Do you NEED cardio?
Replies
-
Thank you everyone!0
-
amusedmonkey wrote: »ronocnikral wrote: »amusedmonkey wrote: »ronocnikral wrote: »I go back to if people had actual real fitness goals instead of chasing misnomers such as "fitness," "general health," and "cardiovascular fitness" they would know what to do for their workout routine. I don't mind the treadmill, but I listen to audio books and it keeps me entertained enough. Otherwise, I focus on my goals and that always motivates me.
Extra food and lower blood pressure are pretty motivating to me. I do follow a plan for structure, but not everyone has fitness goals. For example, I run but I don't plan to race. I track distance and speed progress not because I'm trying to achieve a certain distance or speed, but because it allows me to see how I've progressed in my quest for burning more calories per minute, or my how long I can generate extra calories. Anxiety management is also another goal that isn't fitness related. So yes for me it is about health and fitness.
You miss my point. It seems you have fitness goals. It doesn't have to be racing to be a goal. But, it has to be more specific than "overall fitness." I don't race either, but I have something I want to accomplish, and my workout routine reflects that.
My point was in regards to a lack of specificity, not in what the actual goals themselves are ("fitness" isn't a goal). Cue Lewis Carroll's cliche quote the Cheshire cat and Alice...
Oh I understand what you mean now. It's too early for OP to determine her cardio fitness goals because she hasn't decided on a cardio type she doesn't hate yet. General goals would help her decide if she wants to pursue this in the first place.
All I know is that if my only form of cardio was HIIT or running on the treadmill, I'd probably hate cardio too.3 -
ronocnikral wrote: »I go back to if people had actual real fitness goals instead of chasing misnomers such as "fitness," "general health," and "cardiovascular fitness" they would know what to do for their workout routine. I don't mind the treadmill, but I listen to audio books and it keeps me entertained enough. Otherwise, I focus on my goals and that always motivates me.
I sorta agree and disagree at the same time. In the beginning for me, it was all about just improving my fitness and heart health...I was a 2-3 PAD smoker who could barely walk the dog around the block without needing a nap, I had soaring triglycerides and cholesterol, and even with medications, my blood pressure wasn't particularly well managed.
In the early days, I didn't have any well defined fitness goals...I wanted to fix my body. Most of what I did from a cardio standpoint was pretty much randomness and lacked direction...I don't think that's particularly a-typical for someone getting into the game. Even though I didn't particularly enjoy what I was doing on the cardiovascular front, I saw my numbers changing as I was required to go in every 12 weeks to get blood work and everything checked out...for that time, it was more than enough motivation to keep me going...I was getting healthier and more fit.
Finding something I enjoyed was an exercise is trying various random things along the way. I didn't actually find a form of cardio work that I actually enjoyed until I was into maintenance and re-discovered my bike while training for a sprint triathlon (which was my first ever more detailed fitness aspiration).
Five years later my goals are a bit of both...I ride because I love to ride and I have some defined fitness goals...I also ride because I want to remain fit and heart healthy given that I've pretty much reversed everything except my BP...but that is well under control these days with reduced medication so long as I exercise regularly.2 -
cwolfman13 wrote: »ronocnikral wrote: »I go back to if people had actual real fitness goals instead of chasing misnomers such as "fitness," "general health," and "cardiovascular fitness" they would know what to do for their workout routine. I don't mind the treadmill, but I listen to audio books and it keeps me entertained enough. Otherwise, I focus on my goals and that always motivates me.
I sorta agree and disagree at the same time. In the beginning for me, it was all about just improving my fitness and heart health...I was a 2-3 PAD smoker who could barely walk the dog around the block without needing a nap, I had soaring triglycerides and cholesterol, and even with medications, my blood pressure wasn't particularly well managed.
In the early days, I didn't have any well defined fitness goals...I wanted to fix my body. Most of what I did from a cardio standpoint was pretty much randomness and lacked direction...I don't think that's particularly a-typical for someone getting into the game. Even though I didn't particularly enjoy what I was doing on the cardiovascular front, I saw my numbers changing as I was required to go in every 12 weeks to get blood work and everything checked out...for that time, it was more than enough motivation to keep me going...I was getting healthier and more fit.
