Why do people cut cardio when lifting weights?

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  • marshrowan
    marshrowan Posts: 64 Member
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    Because cardio is sweaty and nasty and exhausting and doesn't make you look better.

    Doesn't lifting make you sweaty?? and exhausted????
  • deksgrl
    deksgrl Posts: 7,237 Member
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    The way I understand it....

    Lifting burns fat and BUILDS lean muscle.

    You're not building muscle when eating a calorie deficit. With adequate protein and lifting, you can limit the amount of LBM that you lose while reducing weight.


    ^^^ Yes. Thank you.....I forgot that :) (I didn't actually mention a deficit though)
    But you do maintain much more with adequate protein and lifting than if you were doing cardio alone. (which if I'm not mistaken burns lean muscle whether in a deficit or not)

    You have to eat at a deficit to burn fat.


    Yes you do.

    I have no idea what you are interpreting what I am saying as otherwise.

    Oh NM.... "which if I'm not mistaken burns lean muscle whether in a deficit or not"......gotcha. Whoops! :happy:

    What you said was incorrect. It has nothing to do with interpretation.
  • MstngSammy
    MstngSammy Posts: 436 Member
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    Because cardio is sweaty and nasty and exhausting and doesn't make you look better.

    Doesn't lifting make you sweaty?? and exhausted????

    It does if you do it right lol
    but I think the main point is..."and doesn't make you look better."
  • MstngSammy
    MstngSammy Posts: 436 Member
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    The way I understand it....

    Lifting burns fat and BUILDS lean muscle.

    You're not building muscle when eating a calorie deficit. With adequate protein and lifting, you can limit the amount of LBM that you lose while reducing weight.


    ^^^ Yes. Thank you.....I forgot that :) (I didn't actually mention a deficit though)
    But you do maintain much more with adequate protein and lifting than if you were doing cardio alone. (which if I'm not mistaken burns lean muscle whether in a deficit or not)

    You have to eat at a deficit to burn fat.


    Yes you do.

    I have no idea what you are interpreting what I am saying as otherwise.

    Oh NM.... "which if I'm not mistaken burns lean muscle whether in a deficit or not"......gotcha. Whoops! :happy:

    What you said was incorrect. It has nothing to do with interpretation.



    While you were writing this I already amended what I said to admit my mistake and agree with you. (see above) :flowerforyou:
  • marshrowan
    marshrowan Posts: 64 Member
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    Because cardio is sweaty and nasty and exhausting and doesn't make you look better.

    Doesn't lifting make you sweaty?? and exhausted????

    It does if you do it right lol
    but I think the main point is..."and doesn't make you look better."
    Obviously!!! . lol I'm all for weights before cardio!!!
  • cwolfman13
    cwolfman13 Posts: 41,868 Member
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    Ok I get not doing cardio just after, but if you only lift 3x a week, why not?

    Again, this is going to be highly dependent on individual fitness goals. I personally do both...but I'm also not trying to build a bunch of mass and I'm not training for a power lifting event.

    Those individuals who are trying to maximize muscular and neural adaptation need a lot of rest...doing a bunch of cardio on what would otherwise be "rest days" is going to interfere with that adaption and those gains. For example, y

    ou will find that body builders and the like primarily do their cardio when they are in a cut...because they're trying to cut the fat...but when they're in a bulk, they're trying to bulk on muscle and a bunch of cardio is going to make that difficult process that much more difficult. Same for dedicated Power Lifters...they don't do much more than a little walking here and there...all of their efforts go to maximizing strength gains....you aren't doing that when you're doing a bunch of cardio on off days.

    As a matter of general fitness, it's a good idea to do both and most people should have a fairly balanced routine...but again...just depends on fitness goals...as well as personal interests and such.
  • gensteele1
    gensteele1 Posts: 60 Member
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    I've read that by lifting (even if its only 3 days per week) not only burns more "calories" than standard cardio, but you continue to burn up to 48 hours after a lifting session. Most lifters feel that the burn and the results from training far exceed the monotony of cardio. To each his (or her) own.
  • ATGsquats
    ATGsquats Posts: 227 Member
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    I keep seeing people post that they cut cardio when they started lifting weights... Why? If you're going to eat more to compensate for the cardio calories, why does it matter if you cut it? I'd like to understand.. I'm talking about people who are trying to lose weight too. I would think being able to eat more to make up for the cardio would be nice.

    You don't need cardio to lose weight. I've been cutting from 170lbs down to 157lbs, still cutting, without cardio. Personally, it's too damn boring.
  • wendybird5
    wendybird5 Posts: 577 Member
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    I cut cardio just because I usually only have an hour to an hour and a half to work out so if I do more weights, I have less time for cardio.
  • sijomial
    sijomial Posts: 19,811 Member
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    The way I understand it....

    Lifting burns fat and BUILDS lean muscle.

    Cardio burns fat and BURNS lean muscle.


    So....it ultimately depends on what you want to do.


    I'm still new at it....but that is basically what I've picked up.


    I want to be strong AND slim down.....make my body better overall....and I have found that lifting does a MUCH better job than cardio in that department.

    The more muscle you have the higher your metabolism...burning fat all day. Cardio only burns while you are doing it (and at the expense of lean muscle which helps burn fat)

    So I lift and do minimal cardio for endurance. I may run one or twice a week if the lifting hasn't worn me down. It is VERY important to let your body rest between lifting workouts.


    Edited to add.....I have bad knees and have had trouble with them for a few years now. The docs have had a hard time figuring out what was wrong. All but one pretty much told me I was getting old and to get over it and live with it (ticked me off). The one...the last one.....told me that (what should have been obvious to me) I just needed to lose a little weight and strengthen the muscles supporting my knees.

