No one seems to like cardio anymore...

Options
2456789

Replies

  • littleburgy
    littleburgy Posts: 570 Member
    Options
    Personally, cardio is what I love the most. I just love the way it makes me feel. Continuous blood pumping leaves me feeling cleaned out and energized.

    But I do some weights, too, for toning and strength.
    GO SEAHAWKS!!!!

    Here here! 12th man! :smile:
  • bmqbonnie
    bmqbonnie Posts: 836 Member
    Options
    I do cardio for health reasons, stress relief and to create a deficit, but the results just come SO much faster from lifting than from cardio, and they make me look much hotter.
    This. I don't think it's wise to ditch cardio at all, but between the two for aesthetic reasons, weight lifting is the way to go.

    But I feel you. I am getting a little sick of it too. Like people assume that because I do cardio that I've never heard of lifting weights.
  • Iron_Siren
    Iron_Siren Posts: 22
    Options
    As already stated, weight loss can be done just through caloric intake. I prefer weights but If you enjoy cardio by all means do what you enjoy.
  • TyFit08
    TyFit08 Posts: 799 Member
    Options
    As already stated, weight loss can be done just through caloric intake. I prefer weights but If you enjoy cardio by all means do what you enjoy.

    I think the debate has started because of people doing their preferences only. Just as many have shamed the cardio only group, and understandably why, I think the strength training only group should also reconsider their ways. Cardio is good for your overall health, just as strength training is great for gaining muscle and weight control/loss. They complement each other. I prefer cardio over weight training, but I still pick up a dumbbell. If you prefer to lift, adding running or walking or whatever can only benefit you.
  • Qski
    Qski Posts: 246 Member
    Options
    These things go in phases. For a long time, lifting weights was considered a low-end exercise for knuckle draggers. Now it's hot, hot, hot! The pendulum will swing back the other way soon enough, and all the CrossFit ads will be replaced by a solo jogger in Nike runners in some beautiful setting with a voiceover saying something about getting "Back to Basics".

    I'm confused... isn't the point of CrossFit (aside from the controversies have read all of that) - that you build on all aspects of fitness and not that you become a cardio guru or a weight guru - but you can do everything better than average?

    and as for cardio I have always hated it... even when I was in high school and in the athletics team - that goes all the way back to Jane Fonda and Denise Austin in their lycra and leg warmers (even before that...) Not a new thing.
  • Iron_Siren
    Iron_Siren Posts: 22
    Options
    If you prefer to lift, adding running or walking or whatever can only benefit you.

    We're going to disagree here
  • TyFit08
    TyFit08 Posts: 799 Member
    Options
    If you prefer to lift, adding running or walking or whatever can only benefit you.

    We're going to disagree here
    Just to clarify, are you saying there are no benefits to cardio? Because the point I'm making is that you should incorporate both in your routine
  • GiGiBeans
    GiGiBeans Posts: 1,062 Member
    Options
    Trail running, hills and sprints - weeee! And just plain walking!

    I cut back on cardio for a lil over a month to see if it made a difference in body composition and yes it did. I now have more fat over my abs. :laugh: :sad: :laugh:
  • fabafter5
    fabafter5 Posts: 200 Member
    Options
    I like strength training but the cardio keeps me off Prozac :D
  • tlou5
    tlou5 Posts: 497 Member
    Options
    OP- Thank you for this post. I have a herniated disk in my neck and can not lift per doctors orders until 4 months after my fusion and even then am not to go over 50# for the rest of my life. All the posts here about lifting lifting lifting being the only thing that works for fitness has been really depressing when the only things I can do are elliptical, biking, and walking.

    So glad to hear some pluses for cardio!!
  • NH_Norma
    NH_Norma Posts: 332 Member
    Options
    I would MUCH rather do cardio! Just today I forced myself to work with the fitness person at work to get a routine set up with some hand weights, then I did a TRX class for resistance.
  • GiddyupTim
    GiddyupTim Posts: 2,819 Member
    Options
    These things go in phases. For a long time, lifting weights was considered a low-end exercise for knuckle draggers. Now it's hot, hot, hot! The pendulum will swing back the other way soon enough, and all the CrossFit ads will be replaced by a solo jogger in Nike runners in some beautiful setting with a voiceover saying something about getting "Back to Basics".

    The reality is a well-tuned physique requires a combination of strength (from resistance training) and a strong cardiovascular system (from lots of cardio), and that's not going to change for a long long time.

    I agree wholeheartedly with this.
    Moreover, I find it much easier to lose weight with cardio. Lifting weights does not burn very many calories, even a 90 minute workout, even with the supposed "after-burn."
    Shoot, if I go out and do a 60-minute run, I burn between 600-700 calories, net. Burning that many calories every day, or every other day, makes it really hard to eat enough to gain or maintain weight.
  • Tessyloowhoo
    Tessyloowhoo Posts: 504
    Options
    I like non boring cardio...

    Rowing Machine
    Kayaking
    Kettlebells
    Burden runs
    Hiking
  • MsJulielicious
    MsJulielicious Posts: 708 Member
    Options
    I like strength training but the cardio keeps me off Prozac :D

    Yes!
    This exactly
  • wassergottin
    wassergottin Posts: 154 Member
    Options
    Honestly, I adore cardio. It's something that gets my blood pumping and I get to spend time with my dog. I do weight lifting only because it's good for me. A lot of times, I just do body weight exercises.
  • FatHuMan1
    FatHuMan1 Posts: 1,028 Member
    Options


    I cut back on cardio for a lil over a month to see if it made a difference in body composition and yes it did. I now have more fat over my abs. :laugh: :sad: :laugh:


    Unless you also cut back on caloric intake it stands to reason that it made a difference. If you're burning less calories you have to eat less also, or you will create a caloric surplus. Unless that surplus is used to build muscle (through resistance training) it will be stored as fat.
  • cafeaulait7
    cafeaulait7 Posts: 2,459 Member
    Options
    OP- Thank you for this post. I have a herniated disk in my neck and can not lift per doctors orders until 4 months after my fusion and even then am not to go over 50# for the rest of my life. All the posts here about lifting lifting lifting being the only thing that works for fitness has been really depressing when the only things I can do are elliptical, biking, and walking.

    So glad to hear some pluses for cardio!!

    I lift with an upper back/neck disability! I don't do most of the lifts folks mention here because I'd be a screaming pile of nerve pain all the time if I did that twice a week, but I do very isolated lifts for the upper body. And I lift like crazy for the lower body :) I agree, though, that the lifts most often mentioned aren't useful for our sort of situations. Holding lots of weight on a big barbell using the arms at all is a big no-go :(
  • Bernadette60614
    Bernadette60614 Posts: 707 Member
    Options
    I do cardio, weight train and yoga.

    Cardio to increase my VO2 maximum (sort of like lung capacity), weight training for strength, and yoga for flexibility.

    Ultimately, to me "fitness" is being functionally able...to run up stairs, carry my own stuff, and move without stiffness.
  • naturallyme36
    naturallyme36 Posts: 155 Member
    Options
    Cardio helps you to lose it and weights makes it ALL look good :wink:
  • DymonNdaRgh40
    DymonNdaRgh40 Posts: 661 Member
    Options
    I agree! I love the feeling I get after a run. I also love the feeling after a heavy lifting session like the one I have planned for tomorrow. I adore both. When I'm training for a half marathon, like right now... running gets more of my time. Otherwise I keep a pretty good balance of doing both.

Categories