Do you NEED cardio?
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You need cardio if you wish to increase your cardiovascular fitness. You also need cardio if you're generally sedentary but would still like to eat like a normal person. Other than that, it's up to you. HIIT is not the only form of cardio out there (and 10 minutes of it barely burns any calories). Cardio is not required for weight loss, but neither is strength training. A calorie deficit is all that's required for weight loss, but augmenting your diet with strength training changes your appearance if that's the look you're going for and cardio gives you calories to play with. Other than that, both have great health benefits.
If you still wish to add cardio, try out different things and see which you might enjoy.3 -
JeromeBarry1 wrote: »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 woo 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.
FIFY
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Your actual question has been answered. That being said, there are lots of ways to get a good "cardio" workout in that don't require mind numbing activities such as:
Some crossfit routines
Zumba
Probably a lot of the classes at a gym include cardio elements (I recently did a TRX class at my gym, there was plenty of cardio as well as strength in the workout!)
Outdoor hiking, biking, running....
I'll admit, I range from 'dislike' to 'hate' any "steady state" cardio (such as running, bicycle riding, elliptical, etc). I still do them because it's important for my goals with my sport, but I mix it up, and that's FAR from all I do. For example, I may do 30 minutes on the elliptical along with ~75 minutes of strength training. Makes the mind numbing cardio more tolerable LOL.
I also find good videos to watch while on the elliptical or stationary bike...0 -
MeanderingMammal wrote: »JeromeBarry1 wrote: »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 woo 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.
FIFY
yeah the epoc situation of "after burn" is touted as a really long lasting "after" burn- it's not. Not nearly as much as people like to believe.4 -
I go back to if people had actual real fitness goals instead of chasing misnomers such as "fitness," "general health," and "cardiovascular fitness" they would know what to do for their workout routine. I don't mind the treadmill, but I listen to audio books and it keeps me entertained enough. Otherwise, I focus on my goals and that always motivates me.0
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Cardio isn't necessary for weight loss but it helps. Also, it's important for your heart.0
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ronocnikral wrote: »I go back to if people had actual real fitness goals instead of chasing misnomers such as "fitness," "general health," and "cardiovascular fitness" they would know what to do for their workout routine. I don't mind the treadmill, but I listen to audio books and it keeps me entertained enough. Otherwise, I focus on my goals and that always motivates me.
Extra food and lower blood pressure are pretty motivating to me. I do follow a plan for structure, but not everyone has fitness goals. For example, I run but I don't plan to race. I track distance and speed progress not because I'm trying to achieve a certain distance or speed, but because it allows me to see how I've progressed in my quest for burning more calories per minute, or my how long I can generate extra calories. Anxiety management is also another goal that isn't fitness related. So yes for me it is about health and fitness.0 -
I hate cardio to but its good for overall health, weightloss aside. I would say you just need to find an activity you enjoy that provides a cardio benefit. Sports, running, dancing, biking, etc.0
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amusedmonkey wrote: »ronocnikral wrote: »I go back to if people had actual real fitness goals instead of chasing misnomers such as "fitness," "general health," and "cardiovascular fitness" they would know what to do for their workout routine. I don't mind the treadmill, but I listen to audio books and it keeps me entertained enough. Otherwise, I focus on my goals and that always motivates me.
Extra food and lower blood pressure are pretty motivating to me. I do follow a plan for structure, but not everyone has fitness goals. For example, I run but I don't plan to race. I track distance and speed progress not because I'm trying to achieve a certain distance or speed, but because it allows me to see how I've progressed in my quest for burning more calories per minute, or my how long I can generate extra calories. Anxiety management is also another goal that isn't fitness related. So yes for me it is about health and fitness.
You miss my point. It seems you have fitness goals. It doesn't have to be racing to be a goal. But, it has to be more specific than "overall fitness." I don't race either, but I have something I want to accomplish, and my workout routine reflects that.
My point was in regards to a lack of specificity, not in what the actual goals themselves are ("fitness" isn't a goal). Cue Lewis Carroll's cliche quote the Cheshire cat and Alice...0 -
ronocnikral wrote: »amusedmonkey wrote: »ronocnikral wrote: »I go back to if people had actual real fitness goals instead of chasing misnomers such as "fitness," "general health," and "cardiovascular fitness" they would know what to do for their workout routine. I don't mind the treadmill, but I listen to audio books and it keeps me entertained enough. Otherwise, I focus on my goals and that always motivates me.
