What's the benefit of cardio?

No_Finish_Line

It's good for your overall health. if you want to look a certain way, its not as important, but if you want to be truly fit then its unavoidable

kwtilbury

If you're purely interested in strength and/or aesthetics, cardio isn't absolutely necessary. However, if cardiovascular health and overall fitness are important, cardio should be a part of your regular exercise regimen.

7lenny7

workoutgrl87 wrote: »

Can aid in lowering blood pressure and cholesterol levels (genetics and other aspects, like stress levels, diet and smoking can effect how much cardio can help)
Leads to decreased resting heart rate (signs of a healthy heart)

Here's some hard numbers to back that up. I started fitness walking in March, then started running in May. Before that I did no exercising at all, apart from occasional short dog walks. I'm now up to 25 to 30 miles per week and am loving it. I recently went to see my Doc and had labwork done. Here are the pre and post cardio numbers:

Glucose 114 to 95 (had been trending up for years. This is the first drop)
Cholesterol 149 to 123
LDL 69 to 55
Chol/HDL ratio 4.1 to 2.6
Triglycerides 220 to 105
Resting Heart Rate 85 to 58

Those numbers had been worse prior to being put on statins.

Qualitatively, I feel the best I have in decades. Considering the heart disease and heart attacks in my family, I have all the motivation in the world to stick with it.

Christismylife

Thanks to all of you who commented! I feel sort of dumb for asking, as it should be obvious that cardio is good for your heart. I just was starting to wonder after seeing some of the posts from weight lifters. I do run usually several times a week, and I have been trying to add in more weight lifting. I wanted to make sure I wasn't wasting time with the cardio. These replies and the article that was shared definitely confirmed that I don't want to give up cardio! Both of my parents have had heart attacks, so I definitely want to keep my heart healthy. Thanks again!

piperdown44

I think someone already mentioned asthma. I have it too and I can say for certain that my lungs function way better when doing some form of cardio.
How do I know? I take pulmonary function tests twice a year. Once for my asthma dr and another at work for wearing a respirator. When I'm not doing some cardio my lung capacity goes down (also get winded doing easy tasks). When I am doing cardio my lung capacity is much greater (and I can keep up with my 3 boys).

Pinnacle_IAO

Some see little value in cardio, because all it does is greatly strengthen your heart and lungs which lengthens and adds to the quality of life. Who needs that in a bulking cycle?