difference between a periodized and non-periodized resistance training program, but they did test for VO2max.
RESULTS: Percent body fat and VO2(max) decreased significantly in the P and NV groups after training. (oops)

(My Note: no details given in the abstract as to the structure of the resistance training program).

At that point, I gave up.

But as you can see, even in this brief summary, resistance training went 0 for 4. (unless someone wants to claim that 2.7% increase).

Those research results are consistent with what I have seen in the past.

A 2011 study by Christopher Scott of the aerobic, anerobic, and EPOC components of total energy expenditure during a bench press performed at 90% of 1RM showed that the aerobic component during the exercise was only 11% of total energy expenditure.

Other studies have shown that VO2 during heavy squats at 2-4RM was equivalent to a moderate walk --3 or 4 METs.

Again, I am presenting this so that we have a common basis for discussion. If you are going to make the claims of "there is ZERO benefit that is exclusive to cardio", I would be interested in the scientific basis -- similar to what I have presented -- for those claims.

And I'm not even saying you are wrong--like I said, I haven't read every research study ever published. But what you are saying doesn't jive with the wealth of the published literature. So I am curious to see if you have data that I haven't seen or if the incongruity is more due to an inconsistent definition of terms.

And if there is more of an effect than I have cited, it's important to know the extent of the effect and the precise conditions under which it is elicited--i.e. what types of lifts, intensity levels, etc. For example, if there is this cardiovascular effect for Olympic lifts, what practical benefit does that have, considering that very few people can do Olympic lifts?

__Di__

You people are arguing which type of exercise YOU do, and which YOU think is best. To answer the OP questions, the reason people "boycott" cardio is because there is ZERO benefit that is exclusive to cardio. Any benefit that cardio offers, resistance training offers, and more.

Runners are going to run, and lifters are going to lift. For the people that want to look/feel good, in the shortest amount of time, there is no reason to do cardio.

The only problem with that little theory is that I like to run races, I train for the races as well as to stay fit and also burn the calories - all in that order.

Lifting weights and doing no cardio wouldn't do me any good, because when it came to me wanting to run my 10k race later on in the year, I wouldn't do very well now, would I.

Running is simply a learned skill. Any physiological adaptions to improve endurance can be accomplished through resistance training.

G2G get swole!!! We can continue the debate later.

Not when I want to run long distances it doesn't.

You don't do any running do you.

Get swole? Why?

astronomicals

ive noticed in social media outlets more and more people are bragging about not doing cardio

example: http://statigr.am/p/426009128144813040_144762381

what kind of message does this send?

where is the humble explanation for this? its always some guy or girl posing with a "cardio is for wussies" message attached
you couldnt pay me to look like that guy and that is no offense to him. im sure he works hard and i could be inspired by that.
i dont understand the narrow minded view that we should all lift and get big muscles and skip cardio because weak people do it and you dont want to look weak do you? if youre a girl, you should be ripped and have a six pack. if youre a guy, you should look like an NFL linebacker. when did this become the standard? so i am wasting my time doing cardio even though i really enjoy it and ive experienced benefits from it? i am a hamster in a wheel now? im not a spartan of the gym? personally i would get more satisfaction completing the tour de france than deadlifting 1,001 lbs. but why is social media holding that against me now? im not athletic? im not alpha male?

id really like serious discussion about this because literally everyday i see these anti cardio messages on instagram, twitter, facebook from men and women alike.

just bothers me :frown: that really amazing looking, hard working people (because thats how i see them) would want the general public to fall into THEIR mold

nobody should cut out cardio.... many should do less... you can stop upping the weight when your happy with your muscular build... u dont need to get hooooooge... at that point all u gotta do is maintain your lean mass by doing about 1/3 of the volume of lifting you had been doing (at the same weights)... if you just wanna do cardio, go ahead... its kinda silly though

ndj1979

well this thread took a turn towards the absurd and petty

it was expected from the beginning..just roll with it...

Carolyn_79

The ONLY reason I do weights and strength training is to make my legs stronger to become a better runner. I couldn't care less about abs or big muscles. I run. I'm a runner. It's what I do.

Make that two. I love running and I strength train to enhance my running performance!

pcastagner

Hah, you're funny.

Sorry you falsely implied that the only reason to skip cardio would be to look pretty.

My bad.

Don't apologise. You clearly have demonstrated that lifting only doesn't necessarily lead to an aesthetically pleasing result and I concede.

TriFinders

You people are arguing which type of exercise YOU do, and which YOU think is best. To answer the OP questions, the reason people "boycott" cardio is because there is ZERO benefit that is exclusive to cardio. Any benefit that cardio offers, resistance training offers, and more.