Extra food and lower blood pressure are pretty motivating to me. I do follow a plan for structure, but not everyone has fitness goals. For example, I run but I don't plan to race. I track distance and speed progress not because I'm trying to achieve a certain distance or speed, but because it allows me to see how I've progressed in my quest for burning more calories per minute, or my how long I can generate extra calories. Anxiety management is also another goal that isn't fitness related. So yes for me it is about health and fitness.
You miss my point. It seems you have fitness goals. It doesn't have to be racing to be a goal. But, it has to be more specific than "overall fitness." I don't race either, but I have something I want to accomplish, and my workout routine reflects that.
My point was in regards to a lack of specificity, not in what the actual goals themselves are ("fitness" isn't a goal). Cue Lewis Carroll's cliche quote the Cheshire cat and Alice...
Oh I understand what you mean now. It's too early for OP to determine her cardio fitness goals because she hasn't decided on a cardio type she doesn't hate yet. General goals would help her decide if she wants to pursue this in the first place.1 -
Thank you everyone!0
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amusedmonkey wrote: »ronocnikral wrote: »amusedmonkey wrote: »ronocnikral wrote: »I go back to if people had actual real fitness goals instead of chasing misnomers such as "fitness," "general health," and "cardiovascular fitness" they would know what to do for their workout routine. I don't mind the treadmill, but I listen to audio books and it keeps me entertained enough. Otherwise, I focus on my goals and that always motivates me.
Extra food and lower blood pressure are pretty motivating to me. I do follow a plan for structure, but not everyone has fitness goals. For example, I run but I don't plan to race. I track distance and speed progress not because I'm trying to achieve a certain distance or speed, but because it allows me to see how I've progressed in my quest for burning more calories per minute, or my how long I can generate extra calories. Anxiety management is also another goal that isn't fitness related. So yes for me it is about health and fitness.
You miss my point. It seems you have fitness goals. It doesn't have to be racing to be a goal. But, it has to be more specific than "overall fitness." I don't race either, but I have something I want to accomplish, and my workout routine reflects that.
My point was in regards to a lack of specificity, not in what the actual goals themselves are ("fitness" isn't a goal). Cue Lewis Carroll's cliche quote the Cheshire cat and Alice...
Oh I understand what you mean now. It's too early for OP to determine her cardio fitness goals because she hasn't decided on a cardio type she doesn't hate yet. General goals would help her decide if she wants to pursue this in the first place.
All I know is that if my only form of cardio was HIIT or running on the treadmill, I'd probably hate cardio too.3 -
ronocnikral wrote: »I go back to if people had actual real fitness goals instead of chasing misnomers such as "fitness," "general health," and "cardiovascular fitness" they would know what to do for their workout routine. I don't mind the treadmill, but I listen to audio books and it keeps me entertained enough. Otherwise, I focus on my goals and that always motivates me.
I sorta agree and disagree at the same time. In the beginning for me, it was all about just improving my fitness and heart health...I was a 2-3 PAD smoker who could barely walk the dog around the block without needing a nap, I had soaring triglycerides and cholesterol, and even with medications, my blood pressure wasn't particularly well managed.
In the early days, I didn't have any well defined fitness goals...I wanted to fix my body. Most of what I did from a cardio standpoint was pretty much randomness and lacked direction...I don't think that's particularly a-typical for someone getting into the game. Even though I didn't particularly enjoy what I was doing on the cardiovascular front, I saw my numbers changing as I was required to go in every 12 weeks to get blood work and everything checked out...for that time, it was more than enough motivation to keep me going...I was getting healthier and more fit.
Finding something I enjoyed was an exercise is trying various random things along the way. I didn't actually find a form of cardio work that I actually enjoyed until I was into maintenance and re-discovered my bike while training for a sprint triathlon (which was my first ever more detailed fitness aspiration).
Five years later my goals are a bit of both...I ride because I love to ride and I have some defined fitness goals...I also ride because I want to remain fit and heart healthy given that I've pretty much reversed everything except my BP...but that is well under control these days with reduced medication so long as I exercise regularly.2 -
cwolfman13 wrote: »ronocnikral wrote: »I go back to if people had actual real fitness goals instead of chasing misnomers such as "fitness," "general health," and "cardiovascular fitness" they would know what to do for their workout routine. I don't mind the treadmill, but I listen to audio books and it keeps me entertained enough. Otherwise, I focus on my goals and that always motivates me.
I sorta agree and disagree at the same time. In the beginning for me, it was all about just improving my fitness and heart health...I was a 2-3 PAD smoker who could barely walk the dog around the block without needing a nap, I had soaring triglycerides and cholesterol, and even with medications, my blood pressure wasn't particularly well managed.
In the early days, I didn't have any well defined fitness goals...I wanted to fix my body. Most of what I did from a cardio standpoint was pretty much randomness and lacked direction...I don't think that's particularly a-typical for someone getting into the game. Even though I didn't particularly enjoy what I was doing on the cardiovascular front, I saw my numbers changing as I was required to go in every 12 weeks to get blood work and everything checked out...for that time, it was more than enough motivation to keep me going...I was getting healthier and more fit.
Finding something I enjoyed was an exercise is trying various random things along the way. I didn't actually find a form of cardio work that I actually enjoyed until I was into maintenance and re-discovered my bike while training for a sprint triathlon (which was my first ever more detailed fitness aspiration).
Five years later my goals are a bit of both...I ride because I love to ride and I have some defined fitness goals...I also ride because I want to remain fit and heart healthy given that I've pretty much reversed everything except my BP...but that is well under control these days with reduced medication so long as I exercise regularly.
I Want to fix my body. Fixing my body means: 1) stop smoking, 2) lose the pooch, 3) fill in the blanks. I will achieve everything above by: a) maximizing weekly calorie burn on a stationary bike, every day from 5:00 am to 7:00 am. I do it at (blank location) and b) tracking each and every calorie I consume and c) stepping on the scale every Monday, Thurs, Sund.
Goals evolve, things change, but everyone needs a plan. You want killer abs, write down how you will do it. You want to ride a century, write down how you will do it and put together a plan. You want to lower your blood pressure, put together a plan. The plan should have specifics, and should be revisited periodically and adjustments made. But, just exercising for the sake of exercising isn't a good plan.
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MeanderingMammal wrote: »JeromeBarry1 wrote: »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 woo 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.
FIFY
yeah the epoc situation of "after burn" is touted as a really long lasting "after" burn- it's not. Not nearly as much as people like to believe.
you are correct. I have kept notes in the past with this and noticed that the afterburn only lasted maybe at best 2-3 hrs and it was only a mere 2-3 calories extra burned per hr(at least for me) than it was doing just SSC. same with doing kettlebell workouts it doesnt burn as many calories as people think per minute, or for hours afterward. for me being on the go all day burns more calories than being lightly active through the day, and then getting a workout in even if it is hiit.0 -
amusedmonkey wrote: »You need cardio if you wish to increase your cardiovascular fitness. You also need cardio if you're generally sedentary but would still like to eat like a normal person. Other than that, it's up to you. HIIT is not the only form of cardio out there (and 10 minutes of it barely burns any calories). Cardio is not required for weight loss, but neither is strength training. A calorie deficit is all that's required for weight loss, but augmenting your diet with strength training changes your appearance if that's the look you're going for and cardio gives you calories to play with. Other than that, both have great health benefits.
If you still wish to add cardio, try out different things and see which you might enjoy.
Was going to type basically the same things. ^
In addition, its hard to imagine not wanting to involve cardio in some form in your life. It makes you better able to participate in so many enjoyable outdoor activities, improves long term health/mood/sleep, and burns calories so you dont have to spend your life eating such small portions.
I guess if the only priority is weight loss the truth is you dont have to do ANY form of exercise. Just eat very very little.
May i ask what cardio activities have you tried with any regularity? What is it about cardio that you hate more specifically?0 -
I do cardio to get a good night's sleep and to keep my mood up, as well as extra calories, heart health etc.2
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jenifer7teen wrote: »amusedmonkey wrote: »You need cardio if you wish to increase your cardiovascular fitness. You also need cardio if you're generally sedentary but would still like to eat like a normal person. Other than that, it's up to you. HIIT is not the only form of cardio out there (and 10 minutes of it barely burns any calories). Cardio is not required for weight loss, but neither is strength training. A calorie deficit is all that's required for weight loss, but augmenting your diet with strength training changes your appearance if that's the look you're going for and cardio gives you calories to play with. Other than that, both have great health benefits.
If you still wish to add cardio, try out different things and see which you might enjoy.
Was going to type basically the same things. ^
In addition, its hard to imagine not wanting to involve cardio in some form in your life. It makes you better able to participate in so many enjoyable outdoor activities, improves long term health/mood/sleep, and burns calories so you dont have to spend your life eating such small portions.
