Why has cardio become a swear word on MFP all of a sudden?

AntWrig

I do cardio almost every day of the week. I was told by a personal trainer to loose the weight you want to loose first by doing cardio and then focus on toning with weight lifting ect.

Your trainer is wrong.

Smiler106

It's not that cardio is bad - cardio is great! You need cardio to burn calories. The reason why strength training is being promoted is because usually (women, mostly) are unfamiliar with the concept of strength training and how it can help them. If you do ONLY cardio all the time, and don't SUPPLEMENT your workouts with strength training, you're missing out on some serious benefits.

Well thank you for taking the time to educate us stupid, ignorant women.

AntWrig

It's not that cardio is bad - cardio is great! You need cardio to burn calories. The reason why strength training is being promoted is because usually (women, mostly) are unfamiliar with the concept of strength training and how it can help them. If you do ONLY cardio all the time, and don't SUPPLEMENT your workouts with strength training, you're missing out on some serious benefits.

Well thank you for taking the time to educate us stupid, ignorant women.

And what exactly is the point of your response? Everything said was correct.

eberz1000

LOVE CARDIO
But I think the issue is if you do cardio without replacing enough calories, your body would just go catabolic and break down your muscle. Too much cardio also may trigger starvation mode. I used to be a cardio junkie because it felt good and I thought it would help me achieve the 'ideal' body. It really doesn't. I just ended up skinny fat with no muscle, anaemia and eventually even gained weight. It was bad.

Balance is best, but from my experience, up to 45 minutes of cardio is the max limit

ninerbuff

Cardio and strength training in tandem work as a balanced program for weight loss/maintenance/fitness. You don't need cardio to lose weight. You don't need strength training to lose weight. You could do that by diet alone.
Physically it's what each individual is trying to achieve. For some it's to look thin. For some to look fit. For some it's to run a race or marathon.
People will pick the exercise program that fits the interest in what they are trying to achieve.


A.C.E. Certified Personal Trainer
IDEA Fitness member
Kickboxing Certified Instructor
Been in fitness for 28+ years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition

themedalist

Cardio is weightlifting for your heart (your most important muscle). There's no way I can lift heavy weights without a strong, healthy heart.

harlanJEN

I do cardio almost every day of the week. I was told by a personal trainer to loose the weight you want to loose first by doing cardio and then focus on toning with weight lifting ect.

Your trainer is wrong.

Indeed. Absolutely, need to fat burn. But, not needing to maintain/build lean muscle - I"m just floored that a personal trainer would tell you that. But then again, always need to "look under the covers" at trainers, nutritionists, indeed any "expert".

mmapags

I do cardio almost every day of the week. I was told by a personal trainer to loose the weight you want to loose first by doing cardio and then focus on toning with weight lifting ect.

Your trainer is wrong.

+1! I'd get a new trainer. I always wonder why people say a version of this that goes something like "I'm going to eat a deficit and burn calories through cardio to lose weight. Then I'll do strength to gain muscle." Huh?? Why would you not just do both at the same time? Lose fat, maintain muscle and lose inches and forget the da@@3%M scale! Why cost yourself muscle and then try to rebuild it?

We get so hung up on the number on the scale! What if you could wave a magic wand and get 12% body fat and look and feel great but you stay the weight you are right now? I'd take that deal all day long! Now I'm within 10 lbs of my goal and I get it if you have 25 or 50 or 75 lbs too much but you'd still be served well by a balanced approach.

Dilfster

i do cardio 6 days a week and don't regret a single second of it.

lepardmama

Cardio is actually what SAVED me! I was doing bootcamp 3X per week and not seeing many results because of my eating habits. When I added 2 days of cardio to those 3 days of bootcamp and started eating right, the pounds starting shedding quickly. I am a firm believer that cardio is the KEY to losing weight and inches, mixed with the weight training. So you keep going sista!

AntWrig

Cardio is actually what SAVED me! I was doing bootcamp 3X per week and not seeing many results because of my eating habits. When I added 2 days of cardio to those 3 days of bootcamp and started eating right, the pounds starting shedding quickly. I am a firm believer that cardio is the KEY to losing weight and inches, mixed with the weight training. So you keep going sista!

It was the "eating right" not the cardio.

HeatherR930

I do cardio almost every day of the week. I was told by a personal trainer to loose the weight you want to loose first by doing cardio and then focus on toning with weight lifting ect.

Your trainer is wrong.

