cardio is pointless in my opinion

Actually doing cardio benefits your heart a great deal. Doing cardio will increase the efficiency of the circulation of your blood, which leads to more nutrients being delivered throughout your body, courtesy of better flowing blood. It also acts to fight off the tendency for you to develop high blood pressure. The number of red blood cells will increase, and this has the beneficial effect of ensuring that more oxygen is delivered all throughout your body.

I bet you could share with some of us women why weight training is not a waste of time...I actually know how beneficial it is, but for women who need more cardio to keep weight off, many believe weight training is a waste of time. It took me a long time to realize more muscle means more fat burn so it's not a waste of time for me. I truly believe both cardio and weight training are important, not only for weight loss, but also for general health. You won't always be young and you will need both cardio and weight training more and more as you age to keep your body running right. We lose about 5% muscle mass every year after age 35 and about 8% per year after age 40. Not doing both cardio and muscle bearing exercise as you age will allow both your bone and muscle to atrophy. We also need both for better balance and coordination.

Just wanted you to know you are not wasting your time.

I teach spinning classes 6 days a week (about 8 classes). Honestly after 18-20 minutes ANY CARDIO you do is just for fun. When I work out I do weights no additional cardio. I've notice I lose a lot of muscle when I don't at least match an hour of weights with an hour of cardio.

Oh and for me if I strictly stick to weight training and don't do cardio I gain weight. I am at the age where I have to work harder to lose and keep it off and cardio helps this. Also when I can't make it to the gym my only option is to do cardio at home.

IMO the best exercise for ANYone is the exercise that they'll DO. Long term. Bottom line. :flowerforyou:

Now somebody pass me a beer! :drinker:

There are other benefits to cardio besides weight loss.

And when the zombies come you only have to out run the slowest person with you. ;-P

I teach spinning classes 6 days a week (about 8 classes). Honestly after 18-20 minutes ANY CARDIO you do is just for fun. When I work out I do weights no additional cardio. I've notice I lose a lot of muscle when I don't at least match an hour of weights with an hour of cardio.

so you workout for ~16 hours a week?

I lost over 80 lbs focusing overwhelmingly on "cardio" (mostly road cycling and spin class, some running, some bmx racing, occasional swimming) and some weight lifting for almost 2 years now. Years ago, before putting on weight and not exercising at all for years, I primarily lifted weights.

One of the biggest life changes I've noticed with "cardio" exercise and weight loss is that I used to get winded doing simple things like walking stairs, yard work, playing with my kids and even housework. I'd say that nothing gets me tired any more. I can even handle extremely stressful situations better.

It also helps your mind. Cardio is a great way to deal with stress and unwind. A ride often makes me forget what was bothering me, helps me come up with a plan to fix it, or helps me to just quit stressing it.

Of course, I've also gotten a lot faster on my bike and my endurance has gone way up compared to what it was. Oh, and my legs are huge and leaner now. Veins starting to appear.

So, not pointless in my opinion.

Cardio is good for your heart and lungs, managing your weight and blood pressure and has many other health benefits. And it's hella fun for some of us. It's my believe that a great fitness regime includes BOTH strength and cardio. People need to stop arguing, stop thinking that you have to pick a side (cardio or strength) and stop thinking their way is the only way!

Recent studies have shown that some people gain no benefit from cardio and some people do. It depends if you are a non responder then you get no benefit from it. I did sprints occasionally and walked alot. I got my body from lifting.

Do what you love to do, end of. Get your diet right, it's bad diet that will give you heart attacks etc...

waste of time? you have to create a deficit somehow to lose weight and for me slashing my calories is a NO NO!

The bigger the burn, the bigger the plateful! :drinker:

:smokin: