Is cardio necesarry for fat loss??
sweetNsassy2584
Posts: 515 Member
I read this today and found it pretty interesting. I've always thought that it was necessary and I do it even though I hate it! What are your thoughts?
http://totalfit.wordpress.com/2007/10/25/is-cardio-necessary-for-fat-loss/
Is Cardio Necessary for Fat Loss?: No actually, you are better off without it…
Resistance Training is better than cardio for fat loss…
In the 1980’s commercial gyms became widespread and very popular, making men like David Lloyd very wealthy indeed. The problem they faced however were women- how do you get them into the gym? They didn’t want to lift weights and were intimidated by having to share the squat rack with the Incredible Hulk. As they say, necessity is the mother of invention, and a Cardiovasuclar training ethos was born. It was marketed as ‘a gentle way of exercising’. Sounds very feminine. The idea was to promote use of treadmills, rowing machines, steppers, cross trainers and a CV bonanza was created! To get the women into the gym there were promises of burning calories and fat. True to a point, but lets not get carried away- there are far more efficient ways of losing blubber than punishing yourself on the treadmill, rower, stair-climber etc. The thing is with these marketing claims is that people believe them! (As I have been guilty of in the past, by signing up to a well-known insurance company!).
There are a few major companies who specialise in helping people to lose weight. They work (to a point). Now interestingly enough, they rely on counting calories and watching what a person eats. Although they both suggest exercise, it is not something that they demand from their members, yet they still lose weight.
Why?
The answer is very simple- to lose weight there is a simple equation. It involves a basic law of economics- to create a deficit you simply use up more of a resource than you replace. This also applies to the human body. If you eat more calories than you burn, the excess is stored as fat. Think of fat as a savings account for the body. The body has energy demands- if we burn more calories than we consume, the difference has to be made up from the savings account to make sure everything runs smoothly. The net result is weight loss. The body has energy demands anyway- this is called basal metabolic rate, so calories are needed just to keep everything functioning. The brain requires energy (some more than others), the heart is constantly beating etc, so we don’t have to exercise to need food!
So how does cardio work for weight loss?
To start with, a person’s weight tells us very little about their body composition. It gives us no idea of their body fat percentage or their lean body mass (muscle, bone etc). It is a well-known fact that muscle tissue is heavier than fat tissue. This explains how a competing bodybuilder can weigh over 17 stone yet only have 3% body fat- it is for this reason I don’t like the term ‘weight loss’, as it actually means very little- because you weigh less it doesn’t actually mean you are in better shape. The idea behind cardio for weight loss is that you burn calories through doing the exercise, helping to create the required deficit. Conceivably, they may lose a few pounds, but how much actual fat have they lost and how much muscle have they lost? When a person performs cardio exercise, the weight they lose is always going to be a mixture of fat and muscle.
Why?
The human body can be in one of two states- anabolic or catabolic. To explain these very basically, Anabolic means building or growing, hence the term anabolic steroids, which are used to chemically aid muscle growth. Catabolic means shrinking- this is shrinking of muscle tissue. When we perform cardiovascular exercise, we enter a catabolic state, shedding muscle. The basic reason for this is because the human body will adapt to the stimuli we expose it to. When we lift heavy weights, we stimulate the body to produce muscle to help us lift easier. When we run long distances, we lose muscle, as muscles require lots of energy, which cannot be supplied during a long run, unless of course you eat mars bars as you plod along the treadmill. You can see this for yourself- when was the last time you saw a marathon runner with a body like Arnold Schwarzenegger? The same goes for the weight lifters- when have you seen a power lifter with a body like Paula Radcliffe? They were not born with their respective bodies- their training for their sports shaped them that way. Don’t believe me? Why do sportsmen and women often get fat when they retire? They are just like you and me, but were in better shape because they trained harder and ate a scientific diet! When they stop, middle age spread hits them just like anyone else!
