Do you NEED cardio?

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digidoomed
digidoomed Posts: 151 Member
in Fitness and Exercise
Hi all! I am trying to build some muscle and also lose a little excess body fat. I'm sure I'm not the only person who hates cardio. I have heard that cardio is not necessary to lose fat. Is this true? And if so, to what extent? My typical gym routine is around 50-60 minutes of weight lifting with 10 mins of either HIIT or alternating sprinting/jogging on a treadmill. Should I keep doing cardio, or is there any alterations I can make that would make it easier to target fat while building muscle?
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Replies

  • bbell1985
    bbell1985 Posts: 4,572 Member
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    I don't do any cardio. I just watch my general activity level. If I sit on my butt too much my TDEE can go down. You won't catch me running or doing jumping jacks though.
  • digidoomed
    digidoomed Posts: 151 Member
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    bbell1985 wrote: »
    I don't do any cardio. I just watch my general activity level. If I sit on my butt too much my TDEE can go down. You won't catch me running or doing jumping jacks though.

    My days aren't too active outside the gym as I'm usually sitting at a desk doing my office/school work. What would you recommend I do given that?
  • jjpptt2
    jjpptt2 Posts: 5,650 Member
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    No, cardio is not at all necessary. Keep lifting, and keep your overall calorie intake where it should be (modest deficit, probably).
  • jjpptt2
    jjpptt2 Posts: 5,650 Member
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    bbell1985 wrote: »
    I don't do any cardio. I just watch my general activity level. If I sit on my butt too much my TDEE can go down. You won't catch me running or doing jumping jacks though.

    lol
  • sardelsa
    sardelsa Posts: 9,812 Member
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    Cardio is great for health, fitness and helping add to your calorie intake. But no, you don't need it to lose fat. Follow a progressive lifting program, get adequate protein ..and not sure if you are eating at maintenance to recomp or eating in a deficit.
  • bbell1985
    bbell1985 Posts: 4,572 Member
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    digidoomed wrote: »
    bbell1985 wrote: »
    I don't do any cardio. I just watch my general activity level. If I sit on my butt too much my TDEE can go down. You won't catch me running or doing jumping jacks though.

    My days aren't too active outside the gym as I'm usually sitting at a desk doing my office/school work. What would you recommend I do given that?

    Steps? I try to get in 10-12k per day to stay in the "lightly active" range. Being sedentary is just to hard for me to lose or maintain. I get on the treadmill and walk like a bum for 30 min. while I listen to podcasts if I have steps to make up for.
  • J_Fairfax
    J_Fairfax Posts: 57 Member
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    A bit of cardio can compliment weight training quite nicely. Having increased cardiovascular fitness can improve your lifting capability because if you are going intense on your weight lifting you want to be able to recover quickly between sets and not let being out of breath or tired be the limiting factor, you want the muscles to be the limiting factor!

    Also I have heard that a bit of gentle cardio to get the blood pumping can help with muscle recovery.
  • MeanderingMammal
    MeanderingMammal Posts: 7,866 Member
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    digidoomed wrote: »
    ... with 10 mins of either HIIT or alternating sprinting/jogging on a treadmill.

    No surprise you don't enjoy it if that's what you're doing.

    Personally I don't much enjoy any training in a gym, so if you don't have any alternatives then I'd agree with the points above. You can do without it, but it has a number of benefits that you're not going to get from resistance training alone.
  • BrianSharpe
    BrianSharpe Posts: 9,248 Member
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    Exercise (cardio and/or strength) for good health, calorie deficit for fat loss.

    When I hear people say that they "hate cardio" I assume that's because they haven't found the right activity yet. If they mean the treadmill or elliptical or similar machine at the gym I tend to agree, they're mind numbing. There are innumerable other ways to do cardio and have fun at the same time and unless you're training for an endurance event you don't need to spend hours at it to maintain/improve cardiovascular health.
  • huntersvonnegut
    huntersvonnegut Posts: 1,176 Member
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    I love to walk so that's my cardio. I also wear a weighted vest.
  • Azdak
    Azdak Posts: 8,281 Member
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    JoRocka wrote: »
    Is it ABSOLUTELY necessary? no- just a calorie deficit- but it's helpful to generate MORE of a deficit.

    I find I cannot eat low enough calories and survive comfortably- so I create more of a deficit by doing some light cardio 2-3 times a week.

    Can’t believe you got put in jail :/
  • JoRocka
    JoRocka Posts: 17,525 Member
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    Azdak wrote: »
    JoRocka wrote: »
    Is it ABSOLUTELY necessary? no- just a calorie deficit- but it's helpful to generate MORE of a deficit.

    I find I cannot eat low enough calories and survive comfortably- so I create more of a deficit by doing some light cardio 2-3 times a week.

    Can’t believe you got put in jail :/

    ?? Is my thing blocked? Looks normal to me.
  • BoxerBrawler
    BoxerBrawler Posts: 2,032 Member
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    Not necessary but it sure does help :smile: My comp coach put me on cardio restriction and I thought I was going to die... so I agreed to eat more to compensate for the higher calorie burn. I love cardio... but in the form of Dance, Wavemaster boxing (turbo-jam), all thinks boxing, MMA, etc. boat-load of cardio and so much fun it should be illegal. But I like to run as well... my inner boxer says just run and fight, run and fight, don't lift weights. My bikini-comp side says STOP the cardio, eat carbs and lift weights haha! It all depends upon the wolf you want to feed I guess!
  • JeromeBarry1
    JeromeBarry1 Posts: 10,182 Member
    edited February 2018
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    You can live without it but you live healthier with it.

    By the way, your 10 minutes of HIIT IS cardio. It's just not steady state cardio. The science of it is that in 10 minutes of actually properly done HIIT you burn as many calories in that 24-hour window as you would have burned in 30 minutes of steady state cardio in which your heart rate reached 70% or so of maximum capacity. HIIT is supposed to get your heart rate up to 95% of maximum capacity for brief intervals.
  • BigRed2525
    BigRed2525 Posts: 45 Member
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    For me--yes. I can't comfortably maintain a deficit or, frankly, mental health without it. For you--maybe not.
  • brittyn3
    brittyn3 Posts: 481 Member
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    Your question has already been answered, but to offer another testimony... I do cardio so I can drink more on Sunday Funday. I like running, but in winter doing cardio on a treadmill or other machine is mindnumbingly awful to me. The only time I actually enjoy cardio is when the weather is decent outside and I'm running.

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