I guess if the only priority is weight loss the truth is you dont have to do ANY form of exercise. Just eat very very little.
May i ask what cardio activities have you tried with any regularity? What is it about cardio that you hate more specifically?
I save cardio for the end of my workouts so I tend to just sprint on a treadmill on/off to just get it out the way quicker. I also have tried HIIT which I like, but I feel like I work harder on the treadmill (probably because I'm out of breath quicker). I also tried cycling but its not my cup of tea. And I don't really HATE cardio that much, I just definitely don't look forward to it0 -
digidoomed wrote: »jenifer7teen wrote: »amusedmonkey wrote: »You need cardio if you wish to increase your cardiovascular fitness. You also need cardio if you're generally sedentary but would still like to eat like a normal person. Other than that, it's up to you. HIIT is not the only form of cardio out there (and 10 minutes of it barely burns any calories). Cardio is not required for weight loss, but neither is strength training. A calorie deficit is all that's required for weight loss, but augmenting your diet with strength training changes your appearance if that's the look you're going for and cardio gives you calories to play with. Other than that, both have great health benefits.
If you still wish to add cardio, try out different things and see which you might enjoy.
Was going to type basically the same things. ^
In addition, its hard to imagine not wanting to involve cardio in some form in your life. It makes you better able to participate in so many enjoyable outdoor activities, improves long term health/mood/sleep, and burns calories so you dont have to spend your life eating such small portions.
I guess if the only priority is weight loss the truth is you dont have to do ANY form of exercise. Just eat very very little.
May i ask what cardio activities have you tried with any regularity? What is it about cardio that you hate more specifically?
I save cardio for the end of my workouts so I tend to just sprint on a treadmill on/off to just get it out the way quicker. I also have tried HIIT which I like, but I feel like I work harder on the treadmill (probably because I'm out of breath quicker). I also tried cycling but its not my cup of tea. And I don't really HATE cardio that much, I just definitely don't look forward to it
If you work harder and get out of breath quicker on the treadmill than you do while doing HIIT, you aren't doing HIIT.
HIIT (High Intensity Interval Training) is going all-out, as hard/fast as you possibly can, for a short period of time, followed by a rest period and repeated several times. The high intensity intervals are very short periods because it should be all you're physically able to perform at that level of intensity. It's very uncomfortable and physically exhausting, and you should be gasping for breath, completely drained and near ready to puke by the end of the workout. If not, what you just did wasn't HIIT. It may have been aerobic intervals, but it wasn't HIIT.
HIIT has become very trendy/faddish and has been completely subverted by segments of the fitness industry. A lot of silly, outlandish woo and hype circulates around it and probably 75%-80% (or more!) of the workouts currently being called HIIT are nothing of the sort.3 -
ronocnikral wrote: »amusedmonkey wrote: »ronocnikral wrote: »I go back to if people had actual real fitness goals instead of chasing misnomers such as "fitness," "general health," and "cardiovascular fitness" they would know what to do for their workout routine. I don't mind the treadmill, but I listen to audio books and it keeps me entertained enough. Otherwise, I focus on my goals and that always motivates me.
Extra food and lower blood pressure are pretty motivating to me. I do follow a plan for structure, but not everyone has fitness goals. For example, I run but I don't plan to race. I track distance and speed progress not because I'm trying to achieve a certain distance or speed, but because it allows me to see how I've progressed in my quest for burning more calories per minute, or my how long I can generate extra calories. Anxiety management is also another goal that isn't fitness related. So yes for me it is about health and fitness.
You miss my point. It seems you have fitness goals. It doesn't have to be racing to be a goal. But, it has to be more specific than "overall fitness." I don't race either, but I have something I want to accomplish, and my workout routine reflects that.
My point was in regards to a lack of specificity, not in what the actual goals themselves are ("fitness" isn't a goal). Cue Lewis Carroll's cliche quote the Cheshire cat and Alice...
I still don't see anything wrong with improving cardiovascular health- or over all fitness. While certainly those are harder goals to met since they are unspecified- they are fine if you are aware of your conditioning and are comfortable with an amorphis goal.
Interestingly- I don't think it works well for beginners- because goals that are achievable inspire motivation- and breed success- followed by more motivation.
BUT- I think they are fine for people who are fine working but don't need a goal to keep them motivated. usually people comfortable with "the grind" I understand the irony- those folks are less likely to have "general fitness goals- but I think they are capable of having general conditioning goals.1
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