People who say cardio is "too boring" are full of crap
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Worse, your cardio burns significantly less when lighter, too.Again, it's still matters on consumption. Cardio is for fitness and health. No debate there. It can help with a calorie deficit IF the person doing the cardio is aware that they aren't EATING more than they need to. And that's precisely the issue in many gyms and with people today. They think they HAVE to do some form of cardio to lose weight and it's just not true. Do you dispute that? If so, then how do people who are immobile able to lose weight without cardio?
Cardio can HELP to lose weight IF there is a deficit. If no deficit, then it's just exercise.
BTW, you CANNOT just keep the intake the same for a long period time if weight loss occurs, do a 500 calorie burn and expect to keep losing weight. Common sense will tell you that you'd have to LOWER YOUR INTAKE as your weight goes down. Unless you're a unicorn or something.
I am at 14,000 steps for today and took a 4.5 mile walk, and I've only got 400 calories above "sedentary". This makes me very sad.
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Not really. You're actually the example I spoke of. Someone that did cardio with the likely thought that it was enough to help with weight loss, when the truth actually is that one's intake is the more important factor.
Again, it's still matters on consumption. Cardio is for fitness and health. No debate there. It can help with a calorie deficit IF the person doing the cardio is aware that they aren't EATING more than they need to. And that's precisely the issue in many gyms and with people today. They think they HAVE to do some form of cardio to lose weight and it's just not true. Do you dispute that? If so, then how do people who are immobile able to lose weight without cardio?Traveler120 wrote: »
Cardio DOESN'T work for weight loss if there isn't a calorie deficit. One could do all the cardio they want, but if they still consume maintenance or higher, they aren't going to lose weight. That's NOT DISPUTED in any Journal of Science.Traveler120 wrote: »
Incorrect. Lots and lots of people spend HOURS on cardio a week with no results. They may be fitter, but if their EATING isn't conducive to weight loss, they aren't going to lose weight.Cardio may be boring but it works for weight loss! Gotta get that heart rate up somehow!
A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
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LOL. Just because people undo their deficit by eating too much, doesn't mean that cardio doesn't work for weight loss. Unless you want to imply that doing cardio automatically will result in a person eating too much, which is just silly. Many of us have used cardio as the primary way to increase energy expenditure and therefore deficit without having to restrict ourselves to very little food. And we've lost weight. So it obviously works.
For someone who advertises their expertise on every post, you should not be peddling misinformation. And saying cardio doesn't work for weight loss IS misinformation.
Cardio can HELP to create a deficit, but the deficit is created more by INTAKE not output. Think about it, how long would it take to burn 500 calories? Now how long does it take to eat 500 calories? If one burned 300 calories from doing cardio, but ate 500 calories because they felt they exercised to offset it, then they are +200 calories on their eating. So no misinformation, it still comes down to CICO.
Again, if you don't believe that, you'd still have to explain how so many do cardio for hours and hours a week, but don't lose weight.
A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
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Kickboxing Certified Instructor
Been in fitness for 30 years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition
CICO is CICO. A deficit is a deficit.
If you want a 500 calorie deficit, you can keep your activity the same and eat 500 less.
OR
You can keep your intake the same and do 500 calories of cardio or other exercise.
OR a little of both.
Which one you choose is a matter if preference.
ALL of these WILL lead to a deficit and fat loss.
It's as simple as that.
One reason folks struggle with weightloss is coz so called "experts" complicate weight loss for no reason.
Cardio can HELP to lose weight IF there is a deficit. If no deficit, then it's just exercise.
BTW, you CANNOT just keep the intake the same for a long period time if weight loss occurs, do a 500 calorie burn and expect to keep losing weight. Common sense will tell you that you'd have to LOWER YOUR INTAKE as your weight goes down. Unless you're a unicorn or something.
A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
IDEA Fitness member
Kickboxing Certified Instructor
Been in fitness for 30 years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition
Aren't you two saying the same thing? Anyway, I'm living proof that you cannot do enough cardio to burn enough calories to lose weight if you are eating too much. Did it for almost 40 years til I came on here and listened to people like @ninerbuff and decreased my intake enough to make my cardio worthwhile for weight loss.
