Is not doing cardio worn like a badge on honor for you?

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  • neaneacc
    neaneacc Posts: 224 Member
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    Yes!
  • stealthq
    stealthq Posts: 4,298 Member
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    SideSteel wrote: »
    Most people who train heavy with weights have the following things occur:

    1) Very intense and short bursts of activity for a short period of time.
    2) A period of very low activity (rest)
    3) Repeat.

    At the surface this looks to have similarities to HIIT.

    And

    4) Very elevated heart rate and heavy breathing.

    My cardiovascular conditioning has improved substantially from resistance training alone.

    I'm not convinced that the addition of cardio would generate additional health benefits.


    I'm on the fence whether or not there would be carryover effects into powerlifting were I to add cardio.

    But right now I dislike it a great deal, and for me that's reason alone not to do it given my previous statements.

    Mine did too. But when I started couch to 5K (even with the occasional biking I did) I found there was a lot of room for improvement. And I don't mean the running itself, I mean the actual being able to sustain a high rate of oxygen/energy consumption. I went from wanting to die after 2 minutes, to being able to run at 90% max HR for a solid hour and feel fine the whole time and when I'm done.

    I don't imagine it means my cardiovascular system was unhealthy, but it was very far from what it could have been.

    Interesting. I did the same thing, but when I did C25K I was amazed that I never had any trouble with the cardiovascular aspect - still can't believe lifting was that effective. My limiting factor was muscle endurance and soft tissue fatigue. Still is, even after finishing half-marathon training.

    Now, I don't do any speedwork whatsoever and I'm sure if I did, I'd be wanting to die in short order, like you were. I let speed increases come from running more miles.
  • Timshel_
    Timshel_ Posts: 22,841 Member
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    I wonder if many of us average looking people are dissuaded from doing cardio exercise because the super ripped guy in the gym never does it.

    Maybe. It sure gets people buying home gym equipment and TONS of fitness shakes and supplements with little to no improvement vs the costs.

  • arditarose
    arditarose Posts: 15,575 Member
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    I just...hate it...so much.
  • kgeyser
    kgeyser Posts: 22,505 Member
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    I wonder if many of us average looking people are dissuaded from doing cardio exercise because the super ripped guy in the gym never does it. When really he is following a strict program that us average people will never follow and we would would benefit greatly by adding a cardio session to each of our workouts if we ever hope to look anything even close to that.

    Just because you don't see a person sweating on a cardio machine at the gym doesn't mean they do not do any cardio. Lots of people prefer to hike, bike, swim, dance, play a sport, etc as their cardio. People at the gym rarely see me doing cardio because I prefer to run outside or do a HIIT workout at home rather than use a machine.
  • barryplumber
    barryplumber Posts: 401 Member
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    I do 35 minutes of cardio and one hour of weights. I want to look good and I want to be in healthy good shape. It's different strokes for different folks what ever makes you happy stick to it.
  • Sarauk2sf
    Sarauk2sf Posts: 28,072 Member
    edited April 2015
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    SideSteel wrote: »
    Most people who train heavy with weights have the following things occur:

    1) Very intense and short bursts of activity for a short period of time.
    2) A period of very low activity (rest)
    3) Repeat.

    At the surface this looks to have similarities to HIIT.

    And

    4) Very elevated heart rate and heavy breathing.

    My cardiovascular conditioning has improved substantially from resistance training alone.

    I'm not convinced that the addition of cardio would generate additional health benefits.


    I'm on the fence whether or not there would be carryover effects into powerlifting were I to add cardio.

    But right now I dislike it a great deal, and for me that's reason alone not to do it given my previous statements.

    Mine did too. But when I started couch to 5K (even with the occasional biking I did) I found there was a lot of room for improvement. And I don't mean the running itself, I mean the actual being able to sustain a high rate of oxygen/energy consumption. I went from wanting to die after 2 minutes, to being able to run at 90% max HR for a solid hour and feel fine the whole time and when I'm done.

    I don't imagine it means my cardiovascular system was unhealthy, but it was very far from what it could have been.

    ETA my resting HR also went from high 50s last year, to 46 as of last week, FWIW. :)

    My question is (rhetorical) - and I have not researched this so I am kind of thinking out loud, at what point is more cardiovascular conditioning no longer an incremental benefit to health? A benefit for endurance pursuits, yes. But an incremental benefit to heart health?. Flipping it to lifting - at some point I would also think that strength training taps out on some of the health benefits and you are basically lifting just to get stronger/add mass - not necessarily for improved bone density for example as you already are well outside the risk of osteoporosis with the bone density you have. I could be wrong and missing something here however. I probably should look into this more as its something I have wondered and myself and SS have discussed it on more than one occasion.
  • henrythedentist
    henrythedentist Posts: 8 Member
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    I hate cardio machines in the gym but i like riding my bike for dozens of K's at a time and i like doing cardio in circuit training. I always do some high intensity cardio these days. Then i lift. I do both, every time. Lots of guys at my gym only lift. Fair enough, they have different goals its not my business
  • LiftAllThePizzas
    LiftAllThePizzas Posts: 17,857 Member
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    Sarauk2sf wrote: »
    SideSteel wrote: »
    Most people who train heavy with weights have the following things occur:

    1) Very intense and short bursts of activity for a short period of time.
    2) A period of very low activity (rest)
    3) Repeat.

