Get Off That Treadmill! Cardio is Counterproductive!

I guess I won't run my Half Marathon Sunday....it's counter productive to everything I've ever done.

Whether something is productive or counterproductive would depend on an individual's goals. Cardio does make me feel good and improves my performance in many other activities i.e. cycling. that being said i get a good feeling from weight training too. as with cardio, weight training improves my performance in other ways with increased strength. doing both IMO provides me with good a overall health and fitness level. that said someone else might have specific goals that require more focus on one or the other.

This pretty much in a nutshell.

For the average person, combining cardio and weight training gives you the most bang for your buck, so sayeth two medical journals and um, Muscle and Fitness.

Might be different for a bodybuilder, but that's not the goal of a great many of us here.

edit: links added.

http://www.muscleandfitness.com/training/other/should-you-do-weight-training-cardio-same-day

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22492939

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22460475

Bump (read thread when I have more time)

I guess sarcasm and a sense of humour is not easily digestible, no pun intended. :0)

Thank you for your comment.

You're welcome, of course you were "only joking", ha ha.

See, I can use the same magazine to show the opposite. But it is true that there is a physical limit to the storage of glycogen, and this is the reason that bodybuilders do split days. But just sayin... there's no scientific evidence that this is actually better for an average person with a time limited schedule needing to fit exercise into a busy life. Seems that mixing it up, allows someone to get more benefits with less exercise expending on each. There is simply no difference at all between separating it and combining it, aside that you can do less exercise for the same benefit if combined.

*smashing head into wall*

No kidding! Ugh!

I will keep doing my cardio,thank you. I enjoy it, it lets me eat more, and my *kitten* is looking pretty darn good because of it. I am adding some strength training too....but I am keeping my cardio. And my health thanks me for it.

There seems to be a lot of misunderstanding in this thread. The article was talking about cardio being counterproductive to strength gains. If you are someone who is lifting heavy and whose goal is to gain strength/size, then cardio can and most likely will hinder your gains. If you are someone whose goal is endurance or distance running or just enjoy cardio more than lifting, then there is absolutely nothing wrong with cardio and it is a wonderful workout.

The title of the thread is misleading, but if you take time to understand what it is saying, then you will see that it isn't bashing cardio. All it's saying is be careful how you use cardio when training for maximum strength and size.

I agree with the fact that excessive cardio is not conducive to strength gains, but moderate cardio should not have that impact

http://www.bodyrecomposition.com/muscle-gain/cardio-and-mass-gains.html

The interesting argument from NROL4W is that long periods of steady cardio increase endurance. A rough definition of endurance is the ability to keep going, for longer, a large part of which is improving cardiovascular health, and some of which is training your body to become more energy efficient. The first is obviously a good thing for everyone, with heart disease remaining a huge problem in most of our countries. The second is more troublesome, if you are still trying to lose weight. If you are becoming more 'energy efficient', your body is learning how to go further while burning less calories, so the argument is that over time you'll have to run further and further to burn the same amount of calories. That's why the author of NROL4W recommends mixing up the cardio with HIIT.

I know many of you MFP veterans already now this, and sorry for preaching to the choir! Thought it might be interesting for some 'noobs' like me (: