Confusion about cardio
adriat
Posts: 49 Member
So...for pretty much ever I thought that when you want to lose weight - you do cardio. Of course incorporate some strength training 2 times a week or something - but the emphasis being on cardio. The more I am reading - this doesn't seem to be true. That it should actually be the opposite. Lift and throw in some cardio for your "hearts" sake. Sighhhhhh - so what is it? What does a well balanced exercise plan include? What are some of your routines?
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I typically lift for 45 minutes or so focusing particular muscle groups each day and after that do 45-1hr30 mins of cardio. Like maybe bike for 30 mins and then walk 30 minutes or something like that0
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To lose weight, you eat in a calorie deficit. Cardio helps with the deficit and strengthens your heart. Lifting helps retain LBM and focus more of the loss on fat. But they won't help as much if you aren't eating less than you burn.
I do SL5x5 three days a week and two days of walking/cardio/yoga.0 -
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To lose weight, you eat in a calorie deficit. Cardio helps with the deficit and strengthens your heart. Lifting helps retain LBM and focus more of the loss on fat. But they won't help as much if you aren't eating less than you burn.
This ^^
Both are important for health, both can help with weight loss. But if you don't have a calorie deficit, neither will "work" for weight loss.0 -
It can include all cardio, or all weights or an infinite amount of balance between the 2. And if its just some weight you want to lose it doesn't really even need to include any exercise, but I'd still recommend it. I have lost weight and got lean doing nothing but running, I've gotten very lean doing nothing but strength training. Currently I do a bit of both. For many people just doing all one or the other only gets them so far. It's a process of finding the sweet spot for what works and what you enjoy. No one can really tell you what's going to happen. And of course none of the exercise matters if your eating isn't in check.0
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No. There are many fans of lifting on this site, but you will never see someone who really understands fitness post about skipping cardio in favour of lifting. You need cardio, several times per week, to be healthy. It does not have to be something exhausting, walkign is cardio too.And it will help you with eating below maintenance. You do nto need hours of cardio per day but you should not just replace it completely with strength trainign either, the ideal is the combination of both. Ideally for your heart alone, you need some cardio almost daily.0
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Emphasis on calorie deficit. Exercise isnt' needed for weight loss, so do whatever you enjoy. I do maybe 80-90 minutes of cardio a week only. Then upwards of 4 hours of lifting a week.0
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Right - my eating is in check. I completely understand the CICO. I guess I was just confused about fitness plans. Thanks for all the responses!0
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No. There are many fans of lifting on this site, but you will never see someone who really understands fitness post about skipping cardio in favour of lifting. You need cardio, several times per week, to be healthy. It does not have to be something exhausting, walkign is cardio too.And it will help you with eating below maintenance. You do nto need hours of cardio per day but you should not just replace it completely with strength trainign either, the ideal is the combination of both. Ideally for your heart alone, you need some cardio almost daily.
I've done lifting without cardio, I do not do cardio daily.
You try pulling 200lbs of weight off the floor, or doing lunges, and tell me this isn't a cardiovascular workout.0 -
My experience with exercise is limited - so I just want to make sure I am doing the max to help me burn more and keep losing! For whatever reason I was under the impression that cardio did that - but I can see from the general response that's not really the case. Word!0
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My experience with exercise is limited - so I just want to make sure I am doing the max to help me burn more and keep losing! For whatever reason I was under the impression that cardio did that - but I can see from the general response that's not really the case. Word!
You shouldn't be aiming to burn more for the purpose of losing more weight. Exercise is for overall health and it increases how much food you can eat. Meaning if you burn 2500 calories a day without exercise and you eat 2000 calories to lose a pound per week, then if you add in exercise 5x a week and burn on average 2800 calories a week, you should now be eating ~2300 calories per day to lose 1lb/week.0 -
To lose weight you don't need any kind of exercise. Food control is enough. But to get better results you need both.
Cardio burns a lot of calories, so the more cardio you do the more weight you lose.
Strength training helps you keep as much of your muscle as possible so you don't end up looking skinny fat once you are at goal weight or have too low of a maintenance allowance to sustain comfortably.
Now here is catch: if you do a lot of cardio, burn a lot of calories, and don't (or are unable) to eat all of these calories back you muscles are likely to suffer because you are eating a low net calories (net calories are calories you are eating minus exercise calories). Netting low calories tends to accelerate muscle loss.
For me, personally, I don't like strength training so I use it sparingly just to keep my strength up and focus on cardio more because I like it.
No perfect formula, just do what you are most likely to sustain long term.0 -
To lose weight, you eat in a calorie deficit. Cardio helps with the deficit and strengthens your heart. Lifting helps retain LBM and focus more of the loss on fat. But they won't help as much if you aren't eating less than you burn.