    At the surface this looks to have similarities to HIIT.

    And

    4) Very elevated heart rate and heavy breathing.

    My cardiovascular conditioning has improved substantially from resistance training alone.

    I'm not convinced that the addition of cardio would generate additional health benefits.


    I'm on the fence whether or not there would be carryover effects into powerlifting were I to add cardio.

    But right now I dislike it a great deal, and for me that's reason alone not to do it given my previous statements.

    Mine did too. But when I started couch to 5K (even with the occasional biking I did) I found there was a lot of room for improvement. And I don't mean the running itself, I mean the actual being able to sustain a high rate of oxygen/energy consumption. I went from wanting to die after 2 minutes, to being able to run at 90% max HR for a solid hour and feel fine the whole time and when I'm done.

    I don't imagine it means my cardiovascular system was unhealthy, but it was very far from what it could have been.

    ETA my resting HR also went from high 50s last year, to 46 as of last week, FWIW. :)

    My question is (rhetorical) - and I have not researched this so I am kind of thinking out loud, at what point is more cardiovascular conditioning no longer an incremental benefit to health? A benefit for endurance pursuits, yes. But an incremental benefit to heart health?. Flipping it to lifting - at some point I would also think that strength training taps out on some of the health benefits and you are basically lifting just to get stronger/add mass - not necessarily for improved bone density for example as you already are well outside the risk of osteoporosis with the bone density you have. I could be wrong and missing something here however. I probably should look into this more as its something I have wondered and myself and SS have discussed it on more than one occasion.
    Yep, I was also wondering at what point is it still beneficial beyond the "performance" aspect.

    And if studies were conducted it might even have the appearance of raising the risk of other causes of death, because hey, you gotta die of something and that is no longer your weakest link, right?
  • Mr_Knight
    Mr_Knight Posts: 9,532 Member
    edited April 2015
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    Sarauk2sf wrote: »
    My question is (rhetorical) - and I have not researched this so I am kind of thinking out loud, at what point is more cardiovascular conditioning no longer an incremental benefit to health?

    I don't think that's answerable unless we answer "What is the meaning of life?" first. I'm not trying to be *kitten* - your question is extremely valid - I just don't see how we can converge on an answer without first agreeing on a purpose for being here. If I have to run across the savannah to catch a rabbit for dinner, there is no limit to how much cardiovascular fitness helps me. If I'm living on a spaceship with Wall.E, nothing matters.

    Even something like osteoporosis...if all we're going to do in old age is sit around farting into a diaper and complaining about the government, it really doesn't matter how fragile we become, because it really doesn't matter if we survive an extra few years or not. Not really.

    But I'm of the mindset that chasing "fitness" for its own sake is a pointless pursuit anyway - to me, fitness is just a tool to accomplish something. And that something will define where the boundaries for strength or cardio or whatever lie.


  • LKArgh
    LKArgh Posts: 5,179 Member
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    SideSteel wrote: »
    Most people who train heavy with weights have the following things occur:

    1) Very intense and short bursts of activity for a short period of time.
    2) A period of very low activity (rest)
    3) Repeat.

    At the surface this looks to have similarities to HIIT.

    And

    4) Very elevated heart rate and heavy breathing.

    My cardiovascular conditioning has improved substantially from resistance training alone.

    I'm not convinced that the addition of cardio would generate additional health benefits.

    I'm on the fence whether or not there would be carryover effects into powerlifting were I to add cardio.

    But right now I dislike it a great deal, and for me that's reason alone not to do it given my previous statements.

    American Heart Association disagrees with you. And with people focusing only on aerobic exercises.

    http://www.heart.org/HEARTORG/GettingHealthy/PhysicalActivity/FitnessBasics/American-Heart-Association-Recommendations-for-Physical-Activity-in-Adults_UCM_307976_Article.jsp
  • MityMax96
    MityMax96 Posts: 5,778 Member
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    Sarauk2sf wrote: »

    My question is (rhetorical) ......Flipping it to lifting - at some point I would also think that strength training taps out on some of the health benefits and you are basically lifting just to get stronger/add mass - not necessarily for improved bone density for example as you already are well outside the risk of osteoporosis with the bone density you have. I could be wrong and missing something here however. I probably should look into this more as its something I have wondered and myself and SS have discussed it on more than one occasion.