Of course it helps if you have a natural leaning towards a particular physique- a rugby prop forward is never likely to be a world class middle distance runner, as their body would naturally develop the capacity required at a much slower rate. The same applies to Peter Crouch- try as he might, but he would always find it hard to be a good sumo wrestler! When looking at the general population however, anybody can train their body to a point of adaptation for weight loss. It is only when we try and force the body to reach Olympic capability levels we struggle!
‘Fasted’ Cardio is better for fat loss…
Why would somebody say this?
The ‘theory’ behind this is that if the body has no food inside it, it will have to use fat stores straight away, therefore burning more fat. I will let you into a little secret…..
When we eat food, it is broken down into simple molecules then absorbed into the blood stream where it is transported and used for its respective job, be it repairing tissues, providing muscles with energy or any other job that it may be used for. All foods are broken down into simple sugars called glycogen and glucose. When the body has taken its required nutrients for growth and repair, the left over is stored as glycogen in two places- the muscles and the liver. Studies have shown that the body stores enough energy in the form of glycogen to allow a person to exercise very intensely for up to 1 hour. In order to burn fat as the major fuel resource, a person would have to be totally fasted and then train at an intensity level that would make an Olympic athlete foam at the mouth for 1 HOUR. Only then would they start burning more fat than carbohydrate (sugar)!
Think that’s bad enough? Sorry to be the bearer of bad news, but when the body burns fat as its primary resource, it enters into a state called ketosis. This HURTS! You may be familiar with the term ‘hitting the wall’. This is when the body runs out of glycogen and starts to burn fat for energy. It is associated with ultra-long distance events such as marathons and triathlons, where after a few hours of activity the body runs out of glycogen and burns fat. Hitting the wall is so painful that a world record holder over various running distances, Haile Gabri Selassie, had to pull out of the London Marathon when he hit the wall. There are plenty of examples where experienced athletes have given up in the middle of a race thanks to hitting the wall. People have been known to cramp up, pass out and even wet themselves. My point is, if a world record holding runner struggled after entering ketosis, then a person who has been training for a few measly months doesn’t really stand much of a chance!
Rest assured, the average gym goer would struggle to do even a quarter of the required work to make this happen. Fasted cardio in practice sounds like a good idea, but when you actually think about it, it really isn’t!
Is the real reason a person is still fat is because they couldn’t decide whether to do cardio on an empty stomach or not? Nope. 30 minutes of steady state cardio will burn about 300 calories. Three times per week – 900 calories. Add that up for 26 weeks and we get a whopping: 23,400 calories, or in real terms, 6.6 lbs of fat- in six months! Hardly slimmer of the year material!
If doing the cardio fasted, burned 30% more calories (which it doesn’t, but lets say it does for the purpose of making it seem better than it really is!), you’re looking at another 2lbs of fat in that same six month period, or an additional 0.07 pounds per week.
Fat people finish marathons all the time. Aerobic training doesn’t do a hell of a lot for real world fat loss. Even if you’re hungry.
Luckily, restricted calorie intake coupled with progressive resistance exercise does.
Studies have estimated that for each pound of muscle that you add to your body, you burn an additional 40 to 70 calories per day. So, an extra 10 pounds of muscle will burn approximately 400 to 700 calories a day, or an extra pound of fat every 5 to 9 days, without making any other changes. That is 72,000-126,000 calories. In another study, researchers found that regular weight training boosts basal metabolic rate by about 15%. This is because muscle is ‘metabolically active ‘ and burns more calories than other body tissue even when you’re not moving. So if you add 10lbs of muscle to your frame, hardly a massive amount- just over half a stone, you will be burning 20-36lbs of fat in six months, compared to the 6.6-8.6lbs of fat that you would burn with 3 half hour cardio sessions per week.
An intense session of cardiovascular exercise will burn around 300 calories, depending on the individual. The calorie counter on the machine may say it’s more, but don’t even get me started on why those things are wrong! Armed with this information, why should you pound the treadmill or exercise bike for 30 minutes, working yourself into a sweaty mess, when you can simply drop those calories from your daily intake? You will notice almost no difference in your daily food intake and can spend the extra 30 minutes working on building that vital calorie-burning muscle!