Runners are going to run, and lifters are going to lift. For the people that want to look/feel good, in the shortest amount of time, there is no reason to do cardio.

The only problem with that little theory is that I like to run races, I train for the races as well as to stay fit and also burn the calories - all in that order.

Lifting weights and doing no cardio wouldn't do me any good, because when it came to me wanting to run my 10k race later on in the year, I wouldn't do very well now, would I.

Absolutely agree!
This is why i was keen to know how weights would help Triathlon/Cycling/Swimming, but i got my answer and it looks good!
I couldn't JUST do weights clearly, but weights could help my swim.

It depends what YOU want from YOUR sport!

__Di__

You people are arguing which type of exercise YOU do, and which YOU think is best. To answer the OP questions, the reason people "boycott" cardio is because there is ZERO benefit that is exclusive to cardio. Any benefit that cardio offers, resistance training offers, and more.

Runners are going to run, and lifters are going to lift. For the people that want to look/feel good, in the shortest amount of time, there is no reason to do cardio.

The only problem with that little theory is that I like to run races, I train for the races as well as to stay fit and also burn the calories - all in that order.

Lifting weights and doing no cardio wouldn't do me any good, because when it came to me wanting to run my 10k race later on in the year, I wouldn't do very well now, would I.

Absolutely agree!
This is why i was keen to know how weights would help Triathlon/Cycling/Swimming, but i got my answer and it looks good!
I couldn't JUST do weights clearly, but weights could help my swim.

It depends what YOU want from YOUR sport!

Good God, I have no problem whatsoever with what you are saying there TriFinders, seriously, that is the sensible way to go! :flowerforyou:

No, what I got irritated by, was that poster saying there is no need to do cardio.

Now TriFinders, imagine if you went into one of your Triathlons, having had no cardio training, at all (as per that posters recommendations), but only weights alone - out of interest, in your opinion, how do you think you would do? :laugh:

I know how I would do if I did just that and had a 10k race to run....... it would not be a desirable outcome either competitively or on a physical wellbeing level.

Not even gonna consider that poster's little theory on a marathon runner :laugh: :laugh: :laugh:

jimmmer

Azdak has it right..... I'm not going to quote his post, 'cause it's a monster.....

In response to whoever said that powerlifters don't do cardio. Powerlifters do conditioning. Prowler work, complexes, loaded carries, stuff like that. It might not be the elliptical, but it is cardio-vascular work.

People have a very narrow definition of what cardio is. That's been shown time and again in this thread.

This whole thread is basically dividing things up into two camps and then people saying things along the lines of: 'I live in Camp A, Camp B must therefore suck' and 'What are you saying about Camp B? Why don't you just stay in Camp A and never get any results! See if I care!'

It's especially interesting when you consider what a numb-nuts the OP is. He must be rubbing his hands with glee over this one......

TriFinders

You people are arguing which type of exercise YOU do, and which YOU think is best. To answer the OP questions, the reason people "boycott" cardio is because there is ZERO benefit that is exclusive to cardio. Any benefit that cardio offers, resistance training offers, and more.

Runners are going to run, and lifters are going to lift. For the people that want to look/feel good, in the shortest amount of time, there is no reason to do cardio.

The only problem with that little theory is that I like to run races, I train for the races as well as to stay fit and also burn the calories - all in that order.

Lifting weights and doing no cardio wouldn't do me any good, because when it came to me wanting to run my 10k race later on in the year, I wouldn't do very well now, would I.

Absolutely agree!
This is why i was keen to know how weights would help Triathlon/Cycling/Swimming, but i got my answer and it looks good!
I couldn't JUST do weights clearly, but weights could help my swim.

It depends what YOU want from YOUR sport!

Good God, I have no problem whatsoever with what you are saying there TriFinders, seriously, that is the sensible way to go! :flowerforyou:

No, what I got irritated by, was that poster saying there is no need to do cardio.

Now TriFinders, imagine if you went into one of your Triathlons, having had no cardio training, at all (as per that posters recommendations), but only weights alone - out of interest, in your opinion, how do you think you would do? :laugh:

I know how I would do if I did just that and had a 10k race to run....... it would not be a desirable outcome either competitively or on a physical wellbeing level.

Not even gonna consider that poster's little theory on a marathon runner :laugh: :laugh: :laugh:

Clearly i would die DEAD in the swim
Open water swimming is pretty tough going and at a competitive level it's exhilarating beyond believe, not to mention cycling then the run afterwards.
Hubby is an Ironman Triathlete and never lifted a weight in his life. You ought to see his muscles - perfect

pcastagner

Azdak has it right..... I'm not going to quote his post, 'cause it's a monster.....