+1! I'd get a new trainer. I always wonder why people say a version of this that goes something like "I'm going to eat a deficit and burn calories through cardio to lose weight. Then I'll do strength to gain muscle." Huh?? Why would you not just do both at the same time? Lose fat, maintain muscle and lose inches and forget the da@@3%M scale! Why cost yourself muscle and then try to rebuild it?

We get so hung up on the number on the scale! What if you could wave a magic wand and get 12% body fat and look and feel great but you stay the weight you are right now? I'd take that deal all day long! Now I'm within 10 lbs of my goal and I get it if you have 25 or 50 or 75 lbs too much but you'd still be served well by a balanced approach.

I 100% agree!! I would be looking into a new trainer because this is very bad advice & not true! You absolutely need both cardio & weight training to achieve overall fitness. Anyone who says you only need one or the other is wrong, plain & simple. I have lost 57 lbs & have been doing a steady cardio AND weight training routine the entire time. I have lost a ton of fat but gained a good amount of muscle at the same time! You can't have great cardiovascular endurance with no cardio, & a good muscle tone with no strength training at all!

dinosnopro

I will admit I have not read through all 17 pages so I don't know if this was said. Most people that just do cardio to lose the weight are most likely the ones that are not happy with their body composition when they hit their goal weight. Personally I do not like cardio, so I use weight lifting and diet to lose my weight. I am sure it would go faster if I did some sort of cardio. I agree with the whatever works for you, but when you get to your goal weight and are still not happy with your body, you are going to have to start weight training.

shanlynt

I'd rather be skinny fat than than fat fat any day of the week.

Di3012

I will admit I have not read through all 17 pages so I don't know if this was said. Most people that just do cardio to lose the weight are most likely the ones that are not happy with their body composition when they hit their goal weight. Personally I do not like cardio, so I use weight lifting and diet to lose my weight. I am sure it would go faster if I did some sort of cardio. I agree with the whatever works for you, but when you get to your goal weight and are still not happy with your body, you are going to have to start weight training.

Why?

Cardio sports do actually build muscle too you know, running, swimming, cycling, rowing, skiing.....

FORIANN

A strong cardiovascular system will go a lot further to increase your longevity and quality of life than a six pack. Cardio goes a long way to prevent a lot of diseases and the benefits are amazing. Let's face it...lifting weights is easier than doing an hour of intense cardio.

Cardio should always be your first priority. I don't care how much you can bench if your heart stops.

Yes, I do strength training also, but I'm smart enough to weigh the value of cardio and know it's worth.

ninerbuff

Why?

Cardio sports do actually build muscle too you know, running, swimming, cycling, rowing, skiing.....

Well not really. They build "muscular endurance". It's not the same as muscle hypertrophy.

A.C.E. Certified Personal Trainer
IDEA Fitness member
Kickboxing Certified Instructor
Been in fitness for 28+ years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition

dinosnopro

I will admit I have not read through all 17 pages so I don't know if this was said. Most people that just do cardio to lose the weight are most likely the ones that are not happy with their body composition when they hit their goal weight. Personally I do not like cardio, so I use weight lifting and diet to lose my weight. I am sure it would go faster if I did some sort of cardio. I agree with the whatever works for you, but when you get to your goal weight and are still not happy with your body, you are going to have to start weight training.

Why?

Cardio sports do actually build muscle too you know, running, swimming, cycling, rowing, skiing.....

Hearts_2015

Arguing about cardio vs strength training is like arguing about which side of the bed is best, because the answer is "the middle."

:drinker:

Buddhasmiracle

I'm not knocking strength training, I do it, but I know a few things for certain:

1. It doesn't have to involve weights.
2. The younger you are, the less you can get away with doing and still look good. (young = naturally firmer, me = old)
3. I have lived more than half a century doing mostly cardio, at times only cardio, and I have remained completely healthy (no diagnoses, no meds, no syndroms, rarely overweight, etc.) despite coming from a history of heart and vasular disease on both my mother and father's side of the family, and diabetes on my mothers.
4. I still look good naked. Not as good as I did when I was 30, but good.

What would be better to combat age related sarcopenia, cardio or strength training?

Strength training definately!

ninerbuff

A strong cardiovascular system will go a lot further to increase your longevity and quality of life than a six pack. Cardio goes a long way to prevent a lot of diseases and the benefits are amazing. Let's face it...lifting weights is easier than doing an hour of intense cardio.

Cardio should always be your first priority. I don't care how much you can bench if your heart stops.

