Does strength training help 'fitness' ?

I guess it depends on your strength workout. I did deadlifts on Monday and my heart rate went higher and stayed there longer than any 1 hour jog I've done. Holy crap. It is the most intense HIIT I have ever done. And it only lasts 20 minutes. I do not feel that I need to add any cardio to my training to maintain fitness. I get on the treadmill for the occasional drone and have been going faster and longer than I did doing cardio 3 times / week, so my cardio fitness level is at least maintaining while I do the lift only thing.

Now that's the heavy stuff. If you don't lift weights heavy enough to be seriously challenged, then you won't get those kind of HIIT results.

Tom

Strength fitness is definitely different than cardio fitness. There are lots of people who can run a 10k without barely breathing heavy, but have them do a couple sets of clean and presses at a constant pace and they end up gassing out. It's one thing to carry your weight..................another to push extra weight.

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I don't do any traditional cardio other than walking a few miles once or twice a week, which, even though I live in a hilly area, is not really that strenuous. You can get all the cardiovascular training you need from IWT (interval weight training) workouts. You don't need to be able to run 10 miles to be "fit." If you like running, fine. If you don't, there are other ways.

What is IMO?

Strength fitness is definitely different than cardio fitness. There are lots of people who can run a 10k without barely breathing heavy, but have them do a couple sets of clean and presses at a constant pace and they end up gassing out. It's one thing to carry your weight..................another to push extra weight.

A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
IDEA Fitness member
Kickboxing Certified Instructor
Been in fitness industry for 30 years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition

I'm currently training for a half marathon next weekend. My exercise routine has been slanted HEAVILY towards getting distance in. I did complete Tough Mudder and the Spartan Sprint earlier this year but I struggled on some of the obstacles as I've let my strength training take a back seat to running.

I've already signed up for a TM next year along with a warrior dash so once this 1/2 marathon is over I'm slanting my exercise towards strength training especially upper body so maybe I can do the monkey bar type obstacles next year. And I'll be training for a full marathon next fall, my wife's gonna love how often I'm not home :flowerforyou:

IMO, you can get great results with just strength training and a couple of short HIIT workouts per week.

While I agree that stand alone cardio is generally unnecessary (unless you literally just sit on a couch/at a desk all day every day,) strength training does NOT give the same benefits as cardio work. Strength training uses the anaerobic energy systems, cardio trains the aerobic energy systems. They are separate systems, and while there may be minimal crossover (circuit style training can have minimal aerobic benefits, sprinting has some anaerobic benefits,) you can't substitute one for the other. For one thing, heart rate increases during strength training are meaningless. When your heart rate increases when something startles you, that doesn't improve your cardio fitness either.

This is why you don't see people that can squat 1000 pounds running marathons, and why you don't see marathon runners squatting 1000 pounds.

Now, I'm of the firm opinion that as long as you walk a decent amount of time during the day, that's all the cardio you need, specific competitions being the exception.

This is a broad topic. It depends on what you mean by 'fitness'. There is no real generic definition.

I train almost exclusively for strength. Like another poster said, nothing drives your hear rate up in fast spikes like getting under heavy weight. Heavy squats and deadlifts will give you heart rate spikes. You go from resting to very high in a short amount of time. I have a low resting heart rate because of this.

However, my conditioning sucks. If I were to attempt a 5k run or extended bike ride, I'd be in a bad way.

I'm fit for my sport but not fit for another. I guess you need to figure out what you want to be fit for.

There is still a lot of misunderstanding on this topic. People mix all different types of activity using the terms "strength", "cardio", "fitness", etc. There is also a difference between "fitness" and "performance" (ex: doing squats can help improve 5K time even when no increase in aerobic fitness (VO2max) occurs.

It's best to think of a continuum with "resistance component" on one end and "aerobic component" at the other. Each activity will have a certain ratio of the different components. For example, heavy lifting (say 5RM and under) has a very high resistance component and very little cardio (despite the increase in heart rate). Long distance endurance running (60% effort and below) is almost all aerobic with very little resistance effect.

Other activities are going to fall at different points on the continuum. As a rule, the more of a strength effect you get from an activity, the less the aerobic effect and vice versa. In other words, if you do a strength-type movement at a low enough intensity to achieve an aerobic effect, your strength levels aren't going to increase that much.

So when someone says "I don't do cardio--I do HIIT and circuit training", then my response is: "you're doing cardio". Cardio doesn't mean just doing endurance steady-state workouts on a treadmill or elliptical.

Someone who doesn't enjoy doing "traditional" cardio, can do metabolic circuits, kettlebell swings, all kinds of weight and calisthenic movements at an "aerobic" intensity and maintain their aerobic fitness.

Someone who doesn't enjoy doing "traditional" cardio can do max-type HIIT workouts and maintain a cardio fitness level doing a couple of short workouts per week. What someone has to answer for themselves is does that level meet their needs.

The principle of training specificity dictates that you have to train a certain way to achieve a specific result. Improving cardiovascular fitness requires that you train the cardiovascular system. Training the cardiovascular system requires that you increase oxygen uptake during the workout. That increase can be achieved using a number of exercise movements, but those movements must be dynamic enough to increase VO2 and cardiac output.

Any time you move away from a more "pure" training stimulus (e.g. traditional cardio, heavy "traditional" lifting), you are making a compromise. By that I mean you will not get the full training benefit. That's not a criticism It just means that each individual needs to understand their goals and the specific training effect of their workouts.

Hello , Currently I do a couple of strength work outs a week and I'm also doing to couch to 5k program. The issue I'm having is cardio just seems to make my legs twig like (I've always stored most of my fat on my stomach) even though I do things like squats and lunges.

What are you doing for strength training? I've been doing Strong Lifts in conjunction with "Learn to 10k" all summer, and I can assure you, my legs are not becoming "twig like". Squats and deadlifts FTW!

If you want to be able to run reasonable distance (5k+) at a reasonable pace, HIIT won't get you there, you simply have to put in the miles. The physiological changes from doing distance at low/moderate intensity are fundamentally different from those you get from short duration high intensity.

Hello , Currently I do a couple of strength work outs a week and I'm also doing to couch to 5k program. The issue I'm having is cardio just seems to make my legs twig like (I've always stored most of my fat on my stomach) even though I do things like squats and lunges.

Notwithstanding the various responses upthread, I'd question what you mean. How long have you been training, and what are your objectives?

Are you seeing a reduction in muscular definition in your legs? Alternatively are you merely not seeing the progression that you want to see in your legs?

fwiw as a running perspective I find that increasng my training load has led to somewhat improved definition and bulk, but it's taken time to get there, both in terms of the impact of fat loss and actual increase. I complement my running with bodyweight resistance training, so while I'm not expecting significant bulk gains from that there is clear developent, as well as significant sports performance improvement.

A stronger organism lives longer.

;D

All depends on your definition of "fitness". I'd say to be fit you'd need a good mix of strength, flexibility, endurance, balance, etc.

I've also noticed strength training doesn't help me much with my running. I did hours or cardio a week for a few months and could run a 10k no problem. Then I barely did any cardio for a couple years and just did strength training, and could barely run a mile. That's just me though.