Finding something I enjoyed was an exercise is trying various random things along the way. I didn't actually find a form of cardio work that I actually enjoyed until I was into maintenance and re-discovered my bike while training for a sprint triathlon (which was my first ever more detailed fitness aspiration).
Five years later my goals are a bit of both...I ride because I love to ride and I have some defined fitness goals...I also ride because I want to remain fit and heart healthy given that I've pretty much reversed everything except my BP...but that is well under control these days with reduced medication so long as I exercise regularly.
I Want to fix my body. Fixing my body means: 1) stop smoking, 2) lose the pooch, 3) fill in the blanks. I will achieve everything above by: a) maximizing weekly calorie burn on a stationary bike, every day from 5:00 am to 7:00 am. I do it at (blank location) and b) tracking each and every calorie I consume and c) stepping on the scale every Monday, Thurs, Sund.
Goals evolve, things change, but everyone needs a plan. You want killer abs, write down how you will do it. You want to ride a century, write down how you will do it and put together a plan. You want to lower your blood pressure, put together a plan. The plan should have specifics, and should be revisited periodically and adjustments made. But, just exercising for the sake of exercising isn't a good plan.
1 -
MeanderingMammal wrote: »JeromeBarry1 wrote: »You can live without it but you live healthier with it.
By the way, your 10 minutes of HIIT IS cardio. It's just not steady state cardio. The science woo of it is that in 10 minutes of actually properly done HIIT you burn as many calories in that 24-hour window as you would have burned in 30 minutes of steady state cardio in which your heart rate reached 70% or so of maximum capacity. HIIT is supposed to get your heart rate up to 95% of maximum capacity for brief intervals.
FIFY
yeah the epoc situation of "after burn" is touted as a really long lasting "after" burn- it's not. Not nearly as much as people like to believe.
you are correct. I have kept notes in the past with this and noticed that the afterburn only lasted maybe at best 2-3 hrs and it was only a mere 2-3 calories extra burned per hr(at least for me) than it was doing just SSC. same with doing kettlebell workouts it doesnt burn as many calories as people think per minute, or for hours afterward. for me being on the go all day burns more calories than being lightly active through the day, and then getting a workout in even if it is hiit.0 -
amusedmonkey wrote: »You need cardio if you wish to increase your cardiovascular fitness. You also need cardio if you're generally sedentary but would still like to eat like a normal person. Other than that, it's up to you. HIIT is not the only form of cardio out there (and 10 minutes of it barely burns any calories). Cardio is not required for weight loss, but neither is strength training. A calorie deficit is all that's required for weight loss, but augmenting your diet with strength training changes your appearance if that's the look you're going for and cardio gives you calories to play with. Other than that, both have great health benefits.
If you still wish to add cardio, try out different things and see which you might enjoy.
Was going to type basically the same things. ^
In addition, its hard to imagine not wanting to involve cardio in some form in your life. It makes you better able to participate in so many enjoyable outdoor activities, improves long term health/mood/sleep, and burns calories so you dont have to spend your life eating such small portions.
I guess if the only priority is weight loss the truth is you dont have to do ANY form of exercise. Just eat very very little.
May i ask what cardio activities have you tried with any regularity? What is it about cardio that you hate more specifically?0 -
I do cardio to get a good night's sleep and to keep my mood up, as well as extra calories, heart health etc.2
-
jenifer7teen wrote: »amusedmonkey wrote: »You need cardio if you wish to increase your cardiovascular fitness. You also need cardio if you're generally sedentary but would still like to eat like a normal person. Other than that, it's up to you. HIIT is not the only form of cardio out there (and 10 minutes of it barely burns any calories). Cardio is not required for weight loss, but neither is strength training. A calorie deficit is all that's required for weight loss, but augmenting your diet with strength training changes your appearance if that's the look you're going for and cardio gives you calories to play with. Other than that, both have great health benefits.
If you still wish to add cardio, try out different things and see which you might enjoy.
Was going to type basically the same things. ^
In addition, its hard to imagine not wanting to involve cardio in some form in your life. It makes you better able to participate in so many enjoyable outdoor activities, improves long term health/mood/sleep, and burns calories so you dont have to spend your life eating such small portions.
I guess if the only priority is weight loss the truth is you dont have to do ANY form of exercise. Just eat very very little.
May i ask what cardio activities have you tried with any regularity? What is it about cardio that you hate more specifically?
I save cardio for the end of my workouts so I tend to just sprint on a treadmill on/off to just get it out the way quicker. I also have tried HIIT which I like, but I feel like I work harder on the treadmill (probably because I'm out of breath quicker). I also tried cycling but its not my cup of tea. And I don't really HATE cardio that much, I just definitely don't look forward to it0 -
digidoomed wrote: »jenifer7teen wrote: »amusedmonkey wrote: »You need cardio if you wish to increase your cardiovascular fitness. You also need cardio if you're generally sedentary but would still like to eat like a normal person. Other than that, it's up to you. HIIT is not the only form of cardio out there (and 10 minutes of it barely burns any calories). Cardio is not required for weight loss, but neither is strength training. A calorie deficit is all that's required for weight loss, but augmenting your diet with strength training changes your appearance if that's the look you're going for and cardio gives you calories to play with. Other than that, both have great health benefits.
If you still wish to add cardio, try out different things and see which you might enjoy.
Was going to type basically the same things. ^
In addition, its hard to imagine not wanting to involve cardio in some form in your life. It makes you better able to participate in so many enjoyable outdoor activities, improves long term health/mood/sleep, and burns calories so you dont have to spend your life eating such small portions.
I guess if the only priority is weight loss the truth is you dont have to do ANY form of exercise. Just eat very very little.
May i ask what cardio activities have you tried with any regularity? What is it about cardio that you hate more specifically?
I save cardio for the end of my workouts so I tend to just sprint on a treadmill on/off to just get it out the way quicker. I also have tried HIIT which I like, but I feel like I work harder on the treadmill (probably because I'm out of breath quicker). I also tried cycling but its not my cup of tea. And I don't really HATE cardio that much, I just definitely don't look forward to it
If you work harder and get out of breath quicker on the treadmill than you do while doing HIIT, you aren't doing HIIT.
HIIT (High Intensity Interval Training) is going all-out, as hard/fast as you possibly can, for a short period of time, followed by a rest period and repeated several times. The high intensity intervals are very short periods because it should be all you're physically able to perform at that level of intensity. It's very uncomfortable and physically exhausting, and you should be gasping for breath, completely drained and near ready to puke by the end of the workout. If not, what you just did wasn't HIIT. It may have been aerobic intervals, but it wasn't HIIT.
HIIT has become very trendy/faddish and has been completely subverted by segments of the fitness industry. A lot of silly, outlandish woo and hype circulates around it and probably 75%-80% (or more!) of the workouts currently being called HIIT are nothing of the sort.3 -
ronocnikral wrote: »amusedmonkey wrote: »ronocnikral wrote: »I go back to if people had actual real fitness goals instead of chasing misnomers such as "fitness," "general health," and "cardiovascular fitness" they would know what to do for their workout routine. I don't mind the treadmill, but I listen to audio books and it keeps me entertained enough. Otherwise, I focus on my goals and that always motivates me.
Extra food and lower blood pressure are pretty motivating to me. I do follow a plan for structure, but not everyone has fitness goals. For example, I run but I don't plan to race. I track distance and speed progress not because I'm trying to achieve a certain distance or speed, but because it allows me to see how I've progressed in my quest for burning more calories per minute, or my how long I can generate extra calories. Anxiety management is also another goal that isn't fitness related. So yes for me it is about health and fitness.
You miss my point. It seems you have fitness goals. It doesn't have to be racing to be a goal. But, it has to be more specific than "overall fitness." I don't race either, but I have something I want to accomplish, and my workout routine reflects that.
My point was in regards to a lack of specificity, not in what the actual goals themselves are ("fitness" isn't a goal). Cue Lewis Carroll's cliche quote the Cheshire cat and Alice...