I do SL5x5 three days a week and two days of walking/cardio/yoga.
^^^This. I added cardio in to my routine because I enjoy eating alot of food, and I have a history of heart problems in my family. I lift 4 days a week because I enjoy feeling strong and the more lean muscle you have the more calories you burn even at rest. So the truth is both could be important depending on your goals however neither are detrimental in losing weight because without a deficit no weight will be lost. Good luck to you!0 -
I try to do a mixture of cardio and weights though the serious lifters would scoff at my attempts (LOL) because I use the machines at the gym. Some day I may get into those "serious" weights but for now, the machines are helping me...I'm not intending on becoming a body builder.
My "fitness routine" includes a 45 minute spin class 2x a week which is quite a work out, followed by about 15-20 mins on the machines doing 3 sets of 12 reps and staggering the different machines. When the weight level gets "easy" I bump it up 5 or 10 lbs. Then I may do 15 minutes or so on the elliptical trying to beat my last "score" of how many "miles" it says I did and how many "calories" it says I burned.
I only take credit for about half the calories any one activity "claims" to burn and I usually don't eat back all my calories anyway. Doing this simple routine has been effective for me. I noticed last night on the elliptical, I did not "feel like stopping" as early as I had other times...so I know I'm getting stronger and more fit, little by little.
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What are some of your routines?
For strength training I use "Power of 10" program - check it out on Amazon or Youtube) Basically, it is performed one (or two) days a week. About 5 exercises covering the major muscle groups. 10 seconds positive, 10 seconds negative to muscle failure. Total workout is around 15 minutes. Sounds simple but I am glad when it's done. Rest/recovery is important to let the muscle fibers repair and grow. That's why it is recommended once (or twice) a week.
For cardio, I play racquetball with my wife two days a week. Done.
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So...for pretty much ever I thought that when you want to lose weight - you do cardio. Of course incorporate some strength training 2 times a week or something - but the emphasis being on cardio. The more I am reading - this doesn't seem to be true. That it should actually be the opposite. Lift and throw in some cardio for your "hearts" sake. Sighhhhhh - so what is it? What does a well balanced exercise plan include? What are some of your routines?
Nowhere in there are you talking about food....0 -
Food is the most important part of losing weight. Anyone can workout for an hour. It's the other 23 hours of watching your intake that are difficult.
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Right - my eating is in check. I completely understand the CICO. I guess I was just confused about fitness plans. Thanks for all the responses!
That would be determined by your fitness goals. If you are just looking to stay mobile and overall healthy....I'd recommend a little cardio, a little strength/resistance, and some yoga/flexibility work. If you have a specific fitness goal (run a 5k, squat 200lbs, etc) then your exercise plan will be tailored to that.0 -
No. There are many fans of lifting on this site, but you will never see someone who really understands fitness post about skipping cardio in favour of lifting. You need cardio, several times per week, to be healthy. It does not have to be something exhausting, walkign is cardio too.And it will help you with eating below maintenance. You do nto need hours of cardio per day but you should not just replace it completely with strength trainign either, the ideal is the combination of both. Ideally for your heart alone, you need some cardio almost daily.
OP, the above statement is incorrect. You do not NEED cardio. It's a little ironic that the poster went on to say what people that understand fitness would say then she says that.
You do not need cardio or strenght training to lose weight. You need cardio, and strength training to be fit. And you need at least cardio regulalry to stay healthy on the long run. Find a single dr or anyone trained in fitness or a single medical publcation who states you do not need cardio for your health. Only on MFP...0 -
it depends on what you define as fit... do you want to do endurance races? guess what, you're going to have to do a lot of cardio. do you want to be a body builder or power lifter? then go lift.
until you figure things out, probably an equal balance will work for you.0 -
So...for pretty much ever I thought that when you want to lose weight - you do cardio. Of course incorporate some strength training 2 times a week or something - but the emphasis being on cardio. The more I am reading - this doesn't seem to be true. That it should actually be the opposite. Lift and throw in some cardio for your "hearts" sake. Sighhhhhh - so what is it? What does a well balanced exercise plan include? What are some of your routines?
I move every day, which includes weight lifting 3x a week and cardio almost every day of the week, whether it's running, walking, elliptical. I do this because my body feels so much better when I exercise. Even when I was fat I exercised - at least this has been true for the last 20 years. I gained weight because I ate too much, and lost because I ate at a calorie deficit.
I love to exercise, and that's why I do it.
