Cardio doesn't improve heart and lung efficiency - really?

Yogi_Carl
Yogi_Carl Posts: 1,906 Member
edited January 2 in Fitness and Exercise
OK - I had always believed that running, cycling, swimming, Insanity etc. created a demand on the cardiovascular system and in so doing caused the system to become more efficient at obtaining and distributing oxygen and energy around the body and that is why, after a time of practising, the activity becomes easier and you can do it for longer - because the cardio system is more efficient.

In Mark Lauren's book "You are your own gym", Mark claims that cardio doesn't improve heart and lung efficiency but the activity becomes easier because the body learns to move more efficiently and that, unless you enjoy running, cycling, swimming you are wasting your time if you think you are doing the best thing to lose weight and/or improve your cardiovascular system.

Surely not? Surely every day I've been running in the rain, cycling in the wind and swimming in the cold sea I have been improving my cardio efficiency and surely I've been burning far more calories than by weight training or body strength training?

Mark says not, as the development of muscle means your body is burning more calories, not only when you are exercising but also when you are at rest!

Have I had this wrong for so long? If that is the case I have always been better off doing a daily Yoga practise and a regular bodyweight strengthening routine ('m not keen on weights and I like the challenge and feel of body resistance movements) and leave the running to the gazelles!

Any views?
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Replies

  • FullOfWin
    FullOfWin Posts: 1,414 Member
    I don't like cardio and prefer building muscle, but I am pretty sure that is incorrect, and that the metabolism boost from building muscle is pretty negligible.
  • Yogi_Carl
    Yogi_Carl Posts: 1,906 Member
    Thanks - that's my angle on it, unless anyone can come up with anything definite.
  • meshashesha2012
    meshashesha2012 Posts: 8,329 Member
    the assumption for that statement i bet is for people do the same exact workout without challenging themselves. so if you go on the treadmill and do 30 minutes at 4.0 pace for a year then after awhile you wouldnt be making any progress. but really the same can be said for weight lifting. i think most people - regardless if they are lifting weights are doing cardio - know that when something gets easy they need to work harder.
  • spartanracer1975
    spartanracer1975 Posts: 6 Member
    Youre max heart rate will stay the same, you can't increase it. But you can learn to run faster at a lower heart rate. Let's say you were running 5 mph at 160 bpm and after some training you could run 6 mph at 160 bpm. It is a combination of many things, muscle growth, heart and lung efficiency, etc.
    You can increase your VO2 max which is the amount of oxygen your body can take int (this helps in the above scenario).

    The statement from the author doesn't make sense because your body isn't a disconnected set of items (heart, lungs, muscles) but all of these things working together. Yes, you may become more efficient, which is why you see less gain as you train more. But you do increase VO2 max and the efficiency of pumping blood through your body.
  • PurpleTina
    PurpleTina Posts: 390 Member
    I don't believe it either. Firstly, four months ago I was struggling to keep my asthma under control, and could not run. By increasing my cardio sessions, I can now run 4-5 miles quite comfortably, three times a week. My asthma is well controlled and I have reduced my meds.

    Secondly, I train with a HRM, and find that as I get fitter, it's harder to raise my heart rate whilst exercising. Oh, and my recovery rate is quicker too.

    I think the bit about strength training is right, but who says you have to do it? If you don't like strength training dont worry it's not for everybody!

    Keep doing what you're doing!
  • Yogi_Carl
    Yogi_Carl Posts: 1,906 Member
    Thanks - the replies I am getting are confirmations of what I had always believed. Thanks also SpartanRacer1 - I had forgotten about VO Max and VO2; quite agree.

    I love sea and open water swimming, yoga and bodyweight strengthening work and would do them anyway, but I do like to know they are doing me some good as well.
  • GiddyupTim
    GiddyupTim Posts: 2,819 Member
    I run, bike, hike, play tennis, etc. a lot.
    If that isn't helping my cardiovascular system, how come my blood pressure is always at or below 110 over 60?
    If it is not improving my lung capacity, how come I can run to the top of hills I would have had a hard time walking up before?
    Doesn't make sense to me.
  • brown6267
    brown6267 Posts: 476 Member
    I agree with PurpleTina.

