Weights should be enough?

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  • feisty_bucket
    feisty_bucket Posts: 1,047 Member
    edited March 2016
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    feisty_bucket wrote: »
    billsrule2015 wrote: »
    So if lifting weights increases your heart rate and causes you to sweat and keep burning calories even AFTER you stop lifting, why make the argue you need to also do cardio? Seems to me that weights are enough? Am I wrong?

    "Doing cardio" should be thought of as endurance training. There's no "need" for it beyond serious lifting (IMO), unless you want to improve your treadmill-running abilities or whatever the point is. Or your track & field skills, I guess (which are, uh, rarely mentioned here).

    That said, today I went out running for the first time of the year as the weather was nice. I generally run a lot of sprints, and trot around in between. Been thinking I should probably be able to run a 5K any day of the week, year 'round. To that end, I will go running a couple times a week on off-lifting days.

    Going fast is fun, I like it.
    But I will increase my, uh, trotting-along part as well.

    This looks like a cool site:
    trackstarusa.com/
  • nicolemarie999
    nicolemarie999 Posts: 91 Member
    edited March 2016
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    Most people can't raise their heart rates enough with strength training to get a cardivascular benefit. Cardio induces a cardiovascular benefit (reduced risk for heart disease and stroke), metabolic benefit (reduced risk of diabetes ), a positive effect on several other disease (decreased risk of dementia, arthirits, some cancers, etc), it's mood boosting (some studies show cardio exercise can be as effective as antidepressants in the treatment of mild depression). If the cardio you do is weight-bearing (such as running or dancing) than it will also help to prevent osteoporosis (strength training will also help prevent osteoporosis).
  • arditarose
    arditarose Posts: 15,575 Member
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    Depends on your goals. I don't burn many calories lifting weights. I lift 4x per week, heavy, and it just puts me at the "lightly active" level. I hate cardio so don't do it. I know that's not great to leave it out all together but...meh.
  • 4leighbee
    4leighbee Posts: 1,275 Member
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    jemhh wrote: »
    If you have a very narrow view of exercise--that you do it simply in order to burn calories--then yes, that may make sense. But if you have goals beyond that--improved cardiovascular health or endurance, getting stronger, etc., it makes sense to engage in more than one form of exercise.

    +1 ... add to this the mental health benefits for some of endurance training

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