Cardio is not for me but I love strength training...

sazroy

Okay, hey all I'm just curious...

I live in a town where it's raining and cold for more than half the year, I can't really afford in home gym equipment, I have an exercise bike but can't go at it for very long due to knee injury.. My question is, is it possible to achieve my weight loss goals by using strength based training alone? Or adding very little cardio? My job has me on my feet all day but it's not enough for me to lose the weight but I'm wondering, can weights, squats, crunches the whole sha-bang help me? I love lifting weights, recently (2-3 weeks ago) bought 3kg dumbells to start off with and you can already see definition in my biceps which has given me more motivation to continue. Also started different variations of crunches around the same time and already getting some definition/lines down the sides of my abdomen (woohoo!) So although I'm not losing weight on the scales, I do look better and can see it in the mirror.. so.. following a proper regime.. is cardio 100% necessary? Because honestly, it's too hard (for me) to include enough cardio in my life.

bohonomad

Cardio is good for your heart, you should just try walking or hiking, something that doesn't feel like exercising. You can get toned and look nice without cardio, though. I have friends who have gotten thin just by diet.

sazroy

It's not so much the effort in cardio, it's the fact I can't walk as it's almost always raining and cold. (And I don't wanna hear wear a rain jacket..)
I would really love a cross trainer as they don't hurt my knee and I have the endurance for jogging but not the shin strength so I figure a cross trainer is my best option for cardio, but until I can save enough to afford one I was hoping the strength training is enough?

DawnEH612

Cardio is not necessary to lose weight but it is good for your heart and other physical benefits, of course. Weight lifting, is great for losing weight. It speeds up your metabolism and counteracts muscle wasting as we age. I am a huge advocate for lifting weights. For every pound of muscle you gain you burn an extra 45-50 calories/day! That's pretty awesome stuff. It also helps you look smaller because it is more condensed than fat. You may try compound movements which will help to elevate your heart rate. Also, perhaps doing intervals of lifting followed by 30-90 seconds of marching in place, jogging in place, using your stationary bike, followed by weight segements. I highly recommend, as a female, no barbie doll weights... Pick up real weights... Meaning they actually have weight! I started out light but now days I don't lift anything LESS than 15 pounds with the exception of a few shoulder exercises. I noticed a huge difference in my body since doing that.
I highly recommend going to scoobysworkshop.com for some great ideas..... He has really sound advice and great ideas and stresses good nutrition and form in his exercises!

bohonomad

You'll be fine. You could do imaginary jump rope, jumping jacks, etc. inside. But you can still look good without having to do a ton of cardio, it;s mainly handy if you want to eat extra calories.

MoreBean13

Yes. You can do it without cardio. It's about calorie deficit, and strength training calories are more difficult to estimate so you might need to do some experimentation to find the right calorie level for your lifting program, but it can be done.

Some cardio after lifting can speed up fat loss, but your don't HAVE to do it.

sazroy

Cardio is not necessary to lose weight but it is good for your heart and other physical benefits, of course. Weight lifting, is great for losing weight. It speeds up your metabolism and counteracts muscle wasting as we age. I am a huge advocate for lifting weights. For every pound of muscle you gain you burn an extra 45-50 calories/day! That's pretty awesome stuff. It also helps you look smaller because it is more condensed than fat. You may try compound movements which will help to elevate your heart rate. Also, perhaps doing intervals of lifting followed by 30-90 seconds of marching in place, jogging in place, using your stationary bike, followed by weight segements. I highly recommend, as a female, no barbie doll weights... Pick up real weights... Meaning they actually have weight! I started out light but now days I don't lift anything LESS than 15 pounds with the exception of a few shoulder exercises. I noticed a huge difference in my body since doing that.
I highly recommend going to scoobysworkshop.com for some great ideas..... He has really sound advice and great ideas and stresses good nutrition and form in his exercises!

Had to convert the 15lb to kgs for my benefit haha so that's 6.8kg weights you do, well I've started on 3kg weights (6.6lb roughly) I started on 3 sets of 10 reps for each arm just regular bicep curls, after a few days I changed to 3 sets of 15 reps, now I can do 30 reps no worries but combining with lunges and working the triceps too, then I do situps and side planks. It's kind of addictive actually and my partner lifts weights too so now it's something we can do together and keep up with each other (cardio usually resulted in arguments because I'd get sore much sooner than he would)
I will have a look at scoobysworkshop thanks! I am about to start a routine from the (Australian) Women's Health and Fitness magazine which is a 12 week summer body countdown, looks good!

sazroy

You'll be fine. You could do imaginary jump rope, jumping jacks, etc. inside. But you can still look good without having to do a ton of cardio, it;s mainly handy if you want to eat extra calories.

Thanks, eh calories don't bother me too much, during the week I'm pretty good at sticking between 1200 - 1500 cals a day, weekends I let myself indulge a little more but I did a calorie control program called Lite n Easy for about 6 months and in the first 3 months lost 9.7kgs (21lbs) at 1200cal a day 7 days a week but then I plateaued for 3 months and went off the program. I have been struggling to lose weight since and gained back 2kg (4lb) but oh well, I still lost a lot of weight overall and there's still more to go and I'm no longer gaining woo! So bring on those dumbells and muscles, I love seeing my bicep muscles and feeling strong, I find this method works for me better because I can really SEE the results whereas even after losing the 21lb I still found it hard to see what I'd acheived.

DavPul

Not necessary in the slightest. If you don't want to do it, and you are confident that you can keep your calories in line without cardio, don't do it. Don't even give it a second thought.

IronSmasher

No it's not, but you might enjoy body weight circuits.