Cardio for weight loss is a waste of time??

Fight2bFiT

Thank you all! I'm going to look into that New Rules for LIfting Book. I've decided to devote 2 days to resistance training and 4 days of cardio to start and work up to 3 and 3.

yea i got that book on hold for me at the library. looking forward to reading it. also check out "you are your gym" by mark lauren.

bcattoes

My thought is BullSh*t!!! I'm a cardio gal. For more than half a century it's kept me thin and in shape. You need some strength training for good muscle tone, but lifting heavy and other hard core strength training is about vanity, not fitness or weight loss. There is nothing at all wrong with it, but anyone that tells you that you can't lose weight without it is wrong. Cardio burns a lot of calories and works your muscles and that means weight loss. Plus, it keeps your heart healthy (that's why they call it cardio, after all).

ItsCasey

I haven't read all the replies, so others may have already hit on this, but traditional cardio and strength training serve different purposes. If all you care about is the number on the scale, then stick to cardio and a sensible diet. Just be prepared for the fact that you WILL lose muscle and will ultimately find yourself either having to steadily increase the amount of exercise you do or rely very heavily on your diet to maintain your weight loss because your metabolism will drop with the loss of muscle.

If you care about losing fat as well as weight, you have to add strength training. I did only cardio (six to seven days a week) for an entire year, and I lost some weight but not as much as I expected, and I was still flabby. After doing a ton of research and agonizing over the whole "Will I look like a dude?" thing, I finally decided to add heavy weight training. My body changed seemingly overnight. I was smaller and tighter all over. I don't do any straight cardio anymore. Everything I do involves weights or some form of resistance. I've seen people get great results from bodyweight training, too, if the idea of lifting serious weights bothers you.

It is total garbage to say that heavy weights and "hard core strength training" are about vanity and not fitness or weight loss. For me, strength training did in less than 3 months what cardio couldn't do in a year. And if you're not getting a heart-pounding workout from weight training, you're doing it wrong.

bcattoes

Correct - he started off the conversation asking what I had been doing for workout. My answer "brisk walking, running, arc trainer, etc" and he said that for the "results I want, I need to get off the cardio and focus on the resistance training because doing the cardio is doing nothing but burning muscle along with the fat which in turn was killing my metabolism and making it difficult to lose even on a low calorie diet". He said cardio is important for heart heath and important to build bone in his older female clients but given my age and my fitness goals, I wouldn't get there doing cardio and I needed to focus my energy on weight training.

Well, he could be correct, depending on what your goals are. For weight loss, cardio will do the trick on it's own, but will do it more efficiently with some strength training. But if your goals go beyond just weight loss then what you need to do to accomplish those goals could vary greatly.

skygoddess86

I did not know that about not doing cardio and strength on the same day. Good to know.

crisanderson27

Correct - he started off the conversation asking what I had been doing for workout. My answer "brisk walking, running, arc trainer, etc" and he said that for the "results I want, I need to get off the cardio and focus on the resistance training because doing the cardio is doing nothing but burning muscle along with the fat which in turn was killing my metabolism and making it difficult to lose even on a low calorie diet". He said cardio is important for heart heath and important to build bone in his older female clients but given my age and my fitness goals, I wouldn't get there doing cardio and I needed to focus my energy on weight training.

He was 100% right. Cardio is totally unnecessary, and actually inefficient for fat loss in general.

Read this:

http://members.rachelcosgrove.com/public/The_Final_Nail_in_the_Cardio_Coffin.cfm

Good information, but there's plenty of studies listed as well.

Second...look at these:



That's 37lbs, three months, ZERO traditional cardio, minimal HIIT intervals (tabata style), 100% strength training (only less then 3hrs a week) and and a very loose diet (the last two months I've lived on fast food...Taco Bell in specific...seriously).

I haven't read all the replies, so others may have already hit on this, but traditional cardio and strength training serve different purposes. If all you care about is the number on the scale, then stick to cardio and a sensible diet. Just be prepared for the fact that you WILL lose muscle and will ultimately find yourself either having to steadily increase the amount of exercise you do or rely very heavily on your diet to maintain your weight loss because your metabolism will drop with the loss of muscle.

If you care about losing fat as well as weight, you have to add strength training. I did only cardio (six to seven days a week) for an entire year, and I lost some weight but not as much as I expected, and I was still flabby. After doing a ton of research and agonizing over the whole "Will I look like a dude?" thing, I finally decided to add heavy weight training. My body changed seemingly overnight. I was smaller and tighter all over. I don't do any straight cardio anymore. Everything I do involves weights or some form of resistance. I've seen people get great results from bodyweight training, too, if the idea of lifting serious weights bothers you.

It is total garbage to say that heavy weights and "hard core strength training" are about vanity and not fitness or weight loss. For me, strength training did in less than 3 months what cardio couldn't do in a year. And if you're not getting a heart-pounding workout from weight training, you're doing it wrong.