In response to whoever said that powerlifters don't do cardio. Powerlifters do conditioning. Prowler work, complexes, loaded carries, stuff like that. It might not be the elliptical, but it is cardio-vascular work.

People have a very narrow definition of what cardio is. That's been shown time and again in this thread.

This whole thread is basically dividing things up into two camps and then people saying things along the lines of: 'I live in Camp A, Camp B must therefore suck' and 'What are you saying about Camp B? Why don't you just stay in Camp A and never get any results! See if I care!'

It's especially interesting when you consider what a numb-nuts the OP is. He must be rubbing his hands with glee over this one......

Just wanted to echo your praise for azdaks post. It was pretty damn thorough and awesome.

TriFinders

Azdak has it right..... I'm not going to quote his post, 'cause it's a monster.....

In response to whoever said that powerlifters don't do cardio. Powerlifters do conditioning. Prowler work, complexes, loaded carries, stuff like that. It might not be the elliptical, but it is cardio-vascular work.

People have a very narrow definition of what cardio is. That's been shown time and again in this thread.

This whole thread is basically dividing things up into two camps and then people saying things along the lines of: 'I live in Camp A, Camp B must therefore suck' and 'What are you saying about Camp B? Why don't you just stay in Camp A and never get any results! See if I care!'

It's especially interesting when you consider what a numb-nuts the OP is. He must be rubbing his hands with glee over this one......

Just wanted to echo your praise for azdaks post. It was pretty damn thorough and awesome.

Does lifting weights raise the heart rate to the working zone and keep it there long enough to be considered 'cardio'?
I am asking this question seriously, NOT being sarcastic.
Thanks

pcastagner

It's a completely artificial construction. The answer is "sometimes", and the argument is absurd.

jimmmer

Azdak has it right..... I'm not going to quote his post, 'cause it's a monster.....

In response to whoever said that powerlifters don't do cardio. Powerlifters do conditioning. Prowler work, complexes, loaded carries, stuff like that. It might not be the elliptical, but it is cardio-vascular work.

People have a very narrow definition of what cardio is. That's been shown time and again in this thread.

This whole thread is basically dividing things up into two camps and then people saying things along the lines of: 'I live in Camp A, Camp B must therefore suck' and 'What are you saying about Camp B? Why don't you just stay in Camp A and never get any results! See if I care!'

It's especially interesting when you consider what a numb-nuts the OP is. He must be rubbing his hands with glee over this one......

Just wanted to echo your praise for azdaks post. It was pretty damn thorough and awesome.

Does lifting weights raise the heart rate to the working zone and keep it there long enough to be considered 'cardio'?
I am asking this question seriously, NOT being sarcastic.
Thanks

Not really. Read Azdak's post. Elevated HR is due to different underlying physiological processes.

However, lighter weights (ie a lesser proportion of your 1RM) done in a complex will have a cardio-vascular effect. Note, this is not bro curls or anything like that but a series of compound movements back-to-back without releasing the bar.

TriFinders

[/quote]

Not really. Read Azdak's post. Elevated HR is due to different underlying physiological processes.

However, lighter weights (ie a lesser proportion of your 1RM) done in a complex will have a cardio-vascular effect. Note, this is not bro curls or anything like that but a series of compound movements back-to-back without releasing the bar.
[/quote]

So you mean like using light weights in a circuits session?

sorry it didn't quote right

mazdauk

I'm 100% FOR cardio. If it wasn't for cardio I'd still be fat. I lost ALL my weight doing nothing but cardio & I have great fitness because of it. Even the PT I saw once was impressed. It took me 7 months to lose all my weight, become so damn fit I can do it all on 4 hours sleep & still be great every single day.

^^THIS

If it wasn't for my aerobics DVDs (ridiculed because they're not "lifting heavy") I wouldn't have achieved anyhitng like the weight loss I have so far, and i would certainly have given up through lack or progress! Many of the routines incorporate ab curls, crunches, the odd plank etc, or other resistance moves rather than just getting out of breath (which I imagine is what people are thinking of as cardio!) and I can see a definite difference in muscle on my legs and arms, and since I started Zumba the weight loss speeded up and I've become generally fitter.

I don't really care if people prefer weight-based training to what I've chosen - everyone is free to make their own choice. Just let everyone choose what suits them and don't keep weighing in (pardon the pun!) with "that will never work unless you lift heavy...." UNLESS someone has specifically asked for advice on their training/fitness regime. Don't try and make me lift weights and I won't make you wear Zumba bells!

And lets consign "skinny fat" to the dustbin.