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Cardio is great for your health and mental well being. Cardio is also what has been consistently practiced by people who maintain significant weight losses (about an hour a day).
Find physical activities you like and do them on the regular. Some of them should get your heart rate up, some of them force you to challenge your muscles.
I think the problem with cardio is that sometimes people either try to eat back all the calories (which are usually overestimated) and then don't lose, or they build too big of a deficit which is then detrimental to maintaining muscle mass.0 -
do what you like.....
most people, in some fashion, do a combination of both, with a FOCUS on one or the other. I focus on cardio and do the weight/strength machines after my workout.
you lose weight in the kitchen, you build muscle and strengthen your heart in the gym.0 -
No. There are many fans of lifting on this site, but you will never see someone who really understands fitness post about skipping cardio in favour of lifting. You need cardio, several times per week, to be healthy. It does not have to be something exhausting, walkign is cardio too.And it will help you with eating below maintenance. You do nto need hours of cardio per day but you should not just replace it completely with strength trainign either, the ideal is the combination of both. Ideally for your heart alone, you need some cardio almost daily.
OP, the above statement is incorrect. You do not NEED cardio. It's a little ironic that the poster went on to say what people that understand fitness would say then she says that.
You do not need cardio or strenght training to lose weight. You need cardio, and strength training to be fit. And you need at least cardio regulalry to stay healthy on the long run. Find a single dr or anyone trained in fitness or a single medical publcation who states you do not need cardio for your health. Only on MFP...
Here is a study showing weight training is enough cardio by itself to keep you fit. If you don't do any extra cardio besides lifting weights, you probably won't be winning any triathlons, but your heart will be fine. Everyone who regularly does squats or deadlifts probably knew this already though.0 -
No. There are many fans of lifting on this site, but you will never see someone who really understands fitness post about skipping cardio in favour of lifting. You need cardio, several times per week, to be healthy. It does not have to be something exhausting, walkign is cardio too.And it will help you with eating below maintenance. You do nto need hours of cardio per day but you should not just replace it completely with strength trainign either, the ideal is the combination of both. Ideally for your heart alone, you need some cardio almost daily.
OP, the above statement is incorrect. You do not NEED cardio. It's a little ironic that the poster went on to say what people that understand fitness would say then she says that.
You do not need cardio or strenght training to lose weight. You need cardio, and strength training to be fit. And you need at least cardio regulalry to stay healthy on the long run. Find a single dr or anyone trained in fitness or a single medical publcation who states you do not need cardio for your health. Only on MFP...
Here is a study showing weight training is enough cardio by itself to keep you fit. If you don't do any extra cardio besides lifting weights, you probably won't be winning any triathlons, but your heart will be fine. Everyone who regularly does squats or deadlifts probably knew this already though.
While the person only running for fitness will probably not be able to lift nearly as heavy as those of us who prioritize/only do weight lifting. Since I don't want to run triathalons, why should I bother doing cardio EVERY single day???
Only reason I'm planning on including more cardio when I finish school this month is to increase my TDEE so I can potentially eat a bit more for the remainder of my cut, since I'm getting to the low end of enjoyable for me haha. Although I've only been on this number again for less than 2 weeks so I'm probably just needing to get used to it.0 -
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If you want to lose weight, you eat at a deficit. If you want to maintain muscle mass while losing, lift weights. Cardio helps the deficit and is for your health.0
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I wasn't going to bother but since it's studies time I will add this here. This was sent to a while back by a very wise man when we were discussing this topic at a more detailed level on a different website where it was more than someone saying "Go find me 1 doctor" while not showing any evidence of application on themselves.This is taken from an article in Alan Aragon's research review where he summarized a few things.
The big four risk areas for cardiovascular health are:
- Fat loss: As we all know it's about calories. Resistance training is at least as effective in the short term, and given it's ability to change body composition as well, resistance training wins. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/12439085
- Blood lipids: Low or moderaate cardio does pretty much nothing. Resistance training reduces bad cholesterol, high intensity cardio improves good cholesterol. No clear winner, both are beneficial. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18974201
- Blood pressure: Cardio generally has a bit of an edge here, but resistance training shows benefits as well. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/15662209
- Glucose metabolism: Resistance training is a clear winner over cardio for glucose control: http://care.diabetesjournals.org/con...9/11/2518.full
I think it's important to look beyond this simplistic idea that cardio makes your heart work hard, so that makes it stronger and that's all there is to it.
I think the endurance capability of the heart muscle itself and the circulatory system in general is nearly a non-issue for most individuals not already ill. Heart health is about those risk factors above, not about the physical condition of the heart muscle itself
Don't forget this one on resistance training and VO2max
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/163071570
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