AMEN.

crisanderson27

love this thread! i was asking the same thing recently. this is the conclusion i got. cardio is good for you, esp your heart. does it burn fat and muscle, depends. like someone mentioned before, it does at a steady pace. so i recommend to do anything in intervals or HIIT. you can do that with a stationary machine or a body weight workout like FOR EXAMPLE the program INSANITY (not selling or promotting, i dont even sell beachbody products, but i am a firm believer in them!).... but getting on a treadmill and walking or running for straight an hour i dont believe is that great for you. bad on your knees and breaks down muscle.

as for me...i am trying to define and tone my muscle. i lift 3x a week so anything that will break my hard earned muscle down, i am not for it. i do strongly believe in strength training and interval cardio ONLY. yes cardio burns fat, but did you know strength training does too? and it strengthens muscles too! did you know you burn up to 48hrs after a strength training session where cardio is only 6-8hrs? the benefits of strength training outweights cardio TREMENDOUSLY. but it depends on your goals and what you want to achieve. sure i want to lose weight and be smaller...but do i want to be skinny with no muscle, NO. there have been MANY people, even a few trainers on here that look AMAZING that dont do cardio, they only do strength training. and with that, it doesnt have to strickly be lifting dumbells and getting on the weight machines. how about burpees? or push ups? those are all targeting multiple muscle groups, all using your body weight and getting your heart rate high (the point of burning calories) and yet it stays with you longer WAY after you leave the gym and strengthens and tones muscle, how could it get ANY BETTER!. to me i'd rather do pushups than get on that treadmill anyday! but to each their own.

eat less + burn calories=weight loss. but the finished product of reaching that goal has different factors of getting there.
so i agree with what he is saying in the basis that you dont need cardio to lose weight, but am i all for never doing it, of course not....but i will be doing high intense INTERVAL training to make sure it doesnt attack my muscle, and to burn more calories at the end of the day. who wants to walk on a treamill for more than an hour anyways! they say 30min is long enough to get a good, hard workout in and burn more than if you were there for an hour and a half! GOTTA LOVE IT!

good luck to you!

Just wanted to say, i think this is a great post xx

I agree completely.

For the record, the first three months of my weight loss efforts (starting in April), I did strictly bodyweight workouts...the results from the last month have been very small, as compared to those first three. But, being as I have less to lose now, that makes sense regardless.

michedarnd

Pure cardio does burn both muscle and fat. I'd guess that for an individual, the nature of your goal is the key. Right now, I have a brutal BMI, so cardio is useful. I need to be a healthy WEIGHT. I DESPISE being thin and muscle-free, though, so half of my cardio is interval training (which builds muscle). I use weights to do calisthenics as part of that, but I'm not power-lifting, because I build LOTS of muscle UNDER the blubber when I do that. As I get into a weight-level that is less of a health risk, I'm willing to slow down pound loss to start more muscle-building, but right now, I am limiting it to being part of my cardio routine.

crisanderson27

Pure cardio does burn both muscle and fat. I'd guess that for an individual, the nature of your goal is the key. Right now, I have a brutal BMI, so cardio is useful. I need to be a healthy WEIGHT. I DESPISE being thin and muscle-free, though, so half of my cardio is interval training (which builds muscle). I use weights to do calisthenics as part of that, but I'm not power-lifting, because I build LOTS of muscle UNDER the blubber when I do that. As I get into a weight-level that is less of a health risk, I'm willing to slow down pound loss to start more muscle-building, but right now, I am limiting it to being part of my cardio routine.

Here's the question...why would you want to burn ANY muscle, just to get rid of a little fat? Muscle is healthy, useful, will help you burn MORE fat, and is altogether a desirable thing. Additionally, BMI is a useless guage of health...to be honest, for one reason because it causes people to do just what you're doing...shed the one thing that's going to help them reduce the weight quickly and effectively, just to reach a point on a chart. The other thing is, if you're eating at a calorie deficit, you're never, ever...ever going to be building LOTS of muscle under that fat. What's happening, is what muscle you do have is swelling for repair, making you think you're bulking, when you're not. The thing is, the act of that repair, is part of what makes the strength training so desirable. You won't get that with cardio (even HIIT, to any real extent), period.

If you limited the cardio (note, I didn't say remove...being overweight to that level, heart and lung health and development is very important!) to interval type work, and focused on the strength training, you'd end up with faster, yet still healthier results. Strength training promotes growth hormone production...which tells your body to burn strictly fat. So does the high intensity interval work...while at the same time still providing cardiovascular benefits. Why would anyone ever want to do steady state cardio, losing both muscle and fat...unless they simply enjoyed running?

For fat loss, it's pointless.