Again, I'm not against cardio at all. I do it because I know it's beneficial for cardio vascular health. My input is for the people to know that it's still about consumption for weight loss and not directly because they are doing a cardio regimen.
It's especially annoying when you hear trainers and cardio instructors saying that they're "burning fat" while exercising that hard. Maybe if they were on keto, but a standard approach of calorie deficit, not so much.
A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
IDEA Fitness member
Kickboxing Certified Instructor
Been in fitness for 30 years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition
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Cardio meaning machines at the gym. I mean, the TV is not mine. What if I get hit over the head changing channels away from somebody's politics talk show? And I don't have a tablet and my phone's screen is too tiny to watch any of this stuff with any degree of satisfaction. And besides, who'd be paying for all that data, anyway? I don't have unlimited anything. What's the rating of the shows I watch? Can I watch them in public? I seldom watch live tv and frequently pause my shows. So now hypothetically we're back to the quiet of just me and the equipment. Oh and the fun part of screwing around with headphones, cueing the music, getting the earphones to stay on. agh just forget it.
And then the other reasons why I don't love the machines - I do them so infrequently that each time I get back on I'm figuring out the *kittens* all over again. Way to begin my confidence boosting workout by feeling like an idiot. I've thought about doing the machines if I got to the gym early for a class, but then my knees hurt just a smidge and I'm kind of worn out before the class has ever started, kind of diminishing my performance on the actual reason for my visit. So I'd rather just sit off to the side and sip coffee in the gym's cafe or something.0 -
diannethegeek wrote: »@mburgess458 - What do you do for cardio/exercise? I see no picture, no stats on your profile. How is your fitness level? Do you run? Lift? Spend hours on a machine watching Netflix?
Can you keep up with me?
@mburgess458 - Still waiting. You've been on the site since I posted this last night. Why suddenly so shy?
Still waiting?
Yes.
Today would have been good day too. I only managed to get 18 of my planned 20 miles in since I bonked 'big time' around mile 14ish.
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Cardio DOESN'T work for weight loss if there isn't a calorie deficit. One could do all the cardio they want, but if they still consume maintenance or higher, they aren't going to lose weight. That's NOT DISPUTED in any Journal of Science.Traveler120 wrote: »
Incorrect. Lots and lots of people spend HOURS on cardio a week with no results. They may be fitter, but if their EATING isn't conducive to weight loss, they aren't going to lose weight.Cardio may be boring but it works for weight loss! Gotta get that heart rate up somehow!
A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
IDEA Fitness member
Kickboxing Certified Instructor
Been in fitness for 30 years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition
LOL. Just because people undo their deficit by eating too much, doesn't mean that cardio doesn't work for weight loss. Unless you want to imply that doing cardio automatically will result in a person eating too much, which is just silly. Many of us have used cardio as the primary way to increase energy expenditure and therefore deficit without having to restrict ourselves to very little food. And we've lost weight. So it obviously works.
For someone who advertises their expertise on every post, you should not be peddling misinformation. And saying cardio doesn't work for weight loss IS misinformation.
Cardio can HELP to create a deficit, but the deficit is created more by INTAKE not output. Think about it, how long would it take to burn 500 calories? Now how long does it take to eat 500 calories? If one burned 300 calories from doing cardio, but ate 500 calories because they felt they exercised to offset it, then they are +200 calories on their eating. So no misinformation, it still comes down to CICO.
Again, if you don't believe that, you'd still have to explain how so many do cardio for hours and hours a week, but don't lose weight.
A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
IDEA Fitness member
Kickboxing Certified Instructor
Been in fitness for 30 years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition
This is correct. Several years ago, when I trained for and ran my first marathon, I actually gained weight. Wow, was I surprised. This was before I found MFP and started tracking calories, so I was obviously burning a crap ton of calories putting in all that mileage, but then eating them back inadvertently because I wasn't aware. I think there are many people who THINK that all they have to do is exercise and the weight will drop.
There are lots of people at my gym who still look the same (or even a little bigger) after coming 3-4 times a week and working out for years. I know this, because I see them there all the time and I see them making real effort. Sure, they are more fit than before, running faster, working harder... (which is awesome and totally worthwhile in itself) but they clearly are still overeating. I've talked with a few who asked me about my own methods, and they were surprised that they even had to watch their calories. They assumed exercise by itself would magically fix their waistlines. I wonder how many people put in effort to exercise, end up not losing weight, and then give up and think they are just destined to fatness, simply because they don't understand the intake side of the equation and become discouraged when exercise alone doesn't work. That's tragic.
So if the previous poster is telling people that doing cardio without regard to calorie intake will result in guaranteed weight loss, that's "peddling misinformation." It obviously WILL help with the deficit, but that won't matter if you aren't aware of your intake and you totally undo it overeating. I think that's the point @ninerbuff is trying to make here. I don't think it's fair to say he's misinforming people, when it seems more like he's making an honest effort to educate and help them.
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It's all opinion, so here's mine. I don't understand how people can say cardio is boring but still enjoy strength training. It's literally just pick up or pulling heavy things and putting them down again. All the best sports are cardio based to me... Snowboarding, Skiing...CYCLING (Road and MTN) but there's are all outdoors and adventurous... . Of course its boring if you're on a dreadmill..stationary bike..like some sort of lab rat.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7AXosmNd3bw 5 -
There are some people that actually enjoy a treadmill...not me but there are some. I suppose that you can get lost in thought...your mind can wander without having to focus very much on your movements. Especially once that you have gotten in to a rhythm. I never seemed to have found my rhythm on one.
OP...sounds as if it offended you that someone called your exercise of choice boring. What difference does it make as long as you are enjoying what you are doing? If watching tv while you are exercising is enjoyable to you...then do that. However...I think that you have to realize that others don't find it so much fun.
I don't do cardio machines...I just don't enjoy them. I do however(when I can't get outside) jog in place quite often...usually but not always while I am watching a show on my computer. I also will go out to my balcony and jog in place while I watch the rain...the sunrise/sunset...etc...etc. Where I live it often gets too hot for me after about 10am in the summer time. I learned my lesson about that once...took me a week to get over doing cardio in the heat and bright sun.
I would much rather jog in place...put on some music and pretend that I can actually dance...actually anything other than to get on another treadmill. Besides...
This according to live science.com...
Dave Goldberg Death: Treadmills Linked with 3 Fatalities Yearly
Fatal injuries from treadmills are rare — between 2003 and 2012, there were 30 deaths associated with treadmills, for an average of three deaths per year, according to the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission.
But other injuries — such as ankle sprains or skinned knees — are more common, Jonesco said. In 2014, there were about 24,400 injuries in the United States associated with treadmills that required a visit to the emergency department, out of the 62,600 total injuries associated with any exercise equipment, according to the CPSC.
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I wonder how many of these occurred because the were more focused on watching tv vs paying attention to what they were doing???0 -
Fatal injuries from treadmills are rare — between 2003 and 2012, there were 30 deaths associated with treadmills, for an average of three deaths per year, according to the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission.
But other injuries — such as ankle sprains or skinned knees — are more common, Jonesco said. In 2014, there were about 24,400 injuries in the United States associated with treadmills that required a visit to the emergency department, out of the 62,600 total injuries associated with any exercise equipment, according to the CPSC.
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I wonder how many of these occurred because the were more focused on watching tv vs paying attention to what they were doing???
Probably a lot of repetetive motion injuries...on a treadmill, you're hitting the 'ground' the same way every time. Also- The treadmill won't auto-adjust speed to you- you have to manually adjust (so if a muscle gets tight/cramped, or any of a thousand other reasons you might briefly slow down on the road, your gait at minimum will be F'd up on the treadmill until you adjust the belt speed).1 -
mburgess458 wrote: »[soapbox] It drives me nuts when people claim they don't do cardio because it's just too boring. If sitting on a couch watching TV/movies isn't too boring for you then how can running on a treadmill/riding a stationary bike/etc. while watching the exact same TV/movies be too boring?