    Long story short.........cardio hurt my knees until I started lifting (squats and deadlifts). Lifting strengthened my legs and knees so now running doesn't hurt anymore.
    Sorry but there are a couple of horrible myths in there!

    "Cardio burns fat and BURNS lean muscle." Incorrect - you would need a totally inadequate diet for your body to fuel itself with lean muscle. Not something ordinary people need to worry themselves. Cardio burns glycogen and fat.

    "The more muscle you have the higher your metabolism...burning fat all day. Cardio only burns while you are doing it (and at the expense of lean muscle which helps burn fat)"
    True in part but the resting calorie burn from added muscle is tiny. Both cardio and strength training have an EPOC effect - strength training far higher, small effect for cardio (HIIT higher than low intensity but not terribly significant).

    This however is spot on "So....it ultimately depends on what you want to do."
    As I have both strength and CV fitness goals I do both and accept that there is a compromise.
  • MstngSammy
    MstngSammy Posts: 436 Member
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    The way I understand it....

    Lifting burns fat and BUILDS lean muscle.

    Cardio burns fat and BURNS lean muscle.


    So....it ultimately depends on what you want to do.


    I'm still new at it....but that is basically what I've picked up.


    I want to be strong AND slim down.....make my body better overall....and I have found that lifting does a MUCH better job than cardio in that department.

    The more muscle you have the higher your metabolism...burning fat all day. Cardio only burns while you are doing it (and at the expense of lean muscle which helps burn fat)

    So I lift and do minimal cardio for endurance. I may run one or twice a week if the lifting hasn't worn me down. It is VERY important to let your body rest between lifting workouts.


    Edited to add.....I have bad knees and have had trouble with them for a few years now. The docs have had a hard time figuring out what was wrong. All but one pretty much told me I was getting old and to get over it and live with it (ticked me off). The one...the last one.....told me that (what should have been obvious to me) I just needed to lose a little weight and strengthen the muscles supporting my knees.

    Long story short.........cardio hurt my knees until I started lifting (squats and deadlifts). Lifting strengthened my legs and knees so now running doesn't hurt anymore.
    Sorry but there are a couple of horrible myths in there!

    "Cardio burns fat and BURNS lean muscle." Incorrect - you would need a totally inadequate diet for your body to fuel itself with lean muscle. Not something ordinary people need to worry themselves. Cardio burns glycogen and fat.

    "The more muscle you have the higher your metabolism...burning fat all day. Cardio only burns while you are doing it (and at the expense of lean muscle which helps burn fat)"
    True in part but the resting calorie burn from added muscle is tiny. Both cardio and strength training have an EPOC effect - strength training far higher, small effect for cardio (HIIT higher than low intensity but not terribly significant).

    This however is spot on "So....it ultimately depends on what you want to do."
    As I have both strength and CV fitness goals I do both and accept that there is a compromise.

    Thanks Hon....

    I appreciate the feedback.......:wink:
  • WendyTerry420
    WendyTerry420 Posts: 13,274 Member
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    I cut cardio because lifting is freaking exhausting, and I found I didn't need it to lose weight.

    ^^ this
  • jonnythan
    jonnythan Posts: 10,161 Member
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    Because cardio is sweaty and nasty and exhausting and doesn't make you look better.

    Doesn't lifting make you sweaty?? and exhausted????

    Not really, no.
  • randomtai
    randomtai Posts: 9,003 Member
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    I cut cardio because lifting is freaking exhausting, and I found I didn't need it to lose weight.

    ^^ this

    +1
  • tyrsnbdr
    tyrsnbdr Posts: 234 Member
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    I cut cardio because lifting is freaking exhausting, and I found I didn't need it to lose weight.

    ^^ this

    +1

    And, well... Cardio is just damn boring...
  • marshrowan
    marshrowan Posts: 64 Member
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    Because cardio is sweaty and nasty and exhausting and doesn't make you look better.

    Doesn't lifting make you sweaty?? and exhausted????

    Not really, no.

    hmm well I'm exhausted after heavy lifting!!
  • jonnythan
    jonnythan Posts: 10,161 Member
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    Because cardio is sweaty and nasty and exhausting and doesn't make you look better.

    Doesn't lifting make you sweaty?? and exhausted????

    Not really, no.

    hmm well I'm exhausted after heavy lifting!!

    I'm tired in that I'm somewhat spent, but not exhausted the way I am after intense cardio. Lifting doesn't really burn calories and deplete glycogen the way cardio does.

    I don't want to take a nap after 1-1.5 hours of lifting. After 1-1.5 hours of running all I want to do is sleep.
  • marshrowan
    marshrowan Posts: 64 Member
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    Because cardio is sweaty and nasty and exhausting and doesn't make you look better.

    Doesn't lifting make you sweaty?? and exhausted????

    Not really, no.

    hmm well I'm exhausted after heavy lifting!!

    I'm tired in that I'm somewhat spent, but not exhausted the way I am after intense cardio. Lifting doesn't really burn calories and deplete glycogen the way cardio does.

    I don't want to take a nap after 1-1.5 hours of lifting. After 1-1.5 hours of running all I want to do is sleep.

    would you suggest doing cardio separate from weight lifting days??
  • BeckyGee84
    BeckyGee84 Posts: 124 Member
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    Because once I started lifting heavy weights, I realized how much I hate cardio.
  • NavyKnightAh13
    NavyKnightAh13 Posts: 1,394 Member
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    Bumping for later reading