Now, as a disclaimer, I'm not putting you personally down, nor your choices. I'm pointing out what flat works, in my experience as well as that of other people I've known and worked with who have made incredible gains, with relative ease. The information is there for the taking, and I am a perfect example of it working in reality, not just theory. I'd never have lost this kind of weight (the vast majority of which was fat), nor been this healthy, doing 'mostly' cardio. And the funny thing, if you notice...is, I'm no 'bigger' than in my before picture. I'm slimmer everywhere, faster, and LESS bulky.

I just flat look better is all.

rml_16

I've been having issues losing the past couple months and I can't figure out why. A friend told me that I needed to weight train (which I do, she was assuming I don't) because "cardio will do nothing for weight loss."

I immeditaley pointed out that previously, I lost 34 pounds over three months with "just cardio."

It's a ridiculous thing to say. Though weight training is a good thing to do, anyway.

Qarol

I don't have the highest opinion of trainers. I joined a gym once which came with two free PT sessions. The guy I was assigned to on my first session was totally shaved. S'ok, if he likes it, who am I to care, but it was just creepy.

No, really what made this session awful was my telling him I was on a low carb diet, similar to Atkins. He started talking about Mr. Protein and Mr. Carb and totally lost me. Really? Am I five?

For my second session, I asked for someone else. Management asked why, and I was honest. I think he kind of got in trouble. I mean, he may have meant well (those anti low carb dieters are everywhere), but his approach was lackluster. The woman I got for my second session was actually quite good. But I still don't trust personal trainers completely.

crisanderson27

I've been having issues losing the past couple months and I can't figure out why. A friend told me that I needed to weight train (which I do, she was assuming I don't) because "cardio will do nothing for weight loss."

I immeditaley pointed out that previously, I lost 34 pounds over three months with "just cardio."

It's a ridiculous thing to say. Though weight training is a good thing to do, anyway.

And how many other variables could possibly be affecting your current plateau hun? I'm guessing a substantial number. Also, I've no doubt you lost all that weight (keyword) VIA cardio. I've lost a similar amount of fat (keyword), in the same amount of time VIA strength training.

I bet you $50 I'd have looked substantially different had I done strictly cardio for that period.

Brook70

Bump

rml_16

I've been having issues losing the past couple months and I can't figure out why. A friend told me that I needed to weight train (which I do, she was assuming I don't) because "cardio will do nothing for weight loss."

I immeditaley pointed out that previously, I lost 34 pounds over three months with "just cardio."

It's a ridiculous thing to say. Though weight training is a good thing to do, anyway.

And how many other variables could possibly be affecting your current plateau hun? I'm guessing a substantial number. Also, I've no doubt you lost all that weight (keyword) VIA cardio. I've lost a similar amount of fat (keyword), in the same amount of time VIA strength training.

I bet you $50 I'd have looked substantially different had I done strictly cardio for that period.

I'm actually seriously thinking I need to see a doctor at this point. My calories and exercise are good to go and I eat very clean. I should be losing better than I am and not yo-yoing. It's frustrating.

crisanderson27

I've been having issues losing the past couple months and I can't figure out why. A friend told me that I needed to weight train (which I do, she was assuming I don't) because "cardio will do nothing for weight loss."

I immeditaley pointed out that previously, I lost 34 pounds over three months with "just cardio."

It's a ridiculous thing to say. Though weight training is a good thing to do, anyway.

And how many other variables could possibly be affecting your current plateau hun? I'm guessing a substantial number. Also, I've no doubt you lost all that weight (keyword) VIA cardio. I've lost a similar amount of fat (keyword), in the same amount of time VIA strength training.

I bet you $50 I'd have looked substantially different had I done strictly cardio for that period.

I'm actually seriously thinking I need to see a doctor at this point. My calories and exercise are good to go and I eat very clean. I should be losing better than I am and not yo-yoing. It's frustrating.

I went through a similar thing, for six weeks straight. I was eating 100% clean, logging my calories and hitting my numbers every day...it SUCKED. I tried zig zagging, upping calories, lowering calories, changing my exercise routine completely from my bodyweight routine to P90x...NOTHING worked. I finally ended up with a very, very bad stomach virus...didn't eat for two days straight...lost initial weight via being sick...and then bam...everything started going down again. I now do intermittent fasting two to three days a week to semi replicate the effects, and it's working wonderfully. I'm never hungry, eat pretty much as I please, have stupid amounts of energy for my workouts...and all around am enjoying my health WAY more than I did when I was obsessing over every minute detail. I still keep track of things...but I think without the IF...I'd have been stuck where I was for much, much longer.

Good luck hun, and if I can help you out at all, just let me know.

rml_16

Thanks. I've never had this problem before. I am down a few pounds, but it's about nine weeks now and only 6 pounds. For me, that's a very small number. And it's up and down week to week and my waist and hips are the same size they were. I did notice today that my upper arms are smaller, though, so maybe it's not as bad as I think.