    I train with a HRM, too, and do HIIT. I can raise my heart rate really fast but my recovery is just as quick. I have seen a big improvement in this area the last several months. When I play racquetball, I hardly ever get out-of-breath.

    Also, I have dropped 25+ pounds since May through HIIT, cardio, and just watching what I eat. I have not done hardly any weights, and I have muscle mass while I dropped the fat. I do not like strength training but am trying to add some to get stronger as I get older.
  • Crochetluvr
    Crochetluvr Posts: 3,856 Member
    I was always told the heart is a muscle and needs to be exercised as much as any other muscle in the body so it will work better.
  • neverstray
    neverstray Posts: 3,845 Member
    Without reading the book myself, is hard to place context into what he is claiming. You might be picking out a subsection of a bigger point. I don't know. It doesn't seem right on the surface, but I don't know what point he is trying to make by saying that.
  • Enigmatica
    Enigmatica Posts: 879 Member
    Nonsense. When I was out of shape, 4 years ago, my resting heart rate was 75-80 bpm, oxygen saturation levels were mediocre, and lung efficiency test was poor. Now my RHR is 48-52 bpm and the other test results are in excellent range too. Overall I've lost more than 90 pounds by walking, jogging, and eating sensibly. Never set foot in a gym and didn't need to pay a personal trainer.
  • LoraF83
    LoraF83 Posts: 15,694 Member
    "activity becomes easier because the body learns to move more efficiently"

    ^That would fit into my definition of improvement.......
  • dayone987
    dayone987 Posts: 645 Member
    Here's a balanced article (IMO) on the cardio vs weight lifting debate

    http://weighttraining.about.com/od/techniquesandstrategies/a/weight-training-aerobic-training.htm
  • vickij2
    vickij2 Posts: 66 Member
    Keep doing your cardio. Ask yourself."..Is this hurting my body?" I don't think so. Yes, you should do some type of weights for strength AND bone strength. Everyone finds what he/she can live with, however, you have to LIVE with it. Do not do anything you will not stick with.
  • gazelleintraining
    gazelleintraining Posts: 107 Member
    My stepdad had a heart attack a few years back and the doctor said he believed that he survived because of his heavy exercise habits. He was quite active a the time: intense mountain biking, hiking, and gym workouts practically everyday. Evidently, the veins around his heart that had become regularly engaged and strengthened through his exercise helped pick up the circulatory slack when his artery became blocked and kept him alive. So efficiency? Nah, probably has nothing to do with it. But he's still alive and well many years later, thanks to his cardio.

    [Edit: And he was in pretty good health otherwise. It was one of those situations where he had been unhealthy and heavy in his earlier "french fry and beer" years but after being healthy for quite some time (a decade or more), a chunk of plaque became dislodged from the artery wall and blocked the passage of blood].
  • vickij2
    vickij2 Posts: 66 Member
    In the end you are beating anyone who does nothing!
  • lustingforfitness
    lustingforfitness Posts: 74 Member
    I am a nursing student and I just went through this in Physiology. Increased exercise DOES increase your circulation because when there is an heightened need for more blood flow/cardiovascular circulation and more blood needs to get pumping, new blood vessels are formed (angiogenesis) which allows this to happen. So people who work out more frequently and are more active have more blood vessels, (among other things such as increased stamina, more muscle, etc. but I'm just talking about the blood vessels here), which circulates more oxygen faster, more ATP production, yadda yadda.

    I do not agree with that author's theory.
  • Timmmy40
    Timmmy40 Posts: 152 Member
    I call the BS card on cardo does not improve heart and lung efficiency. I went swimming when I was at my heaviest and I could hold my breath for about 20 secs. Now, after losing 107 lbs I can swim underwater holding my breath for over a min. I can effectively go scuba diving now that i do not float, and I can more efficiently control my breathing. I also have started running for the last 3 - 4 months. In the beginning I could only run a minute or so and I was out of breath. Today I ran 7.5 miles and I controlled my breathing. There is no way swimming, running, cycling, etc. does not improve your efficiency. Who is this Mark anyways?
  • Weebs628
    Weebs628 Posts: 574 Member
    I don't believe it either. Firstly, four months ago I was struggling to keep my asthma under control, and could not run. By increasing my cardio sessions, I can now run 4-5 miles quite comfortably, three times a week. My asthma is well controlled and I have reduced my meds.