You aren't doing cardio because it's too hard or you don't enjoy sweating or whatever, not because it's too boring. If you don't want to do cardio then don't, just be honest with yourself. [/soapbox]
No really it is too boring. It's mind-numbingly monotonous. I literally have to watch tv on my tablet to get me through 15 minutes on the treadmill.1 -
angmarie28 wrote: »Cardio is tedious and kinda boring
I know this isn't as exciting as picking a piece of metal up and then putting it back down, but I went away for the weekend and did a 50 mile tedious and boring loop.
I love seeing an empty road ahead, no cars, just scenery. Squats would have been really exciting and novel.
The only fascinating part was picking the bike up to put it in the car.
Can you believe people swim in that lake when they could be doing bicep curls in their basement?
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All cardio is boring until you find something you love. I hated working out until I found aerial arts.0
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Don't tell me how to live my life.0
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My gym has TV's on all of their cardio equipment and then 2 large screen tv's for everyone else. Usually fixed on ESPN or something like that.
CARDIO IS BORING unless you're watching tv or listening to music. I'm talking about cardio equipment cardio - not outdoor cardio or even a class (Zumba, P90X, etc.) And I like running...
To the OP - just because someone has a different opinion than you, doesn't mean they're full of crap. On your next post, perhaps try coming across more open-minded and mature. People are allowed to have different opinions.2 -
I think "Cardio is Boring" is a piss poor excuse to avoid working out if I am being honest. I used to think cardio was boring, until I took steps to make it not boring. I watch two episodes of whatever show I am currently watching when running on the treadmill, which makes it less "boring". I choose one specific show and do not watch it any other time that running on the treadmill so it forces me to run to find out what happens next. If I am outside I just listen to music. I find running to be very stress relieving though so maybe I am not the right person to comment on this thread.
If you think cardio as far as running/biking/elliptical is boring then find something you like and do that instead. I also dance for an hour on the Xbox every other day because its fun, so there's something out there for everyone.0 -
amorfati601070 wrote: »It's all opinion, so here's mine. I don't understand how people can say cardio is boring but still enjoy strength training. It's literally just pick up or pulling heavy things and putting them down again. All the best sports are cardio based to me... Snowboarding, Skiing...CYCLING (Road and MTN) but there's are all outdoors and adventurous... . Of course its boring if you're on a dreadmill..stationary bike..like some sort of lab rat.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7AXosmNd3bw
I think it's hysterical that you said all the best sports are cardio based.
LMAO.
I think powerlifting is one of the best sports around- and- ahem- not cardio based.
very much "do what works for you".
there is no such thing as "the best"
we live in a world full of diverse people- thank god we don't ALL like the same things- how awful would that be.2 -
I like to listen to music when I do my cardio. I even give myself little challenges while doing my cardio. Guess what? The cardio is still boring. The listening to music isn't, but the cardio is.6
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Depends on how you define cardio. Like others have said. On a tredmill/eliptical/stairclimber staring at a wall... yeah, I would be bored to tears. I pop in an Insanity DVD and I can guarantee I will not be bored. I'm too busy trying to keep up.0
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NorthCascades wrote: »angmarie28 wrote: »Cardio is tedious and kinda boring
I know this isn't as exciting as picking a piece of metal up and then putting it back down, but I went away for the weekend and did a 50 mile tedious and boring loop.
I love seeing an empty road ahead, no cars, just scenery. Squats would have been really exciting and novel.
The only fascinating part was picking the bike up to put it in the car.
Can you believe people swim in that lake when they could be doing bicep curls in their basement?
And then you have places that look like this for the next 100 miles.
Especially in the US I heard.3 -
There's something hypnotic and terrible about that picture.4
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I watch a lot of TV. It makes much more sense to me to go to the gym and watch it on the treadmill than watch it at home on the couch. Then it's just as boring as what I'm watching... really makes no difference to me attention-wise but I don't run (although it doesn't bother me on the elliptical either). If it's on an app with commercials, I just play Solitaire during the breaks (the gym treadmills have it).
I'm guessing the people who get bored while watching TV/Netflix on the treadmill are the same people who don't watch a lot of TV in the first place. I love TV shows, so it's a win/win for me... but I'd be bored watching random boring stuff...
Still love walking outside though and will do that rather than watching my shows at home.1
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