Subjective. There are many NFL players who are in excellent cardio shape for their size, but suffer issues with joints and heart issues than smaller people who may not do cardio at all.
Cardio is important and tough, but to say weight lifting is "easier" is subjective. Maybe easier for you, but you might change your mind if you trained with someone who knows both well.
Genetics and susceptibility to heart disease dictates how each individual's heart's health is deemed. Just because someone does cardio over strength training, doesn't mean their heart health is necessarily better.

I don't think it's fair to distinguish just one form of exercise being better than another for one's health because we are are all different individually.

A.C.E. Certified Personal Trainer
IDEA Fitness member
Kickboxing Certified Instructor
Been in fitness for 28+ years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition

chrisdavey

. Let's face it...lifting weights is easier than doing an hour of intense cardio.

If you can do intense cardio for an hour, it's not intense.

kidakiwi04

Cardio: Allows you to outrun the Zombies
Strength Training: Allows you to be able to be strong enough to fight your way out if necessary


Your going to need both to survive should Zombies come to eat your brains. Just saying

:drinker: :laugh: :flowerforyou:

BootcampJunkie

At the end of the day as long as you're moving, either it being running, walking, yoga or lifting weights, your still doing better than joe-blow sitting on the couch with their bag of potato chips. Its nice to see people out there do an activity that they enjoy to better their health in some way. Not every activity out there is meant for everyone why force someone to do something they don't enjoy in risk of them quiting all together and returning to the couch. We should respect the cardio people for loving cardio and the strength people who love lifting weights, we are all here for different reasons but a common goal of living a healthy active lifestyle.
Can't we all just get along.

demonNIИ

I'd rather be skinny fat than than fat fat any day of the week.

^ THIS

ironanimal

Let's face it...lifting weights is easier than doing an hour of intense cardio.

You're doing your weights wrong then. When I leave the weight room, one of three things is true;
- Walking to the car park is slow, staggered and very, very painful.
- Lifting my arms to drive my car is very, very painful.
- Trying to stand up once I've driven home is very, very painful.

Lift to failure for an hour, then come back and declare the same is true.

AZackery

A lot of people love pushing weights. They believe that a person will have to eventually use weights one day in their lives and that's not true. A person doesn't have to lift weights to get muscular triceps, biceps, legs or abs. There is a such thing as body weight workouts.

A lot of people that's pushing the "lift heavy" message loves to show pictures of their arms, so people can see their biceps and triceps, but what about their abs and legs? What is the heavy lifting doing for those areas?

Losing fat. I'm not talking about scale weight. I'm talking about fat. It takes time. Let me say losing 100% fat takes time. A person can lose fat and muscle or should I say lean body mass at the same time, but when you lose 100% fat, you will not lose lean body mass.

Just because a person lift weights 7 days a week, it doesn't mean they lose 100% fat fast. They can build muscle, but that muscle will be under fat.

I love cardio. If the next person doesn't. That's fine. But no one should think cardio is bad. Everyone should do what they feel is best for their body.

Acg67

A lot of people love pushing weights. They believe that a person will have to eventually use weights one day in their lives and that's not true. A person doesn't have to lift weights to get muscular triceps, biceps, legs or abs. There is a such thing as body weight workouts.

A lot of people that's pushing the "lift heavy" message loves to show pictures of their arms, so people can see their biceps and triceps, but what about their abs and legs? What is the heavy lifting doing for those areas?

Losing fat. I'm not talking about scale weight. I'm talking about fat. It takes time. Let me say losing 100% fat takes time. A person can lose fat and muscle or should I say lean body mass at the same time, but when you lose 100% fat, you will not lose lean body mass.

Just because a person lift weights 7 days a week, it doesn't mean they lose 100% fat fast. They can build muscle, but that muscle will be under fat.

I love cardio. If the next person doesn't. That's fine. But no one should think cardio is bad. Everyone should do what they feel is best for their body.

And bodyweight workouts are fine for beginners, but eventually you will have to use weights if you want to continue to build muscle.

jackpotclown

well if cardio is a swear word, then some of you need to go cardio yourselves, because I'm cardio'in sick and tired of hearing you cardio'in people go back n forth about your cardio'in routines. Have a nice cardio'in day.....cardio'ers!!! \m/

Toddrific

dunno, have you seen the ghetto workouts, they do it all on jungle gyms.

It seems to me it's a pendulum. It also seems that cardio has always been overhyped. I've noticed carbs is a swear word too.

Balance is key.

Also, I've seen Crossfit videos where strength training and cardio go hand in hand, and those people look crazy fit.