Does cardio really suck for fat loss?

Cardio helps with creating a deficit, but you don't have to do it if it really bothers you that much...Just start running sprints instead of 30 minutes of boring running. You can do sprints for 1/3rd the time and get a far better cardio workout.

Depends what you're trying to achieve. Sprint intervals have their place in any performance improvement plan, but on their own they're not really going to develop capacity.

If you like Cardio, do not stop doing it. You will still burn fat. You just might want to eliminate long cardio sessions and start lifting.

I do HIIT training on the elliptical for 10 or 15 minutes on the days I lift
On my off days from lifting I do 30 minutes of Cardio.

I am losing fat. Just incorporate lifting in your exercise regime and up your protein!

I walk for cardio. I like that. All the rest.. forget it! But I do it so I increase my TDEE and can eat more too...

I guess my question should have been worded more like....

does cardio keep burning calories even when I'm doing nothing, or is weight lifting the only thing that can accomplish that?

Increasing your VO2 Max "may" help with fat burning after your workout. That is essentially getting very sweaty doing HIIT for 20 mins. I say "may" because with all things related to fitness (weight training or cardio), it depends on how you do it, how often and at what intensity.

Cardio helps with creating a deficit, but you don't have to do it if it really bothers you that much...Just start running sprints instead of 30 minutes of boring running. You can do sprints for 1/3rd the time and get a far better cardio workout.

Depends what you're trying to achieve. Sprint intervals have their place in any performance improvement plan, but on their own they're not really going to develop capacity.

Love this!!!!

If you want to loose fat, you have to have muscle to burn that fat. Ultimately, you need to do strength training to loose more fat. And to loose fat, you must eat healthy fats and proteins and less carbs. Yes, cardio will get you in shape and increase your VO2max, but what is your goal? You said to loose fat. You really need to know what your cardio zones are; this will really help figure out when you burn the most fat vs. carbs. Doing more intense cardio once a week will help strengthen your zones and hopefully increase them so that you burn more fat; but when you do this you are probably in the carb burning zone. Some people can run for 30 min and continually burn fat, others must do low impact/more weights to continually burn fat. Have you completed a zone test? That might want to be where you start!

I guess my question should have been worded more like....

does cardio keep burning calories even when I'm doing nothing, or is weight lifting the only thing that can accomplish that?

There is a small after burn effect from cardio exercise (both steady state and HIIT) but it's negligible.
Adding muscle mass will increase your body's every day calorie burn but again it's a tiny, tiny effect.

It does sound like you are desperately trying to get something for nothing - life doesn't work like that I'm afraid!

no, but it's good if you want to eat more lol

/signed

It's correct that a calorie deficit makes you loose weight. 90% though is about what you eat, because it's easy to do a lot of cardio and/or other exercises and still eating more calories a day than you spend with your daily activities.

So, first and foremost to loose weight you need to eat in a way which gives you a calorie deficit each day. And to be more healthy you can throw in some exercising (doesn't really matter what it is), this will give you more calorie for the days you're doing it.

As an example:

If you can eat 1600 calories a day, first you buy a digital scale with a tare button if you don't have one already. Start measure your food and be sure to stick to those 1600 calories a day. -> You will loose weight.

Then you might add in some exercising on some days, add those calories spent to your MFP account, too. If you did exercises for about 300 calories, you can eat 1900 calories on that day and still keep loosing weight. I often love those days, because those are those days where I can eat a Döner Kebab or something like this and I'm still losing weight. That's a nice feeling

Now, as everyone sees. You can loose weight without exercising and in fact 90% of your weight loss is dependend on what you eat and not on exercising. But exercising will help you to get fit and to have more to eat which can be a big motivation!

HF

And to be more healthy you can throw in some exercising (doesn't really matter what it is),

Different types and modes of exercise have different effects, so it does matter what it is.