    Yes, at what point do we hit our natural limit.....??
    I sometimes wonder if I am at that point....I know some studies/readings put natural limit to be around 180 lbs (possibly 185) and ~8% BF, for my height.
    Right now I am 175, and if I had to guess maybe 9% BF.....
    and any growth from here is very slow going.
    So am I just chasing a rabbit now?

    Now mind you, that 20 yrs ago I was 6'0" and 135 lbs, so being 40 lbs heavier, I guess I can't complain to much.
  • jimmmer
    jimmmer Posts: 3,515 Member
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    Sarauk2sf wrote: »
    SideSteel wrote: »
    Most people who train heavy with weights have the following things occur:

    1) Very intense and short bursts of activity for a short period of time.
    2) A period of very low activity (rest)
    3) Repeat.

    At the surface this looks to have similarities to HIIT.

    And

    4) Very elevated heart rate and heavy breathing.

    My cardiovascular conditioning has improved substantially from resistance training alone.

    I'm not convinced that the addition of cardio would generate additional health benefits.


    I'm on the fence whether or not there would be carryover effects into powerlifting were I to add cardio.

    But right now I dislike it a great deal, and for me that's reason alone not to do it given my previous statements.

    Mine did too. But when I started couch to 5K (even with the occasional biking I did) I found there was a lot of room for improvement. And I don't mean the running itself, I mean the actual being able to sustain a high rate of oxygen/energy consumption. I went from wanting to die after 2 minutes, to being able to run at 90% max HR for a solid hour and feel fine the whole time and when I'm done.

    I don't imagine it means my cardiovascular system was unhealthy, but it was very far from what it could have been.

    ETA my resting HR also went from high 50s last year, to 46 as of last week, FWIW. :)

    My question is (rhetorical) - and I have not researched this so I am kind of thinking out loud, at what point is more cardiovascular conditioning no longer an incremental benefit to health? A benefit for endurance pursuits, yes. But an incremental benefit to heart health?. Flipping it to lifting - at some point I would also think that strength training taps out on some of the health benefits and you are basically lifting just to get stronger/add mass - not necessarily for improved bone density for example as you already are well outside the risk of osteoporosis with the bone density you have. I could be wrong and missing something here however. I probably should look into this more as its something I have wondered and myself and SS have discussed it on more than one occasion.

    There's a debate similar to this in sports coaching.

    It's always better to get the athlete stronger, but there's a point after which a stronger athlete isn't a better athlete. Adding that extra 50lbs to that squat (for example) would detract from the rest of the training schedule (skill work, speed work, conditioning, etc) and have minimal translation to the field/pitch/whatever.

    I guess the only exception would be if you were in a strength sport, then something like a squat would be sports-specific rather than gen s+c...

    At a certain level, everything's a trade off. For the regular joe/jane? It's not something to worry about. Just get some quality work in doing something you love and be more awesome than you were before...
  • glevinso
    glevinso Posts: 1,895 Member
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    Mr_Knight wrote: »
    if all we're going to do in old age is sit around farting into a diaper and complaining about the government

    To be fair most people already do this without the diaper...
  • runner475
    runner475 Posts: 1,236 Member
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    I know runners who do no Strength Training - absolutely none.
    Their reason
    1) No Time
    2) Do not want to add muscle to weigh them down
    3) No Time <~~~ YEAH that was deliberately added
    4) Not needed for running


    I also know these same friends of mine have over multiple times
    1) been injured <~~~ mind you they are extremely good at they do - running.
    2) DNS (to those unfamiliar with running/race terminilogy that's "Did not start" race)

    I think irrespective of what sport one enjoys cardio and strength training are what's yin is to yang - One has to cross train and there should be no denying in that.

  • runner475
    runner475 Posts: 1,236 Member
    edited April 2015
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    Mr_Knight wrote: »
    if all we're going to do in old age is sit around farting into a diaper and complaining about the government

    and date. Never ever underestimate the power of senior's dating.

    EDTA : Typo. Yeah I always mess with typos.
  • chivalryder
    chivalryder Posts: 4,391 Member
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    runner475 wrote: »
    I know runners who do no Strength Training - absolutely none.
    Their reason
    1) No Time
    2) Do not want to add muscle to weigh them down
    3) No Time <~~~ YEAH that was deliberately added
    4) Not needed for running


    I also know these same friends of mine have over multiple times
    1) been injured <~~~ mind you they are extremely good at they do - running.
    2) DNS (to those unfamiliar with running/race terminilogy that's "Did not start" race)

    I think irrespective of what sport one enjoys cardio and strength training are what's yin is to yang - One has to cross train and there should be no denying in that.

    This.