If I need to further the point (which I don’t think I need to, but what the hell!), the ‘Golden era’ of bodybuilding was the 70’s, when people like Arnold Shwarzenegger, Franco Columbo, Lou Ferrigno etc became famous. They were in amazing shape- big but not stupidly so, lean without going down to 2% body fat. I can tell you that they certainly did not lose their excess fat on a rowing machine or a treadmill! This was about 15 years before the CV craze swept the world. If it worked for them, I’m sure it will work for everyone else!
I hope that this clears up the issue once and for all! I don’t wish to say that cardio does not have its place- it does. What I am trying to establish is that for fat loss, weight training and controlled nutrition is a much better option. If you want to be a better runner, then cardio is for you! If you want to be leaner, try the weights approach.
I have backed up this method with lab-based studies in university over three years and I have used it professionally for three. Six years of success are no fluke.
http://totalfit.wordpress.com/2007/10/25/is-cardio-necessary-for-fat-loss/
Is Cardio Necessary for Fat Loss?: No actually, you are better off without it…
Resistance Training is better than cardio for fat loss…
In the 1980’s commercial gyms became widespread and very popular, making men like David Lloyd very wealthy indeed. The problem they faced however were women- how do you get them into the gym? They didn’t want to lift weights and were intimidated by having to share the squat rack with the Incredible Hulk. As they say, necessity is the mother of invention, and a Cardiovasuclar training ethos was born. It was marketed as ‘a gentle way of exercising’. Sounds very feminine. The idea was to promote use of treadmills, rowing machines, steppers, cross trainers and a CV bonanza was created! To get the women into the gym there were promises of burning calories and fat. True to a point, but lets not get carried away- there are far more efficient ways of losing blubber than punishing yourself on the treadmill, rower, stair-climber etc. The thing is with these marketing claims is that people believe them! (As I have been guilty of in the past, by signing up to a well-known insurance company!).
There are a few major companies who specialise in helping people to lose weight. They work (to a point). Now interestingly enough, they rely on counting calories and watching what a person eats. Although they both suggest exercise, it is not something that they demand from their members, yet they still lose weight.
Why?
The answer is very simple- to lose weight there is a simple equation. It involves a basic law of economics- to create a deficit you simply use up more of a resource than you replace. This also applies to the human body. If you eat more calories than you burn, the excess is stored as fat. Think of fat as a savings account for the body. The body has energy demands- if we burn more calories than we consume, the difference has to be made up from the savings account to make sure everything runs smoothly. The net result is weight loss. The body has energy demands anyway- this is called basal metabolic rate, so calories are needed just to keep everything functioning. The brain requires energy (some more than others), the heart is constantly beating etc, so we don’t have to exercise to need food!
So how does cardio work for weight loss?
To start with, a person’s weight tells us very little about their body composition. It gives us no idea of their body fat percentage or their lean body mass (muscle, bone etc). It is a well-known fact that muscle tissue is heavier than fat tissue. This explains how a competing bodybuilder can weigh over 17 stone yet only have 3% body fat- it is for this reason I don’t like the term ‘weight loss’, as it actually means very little- because you weigh less it doesn’t actually mean you are in better shape. The idea behind cardio for weight loss is that you burn calories through doing the exercise, helping to create the required deficit. Conceivably, they may lose a few pounds, but how much actual fat have they lost and how much muscle have they lost? When a person performs cardio exercise, the weight they lose is always going to be a mixture of fat and muscle.
Why?
The human body can be in one of two states- anabolic or catabolic. To explain these very basically, Anabolic means building or growing, hence the term anabolic steroids, which are used to chemically aid muscle growth. Catabolic means shrinking- this is shrinking of muscle tissue. When we perform cardiovascular exercise, we enter a catabolic state, shedding muscle. The basic reason for this is because the human body will adapt to the stimuli we expose it to. When we lift heavy weights, we stimulate the body to produce muscle to help us lift easier. When we run long distances, we lose muscle, as muscles require lots of energy, which cannot be supplied during a long run, unless of course you eat mars bars as you plod along the treadmill. You can see this for yourself- when was the last time you saw a marathon runner with a body like Arnold Schwarzenegger? The same goes for the weight lifters- when have you seen a power lifter with a body like Paula Radcliffe? They were not born with their respective bodies- their training for their sports shaped them that way. Don’t believe me? Why do sportsmen and women often get fat when they retire? They are just like you and me, but were in better shape because they trained harder and ate a scientific diet! When they stop, middle age spread hits them just like anyone else!