I still don't see anything wrong with improving cardiovascular health- or over all fitness. While certainly those are harder goals to met since they are unspecified- they are fine if you are aware of your conditioning and are comfortable with an amorphis goal.
Interestingly- I don't think it works well for beginners- because goals that are achievable inspire motivation- and breed success- followed by more motivation.
BUT- I think they are fine for people who are fine working but don't need a goal to keep them motivated. usually people comfortable with "the grind" I understand the irony- those folks are less likely to have "general fitness goals- but I think they are capable of having general conditioning goals.1 -
digidoomed wrote: »jenifer7teen wrote: »amusedmonkey wrote: »You need cardio if you wish to increase your cardiovascular fitness. You also need cardio if you're generally sedentary but would still like to eat like a normal person. Other than that, it's up to you. HIIT is not the only form of cardio out there (and 10 minutes of it barely burns any calories). Cardio is not required for weight loss, but neither is strength training. A calorie deficit is all that's required for weight loss, but augmenting your diet with strength training changes your appearance if that's the look you're going for and cardio gives you calories to play with. Other than that, both have great health benefits.
If you still wish to add cardio, try out different things and see which you might enjoy.
Was going to type basically the same things. ^
In addition, its hard to imagine not wanting to involve cardio in some form in your life. It makes you better able to participate in so many enjoyable outdoor activities, improves long term health/mood/sleep, and burns calories so you dont have to spend your life eating such small portions.
I guess if the only priority is weight loss the truth is you dont have to do ANY form of exercise. Just eat very very little.
May i ask what cardio activities have you tried with any regularity? What is it about cardio that you hate more specifically?
I save cardio for the end of my workouts so I tend to just sprint on a treadmill on/off to just get it out the way quicker. I also have tried HIIT which I like, but I feel like I work harder on the treadmill (probably because I'm out of breath quicker). I also tried cycling but its not my cup of tea. And I don't really HATE cardio that much, I just definitely don't look forward to it
Hmm well confined to a gym cardio can be harder because you dont get all the scenery changes and feeling of accomplishment that is biking or running on a trail etc.
But yeah, i think cardio is hard *heavy breathing, sweating* so a lot of people dont like it...However it gets much "easier" feeling once you do it regularly and condition yourself. Have you ever done it consistently? I know biking (outdoors!) was very motivating because of how quickly i could add miles and get faster once i did it 5+ days a week. I mean strength training i guess i feel proud to add a few more lbs but its just not as inspiring of a measurement as being able to run or bike up a huge hill, or be able to plan adventures/activities knowing i am fit enough to acconplish them. Have you ever commited to cardio training consitently enough where you felt confident in the activity and saw yourself making serious improvement? To me THAT is super motivating on days id rather kind of half *kitten* a workout and not break a sweat.
One other thing, do you have a heart rate monitor/fit bit? This to me is really inspiring from a health standpoint. After having my baby i focused on biking as my primary cardio and my resting heart rate steadily dropped for almost a year until it reached 50. I took a break and got kind of forced into gym primarily (since they have daycare). I made great strides with strength training and accomplished goals like doing pullups etc. But i significantly reduced cardio time and foubd strength focus didnt do nearly as much for my mood and energy levels. And my resting heart rate rose back to nearly 60. So this year i am focusing on running and in about 6 months ive gone from kind of dreading a few mile run to craving running 6-10 miles. At my age and bigger body size i seriously didnt think id ever feel this way, but building the habit to start seems to be the hardest part. My heart rate is back down to 50- 52 already. Seriously, to me knowing that i have that degree of important heart health benefit from cardio is very motivating on its own. Maybe seeing health results would help inspire you too?1 -
I personally need cardio keep boredom at bay. I absolutely hate treadmills and Stairmasters and ellipticals because there's nothing to see. So I run outside and the scenery is great, and I have to pay attention to proper gait and not tripping over rocks. On rainy days I take a one hour Zumba class. Again, that adds a certain fun factor. I like the idea of my heart muscle benefiting from the cardio workout, too. And I find the cardio is a great stress reliever. Did it help me lose weight? Everyone says it won't, but I lost weight while paying attention to calories in/calories out and enjoyed my weight loss program much more than I otherwise would have. Maybe I'm making this up, but my experience has been that there's a crossover effect. I improved my stamina doing cardio, which I think helped me improve my ability to progressively lift higher weights.3
-
I think anyone who uses the word "cardio" is disposed to not liking it because it means you are likely on some gym machine.