    Secondly, I train with a HRM, and find that as I get fitter, it's harder to raise my heart rate whilst exercising. Oh, and my recovery rate is quicker too.

    I think the bit about strength training is right, but who says you have to do it? If you don't like strength training dont worry it's not for everybody!

    Keep doing what you're doing!

    Ditto with the asthma. I'm noticing a WORLD of difference since I started running. I hardly ever need my recuse inhaler and I'm off my daily inhaler.
  • AZKristi
    AZKristi Posts: 1,801 Member
    There could be a bit of truth to that if you are speaking about steady state endurance exercises... So, if you cycled at the same intensity level for very long periods of time, you probably would have limited gains in cardiovascular fitness. That is why high intensity interval training is so highly recommended.
  • Yogi_Carl
    Yogi_Carl Posts: 1,906 Member
    I am a nursing student and I just went through this in Physiology. Increased exercise DOES increase your circulation because when there is an heightened need for more blood flow/cardiovascular circulation and more blood needs to get pumping, new blood vessels are formed (angiogenesis) which allows this to happen. So people who work out more frequently and are more active have more blood vessels, (among other things such as increased stamina, more muscle, etc. but I'm just talking about the blood vessels here), which circulates more oxygen faster, more ATP production, yadda yadda.

    I do not agree with that author's theory.

    Thank you. I go with this :-)
  • trekkietaz
    trekkietaz Posts: 81 Member
    I think that man that wrote that crap must have been drunk at the time because cardio will improve your heart and lungs so that you can do things better and also make you feel better too
  • monty619
    monty619 Posts: 1,308 Member
    cardio has tons of health benefits... everyone should do some form of it if health is the goal. end of story
  • tetecia
    tetecia Posts: 75 Member
    i don't agree with this Author at all. In Fact, i just saw my Cardiologist not too long ago and for the longest time he has been trying to get me to be more active and exercise more. I've very pig headed, but with the help of my Best Friend, i've become more active and i exercise daily (as much as i can at least). It has definitely improved my SOB and my Stamina over the past 6 months. I have loads of cardiovascular problems and exercising has helped me a lot. It may not have improved my condition (because, lets get real here...stage III CHF isn't going away that easily), but it has helped me deal with it better.
    I agree with the Nursing student who commented calling BS on the Author. When i took Anatomy and Physiology in College that' what we learned too....not what this Author is touting.
    Go with your gut!
  • likemeinvisible
    likemeinvisible Posts: 309 Member
    It's very easy to monitor cardio improvement, just measure your heart rate in the morning as soon as you wake up. You will see a dramatic drop in your resting heart rate.
  • victoriannsays
    victoriannsays Posts: 568 Member
    I am a nursing student as well and agree with everything the other student said. What that author said is BS!
  • EatClean_WashUrNuts
    EatClean_WashUrNuts Posts: 1,590 Member
    It truly depends on the content for which the statement is said in the book.

    Overall, Cardio strengthens the hearts and lungs and is essential in delivering much needed oxygen throughout the body. If it specific to a training regimen... its being identified as not as important.

    Must like political advertising...your are dissecting only a portion of the statement without full disclosure.
  • Yogi_Carl
    Yogi_Carl Posts: 1,906 Member
    Without reading the book myself, is hard to place context into what he is claiming. You might be picking out a subsection of a bigger point. I don't know. It doesn't seem right on the surface, but I don't know what point he is trying to make by saying that.

    I thought this myself and went back to re-read but I am sure I have the right context from what I read from the author.

    I would cut and paste here but I am not sure how I stand with regard to copyright and protocol on here and with respect to the author's own work.

    His website is here: http://www.marklauren.com/index.html
  • gramacanada
    gramacanada Posts: 557 Member
    I googled this guy. He has been a hight profile trainer. I couldn't find any real credentials. He could very well be self taught. Not that there's any thing wrong with that. But a fair bit of what he says might just be his opinion. Even experts are not always right. It's like any program. It works if you stick to it. You have to be clever enough to teach yourself what will hurt you. That can't be learned from just one source. And it takes time and effort. His is an exercise and nutrition program. There are worse things you could believe in.
  • lustingforfitness
    lustingforfitness Posts: 74 Member
    Thank you. I go with this :-)

    You're very welcome. c:
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