Of course it helps if you have a natural leaning towards a particular physique- a rugby prop forward is never likely to be a world class middle distance runner, as their body would naturally develop the capacity required at a much slower rate. The same applies to Peter Crouch- try as he might, but he would always find it hard to be a good sumo wrestler! When looking at the general population however, anybody can train their body to a point of adaptation for weight loss. It is only when we try and force the body to reach Olympic capability levels we struggle!
‘Fasted’ Cardio is better for fat loss…
Why would somebody say this?
The ‘theory’ behind this is that if the body has no food inside it, it will have to use fat stores straight away, therefore burning more fat. I will let you into a little secret…..
When we eat food, it is broken down into simple molecules then absorbed into the blood stream where it is transported and used for its respective job, be it repairing tissues, providing muscles with energy or any other job that it may be used for. All foods are broken down into simple sugars called glycogen and glucose. When the body has taken its required nutrients for growth and repair, the left over is stored as glycogen in two places- the muscles and the liver. Studies have shown that the body stores enough energy in the form of glycogen to allow a person to exercise very intensely for up to 1 hour. In order to burn fat as the major fuel resource, a person would have to be totally fasted and then train at an intensity level that would make an Olympic athlete foam at the mouth for 1 HOUR. Only then would they start burning more fat than carbohydrate (sugar)!
Think that’s bad enough? Sorry to be the bearer of bad news, but when the body burns fat as its primary resource, it enters into a state called ketosis. This HURTS! You may be familiar with the term ‘hitting the wall’. This is when the body runs out of glycogen and starts to burn fat for energy. It is associated with ultra-long distance events such as marathons and triathlons, where after a few hours of activity the body runs out of glycogen and burns fat. Hitting the wall is so painful that a world record holder over various running distances, Haile Gabri Selassie, had to pull out of the London Marathon when he hit the wall. There are plenty of examples where experienced athletes have given up in the middle of a race thanks to hitting the wall. People have been known to cramp up, pass out and even wet themselves. My point is, if a world record holding runner struggled after entering ketosis, then a person who has been training for a few measly months doesn’t really stand much of a chance!
Rest assured, the average gym goer would struggle to do even a quarter of the required work to make this happen. Fasted cardio in practice sounds like a good idea, but when you actually think about it, it really isn’t!
Is the real reason a person is still fat is because they couldn’t decide whether to do cardio on an empty stomach or not? Nope. 30 minutes of steady state cardio will burn about 300 calories. Three times per week – 900 calories. Add that up for 26 weeks and we get a whopping: 23,400 calories, or in real terms, 6.6 lbs of fat- in six months! Hardly slimmer of the year material!
If doing the cardio fasted, burned 30% more calories (which it doesn’t, but lets say it does for the purpose of making it seem better than it really is!), you’re looking at another 2lbs of fat in that same six month period, or an additional 0.07 pounds per week.
Fat people finish marathons all the time. Aerobic training doesn’t do a hell of a lot for real world fat loss. Even if you’re hungry.
Luckily, restricted calorie intake coupled with progressive resistance exercise does.
Studies have estimated that for each pound of muscle that you add to your body, you burn an additional 40 to 70 calories per day. So, an extra 10 pounds of muscle will burn approximately 400 to 700 calories a day, or an extra pound of fat every 5 to 9 days, without making any other changes. That is 72,000-126,000 calories. In another study, researchers found that regular weight training boosts basal metabolic rate by about 15%. This is because muscle is ‘metabolically active ‘ and burns more calories than other body tissue even when you’re not moving. So if you add 10lbs of muscle to your frame, hardly a massive amount- just over half a stone, you will be burning 20-36lbs of fat in six months, compared to the 6.6-8.6lbs of fat that you would burn with 3 half hour cardio sessions per week.
