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Which Cardio does what?

nightsrainfall
nightsrainfall Posts: 244 Member
edited December 2024 in Fitness and Exercise
Is there some difference as to what different types of cardio works out?

For example, what does stairs do (stairmaster) compared to let's say running? Or what about Swimming, Walking, Biking, Eliptical, etc?

I realize it's probably just Cardio works out your muscles overall and burns calories, but still curious if a specific type of cardio might help a little bit more with ____ compared to another.

Replies

  • Determinednoob
    Determinednoob Posts: 2,001 Member
    difference is mostly negligible if cardio is all you do as far as burning calories etc. no form of it is a magic fat burner, they all just burn calories like any activity. higher intensity\impact done over a long period of time causes more joint problems and other overuse issues. If you weight train to get stronger, like you should, cardio that works muscles more intensly can have a greater hinderance on muscle recovery for weight training. if you are lifting to get bigger also, then cardio burns cals that could be going into new muscle creation and would require you to eat more. Check this for more info

    http://www.simplyshredded.com/nutrition-expert-alan-aragon-talks-with-simplyshredded-com.html
  • madmickie
    madmickie Posts: 221 Member
    Cardio-based exercise is anything that will get your heart and lungs working a bit harder for a period of time.

    Swimming is generally considered the best all round exercise - as you use a lot of muscle groups and it's not stressful on joints - but you need a pool!

    Running can be the ultimate cardio exercise and is as hard as you want to make it - for fitness, long and easy is probably best and you can do it anywhere.

    The higher and longer you keep your heart rate then the more cals you will burn.

    There's lots of info on heart rate training out there which is worth a look if you want the detail.
  • nightsrainfall
    nightsrainfall Posts: 244 Member
    Thanks for the information. I figured it was all fairly similar. I do strength exercises and understand those fairly well. For cardio, however, I was not as certain if one cardio type would use one set of muscles and another cardio type would use a different... The only reason I ask is because I tend to do stairs and bike which to mean may strengthen my legs more than running or swimming - and I would like to slim them down not make them larger. (I know muscle is less volume than fat, but for the volume change to occur you would have to burn the fat and not just build muscle.)
  • Jynus
    Jynus Posts: 519 Member
    using the muscle is NOT the same as working it. you get very minor muscular benefit from cardio. but you don't get toned athletic looking muscles from it. Curling a can of beans 1000 times is not going to give you built biceps, just like taking 1000 steps in a jog is not going to give you built legs.

    Cardio is exercise for your heart. Not really that much for your body beyond a base level.

    And if your goal is muscle atrophy, cardio is actually a great way to do it. Want less muscle in your legs? Then do lots of low impact jogging without pushing lactic acid threshholds and skip all resistance training. Voila, your type II muscle fibres in your legs will eventually start to atrophy. Same principle as why all elite marathon runners are weak as hell and have zero lean mass. Don't use Type II mass? It goes away.
  • nightsrainfall
    nightsrainfall Posts: 244 Member
    using the muscle is NOT the same as working it. you get very minor muscular benefit from cardio. but you don't get toned athletic looking muscles from it. Curling a can of beans 1000 times is not going to give you built biceps, just like taking 1000 steps in a jog is not going to give you built legs.

    Cardio is exercise for your heart. Not really that much for your body beyond a base level.

    And if your goal is muscle atrophy, cardio is actually a great way to do it. Want less muscle in your legs? Then do lots of low impact jogging without pushing lactic acid threshholds and skip all resistance training. Voila, your type II muscle fibres in your legs will eventually start to atrophy. Same principle as why all elite marathon runners are weak as hell and have zero lean mass. Don't use Type II mass? It goes away.

    I'm asking about cardio because the cardio exercises I prefer are either low impact (biking) or remind me of strength (stairs). I, however, would like lean muscle in my legs and I would also like to burn fat from my legs.

    I am fairly versed in health related topics (fitness and nutrition). I do admit I tend to not quite practice what I know, but that's on me. Actually my prefered exericses are all strength training, weights, and resistance training - but I'm purposely trying to learn more about cardio as well as add it in. Lately I've been reading there are differences in the benefits of different cardio exercises. I'm torn on if this is true and curious to other people's opinions. I know strength is the way to go for building muscle and becoming stronger - but having done ROTC and Crossfit, I also know my own body does not really drop fat (weight/inches) that way nor do I increase my endurance for anything faced pace, heart, leg, arm, otherwise.
  • scottb81
    scottb81 Posts: 2,538 Member
    Cardiovascular fitness is more than just the heart. It also includes adaptations specific to the muscles that are worked. Swimming will build cardiovascular fitness in the upper body but will do little for the legs. Likewise running will build it in the legs but do next to nothing for the upper body. Biking and running also predominantly use different muscles in the legs so the cardiovascular benefits are not fully transferrable.

    If you are just burning calories it doesn't matter what you do. If you are looking to improve performance in a specific activity then you need to train that activity.
  • litatura
    litatura Posts: 569 Member
    Cardio is a great way to burn calories and definitely helps in weight loss, building endurance, and improving overall fitness, but it doesn't help with toning/strength (I'm a cardio junkie and it's been effective for me in those three areas, but my strength and toning needs a lot of work). I'm a runner and biker.
  • nightsrainfall
    nightsrainfall Posts: 244 Member
    Cardiovascular fitness is more than just the heart. It also includes adaptations specific to the muscles that are worked. Swimming will build cardiovascular fitness in the upper body but will do little for the legs. Likewise running will build it in the legs but do next to nothing for the upper body. Biking and running also predominantly use different muscles in the legs so the cardiovascular benefits are not fully transferrable.

    If you are just burning calories it doesn't matter what you do. If you are looking to improve performance in a specific activity then you need to train that activity.

    Thanks for responding! :-)
  • alyssamiller77
    alyssamiller77 Posts: 891 Member
    Cardiovascular fitness is more than just the heart. It also includes adaptations specific to the muscles that are worked. Swimming will build cardiovascular fitness in the upper body but will do little for the legs. Likewise running will build it in the legs but do next to nothing for the upper body. Biking and running also predominantly use different muscles in the legs so the cardiovascular benefits are not fully transferrable.

    If you are just burning calories it doesn't matter what you do. If you are looking to improve performance in a specific activity then you need to train that activity.

    THIS ^^^
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