But it's good for calorie deficits if you want to lose weight. And it's really good for heart health and possibly your brain health.
I went to a lecture on this that made the case there are 4 "types" of (cardio) excercisers. 1) Competitors, 2) Peope who do it because they know they should, 3) "the Smell the Roses" types...people who find some activity that they enjoy maybe because its outdoors or maybe the activity is just fun for them in particular (like the boxer or Zoomba person in this thread, and 4) the "Social" exerciser...so take part in some exercise that has a social aspect.
Anyway, the study argued that over time...1 and 2 eventually stop exercising and 3 and 4 don't.
I used to be 1 but am now more 3 and 4. I cycle with a group and do a lot of trail running (which I love) but I refer to the treadmill as the dreadmill and only run on one in dire circumstances.2 -
jhanleybrown wrote: »I think anyone who uses the word "cardio" is disposed to not liking it because it means you are likely on some gym machine.
But it's good for calorie deficits if you want to lose weight. And it's really good for heart health and possibly your brain health.
I went to a lecture on this that made the case there are 4 "types" of (cardio) excercisers. 1) Competitors, 2) Peope who do it because they know they should, 3) "the Smell the Roses" types...people who find some activity that they enjoy maybe because its outdoors or maybe the activity is just fun for them in particular (like the boxer or Zoomba person in this thread, and 4) the "Social" exerciser...so take part in some exercise that has a social aspect.
Anyway, the study argued that over time...1 and 2 eventually stop exercising and 3 and 4 don't.
I used to be 1 but am now more 3 and 4. I cycle with a group and do a lot of trail running (which I love) but I refer to the treadmill as the dreadmill and only run on one in dire circumstances.
a calorie deficit is all that is needed to lose weight. you dont need to do cardio or anything else if you dont want to. while cardio is good for health its not needed for weight loss. exercise can create a bigger deficit. many people cant do cardio or any exercise and lose weight without it.2 -
DebLaBounty wrote: »I personally need cardio keep boredom at bay. I absolutely hate treadmills and Stairmasters and ellipticals because there's nothing to see. So I run outside and the scenery is great, and I have to pay attention to proper gait and not tripping over rocks. On rainy days I take a one hour Zumba class. Again, that adds a certain fun factor. I like the idea of my heart muscle benefiting from the cardio workout, too. And I find the cardio is a great stress reliever. Did it help me lose weight? Everyone says it won't, but I lost weight while paying attention to calories in/calories out and enjoyed my weight loss program much more than I otherwise would have. Maybe I'm making this up, but my experience has been that there's a crossover effect. I improved my stamina doing cardio, which I think helped me improve my ability to progressively lift higher weights.
you lost weight because you were in a deficit of calories whether it was from eating less, working out more or a combo you.cardio will improve stamina and it can help with higher weights. I experienced that too
3
This discussion has been closed.
Categories
- All Categories
- 1.4M Health, Wellness and Goals
- 393.6K Introduce Yourself
- 43.8K Getting Started
- 260.3K Health and Weight Loss
- 176K Food and Nutrition
- 47.5K Recipes
- 232.6K Fitness and Exercise
- 431 Sleep, Mindfulness and Overall Wellness
- 6.5K Goal: Maintaining Weight
- 8.6K Goal: Gaining Weight and Body Building
- 153K Motivation and Support
- 8K Challenges
- 1.3K Debate Club
- 96.3K Chit-Chat
- 2.5K Fun and Games
- 3.8K MyFitnessPal Information
- 24 News and Announcements
- 1.1K Feature Suggestions and Ideas
- 2.6K MyFitnessPal Tech Support Questions