An intense session of cardiovascular exercise will burn around 300 calories, depending on the individual. The calorie counter on the machine may say it’s more, but don’t even get me started on why those things are wrong! Armed with this information, why should you pound the treadmill or exercise bike for 30 minutes, working yourself into a sweaty mess, when you can simply drop those calories from your daily intake? You will notice almost no difference in your daily food intake and can spend the extra 30 minutes working on building that vital calorie-burning muscle!
If I need to further the point (which I don’t think I need to, but what the hell!), the ‘Golden era’ of bodybuilding was the 70’s, when people like Arnold Shwarzenegger, Franco Columbo, Lou Ferrigno etc became famous. They were in amazing shape- big but not stupidly so, lean without going down to 2% body fat. I can tell you that they certainly did not lose their excess fat on a rowing machine or a treadmill! This was about 15 years before the CV craze swept the world. If it worked for them, I’m sure it will work for everyone else!
I hope that this clears up the issue once and for all! I don’t wish to say that cardio does not have its place- it does. What I am trying to establish is that for fat loss, weight training and controlled nutrition is a much better option. If you want to be a better runner, then cardio is for you! If you want to be leaner, try the weights approach.
I have backed up this method with lab-based studies in university over three years and I have used it professionally for three. Six years of success are no fluke.
0
Replies
-
No, it isn't necessary.
All you need is a calorie deficit which can be achieved by diet alone.
Whether it's preferable or not is another matter entirely.0 -
The article displays a pretty basic ignorance of how the body process energy during aerobic exercise.
People that don't want to be aerobically fit should just do what makes them happy. They don't need to keep creating fantasies to justify it.0 -
Oh, and this....Studies have estimated that for each pound of muscle that you add to your body, you burn an additional 40 to 70 calories per day.
is nonsense. It's more like 6.0 -
Didnt read OP
Answer is no
Promise0 -
If I need to further the point (which I don’t think I need to, but what the hell!), the ‘Golden era’ of bodybuilding was the 70’s, when people like Arnold Shwarzenegger, Franco Columbo, Lou Ferrigno etc became famous. They were in amazing shape- big but not stupidly so, lean without going down to 2% body fat. I can tell you that they certainly did not lose their excess fat on a rowing machine or a treadmill! This was about 15 years before the CV craze swept the world. If it worked for them, I’m sure it will work for everyone else!
If he's saying that those people didn't do cardio, he's wrong.0 -
This is pretty dumb too.If I need to further the point (which I don’t think I need to, but what the hell!), the ‘Golden era’ of bodybuilding was the 70’s, when people like Arnold Shwarzenegger, Franco Columbo, Lou Ferrigno etc became famous. They were in amazing shape- big but not stupidly so, lean without going down to 2% body fat. I can tell you that they certainly did not lose their excess fat on a rowing machine or a treadmill! This was about 15 years before the CV craze swept the world. If it worked for them, I’m sure it will work for everyone else!
Everyone of those guys used anabolic steroids. So telling a person looking to lose weight that, If it worked for them, I’m sure it will work for everyone else! is deception.0 -
Wow thats too long to hold my attention but all I want to say is in order to reduce body fat, bodybuilders and athletes up the cardio so I would go by them and not some blog on wordpress.0
-
The answer is no you don't need cardio to lose fat.
However,
There are a number of things that are incorrect in that article.
You should do cardio because there is tons of science showing it makes you a healthier happier person. And yes it does burn fat0 -
If you just want to lose weight without aerobic activity, go ahead.
If you want to live a life with a healthy cardiovascular system, do cardio.0 -
simple answer no0
-
Just don't eat.
You will lose weight. Might make you grouchy though.0 -
agreed. It's not "required" but with the typical Western diet it sure is helpful for most people to create their calorie deficit.
Resistance training should definitely be the priority though.
And cardio doesn't just mean treadmills and other boring stuff. My cardio involves kick boxing, kettlebells, strongman stuff and climbing mountains predominantly
Just do whatever you like to do that gets the HR up. 0 -
Oh, and this....Studies have estimated that for each pound of muscle that you add to your body, you burn an additional 40 to 70 calories per day.
is nonsense. It's more like 6.
Exactly.0 -
Dancing is my fun cardio
0 -
Just don't eat.
You will lose weight. Might make you grouchy though.
So does living in a garbage can.0 -
thanks for posting-I agree!!0
-
Definitely no. And you can still strengthen your cardiovascular system with weight training. Cardio is essentially bull**** unless you compete.0
-
If you go on hikes and haven't maintained your cardiovascular system all year and have just lifted weight, you'll be in for a world of hurt. I did Bikram Yoga for almost a year, and they say it is cardio. Yeah, you increase your heart rate now and then, but not sustained the whole session. I found that I could barely hike a couple of miles. When I do cardio, I am healthier, and it is good for my heart.
Now, I find that for losing weight, I have to add some cardio in because I like barre exercises for toning and strengthening. They are lower impact and less stress on my shoulders. I don't want to be a skinny fat person who weights 105 lbs but has a jiggly belly and cellulited butt and thighs. I'd rather be a toned and more muscular person who weighs a bit more but also has a healthy cardiovascular system.0 -
No, it isn't necessary.
All you need is a calorie deficit which can be achieved by diet alone.
Whether it's preferable or not is another matter entirely.
^ Agreed.0 -
Just don't eat.
You will lose weight. Might make you grouchy though.
So does living in a garbage can.
HEHEHEHE0 -
No it is not necesarry but your heart will thank you for it!0
-
for all intents and purposes, the answer depends on how much you need to lose.
if you're 500 lbs and want to get to 200 lbs, then you're going to need to do cardio. it would take a long time to just do it by calorie deficit and it would be hard to stick to that for years at a time. even adding in strength training isn't going to increase the metabolism by that much.
if you're 240 lbs and want to get to 200 lbs, then you can do it with just a calorie deficit or with some strength training added in, and it won't take that long.0 -
It will boost up your metabolism fat people should be doing cardio..0
-
Just don't eat.
You will lose weight. Might make you grouchy though.
So does living in a garbage can.
0 -
It will boost up your metabolism fat people should be doing cardio..
Your just rude!!!0 -
It will boost up your metabolism fat people should be doing cardio..
Your just rude!!!
*You're0 -
It will boost up your metabolism fat people should be doing cardio..
Your just rude!!!
*You're
Thanks! iphone autocorrect fail!0 -
If you don't do cardio, when you lose the weight, it will come back on. YOu need to build cardio into your daily routine and log it here. You will then look at food and stop yourself eating it because you know how much cardio to have to do to burn it.
Cardio is essential for increasing your metabolism - essential for weight loss when you start to plateau.0 -
Cardio is not essential... The only thing essential to fat loss is having a caloric deficit and that can be done by diet alone.0
-
It will boost up your metabolism fat people should be doing cardio..
Your just rude!!!
actually, he's partly right and partly wrong.
cardio doesn't affect metabolism because it doesn't add muscle mass. it does burn calories by exertion though.
"fat" people should do cardio, but so should "skinny" people who don't want to get out of breath running 2 blocks.
regarding the rudeness... well he's 18. few 18 year olds these days know what the word "tact" means, much less practice it.0
Categories
- All Categories
- 1.4M Health, Wellness and Goals
- 393.4K Introduce Yourself
- 43.8K Getting Started
- 260.2K Health and Weight Loss
- 175.9K Food and Nutrition
- 47.4K Recipes
- 232.5K Fitness and Exercise
- 426 Sleep, Mindfulness and Overall Wellness
- 6.5K Goal: Maintaining Weight
- 8.5K 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
- 3.7K MyFitnessPal Information
- 24 News and Announcements
- 1.1K Feature Suggestions and Ideas
- 2.6K MyFitnessPal Tech Support Questions