Do you NEED cardio?
digidoomed
Posts: 151 Member
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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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.
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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.0
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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.
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?0 -
No, cardio is not at all necessary. Keep lifting, and keep your overall calorie intake where it should be (modest deficit, probably).0
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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.3
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digidoomed 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.2 -
I NEED cake, therefore I need cardio - no cardio, no cake.
Do you have to do cardio to lose weight? No.10 -
digidoomed wrote: »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?
No exercise, be it cardio or lifting targets fat loss. Fat loss comes down to simply expending more energy (calories) than you're taking in.
Cardio is short for cardiovascular...cardio is very good for your cardiovascular system and overall health and well being...and it has an added benefit of increased energy expenditure...
Personally, I wouldn't recommend no cardio...but it isn't necessary for weight loss. Also, there's all kinds of cardio work out there beyond droning away on a treadmill...personally, I like getting my road bike out and getting some miles and time in the saddle...6 -
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.3 -
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.0 -
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.3 -
I love to walk so that's my cardio. I also wear a weighted vest.1
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?? Is my thing blocked? Looks normal to me.0 -
Not necessary but it sure does help
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! 1 -
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.4 -
For me--yes. I can't comfortably maintain a deficit or, frankly, mental health without it. For you--maybe not.2
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No you don’t need to do cardio to lose weight. However, as a cardiac nurse I would always advise a bit of cardio a few times a week, be it walking briskly, swimming, skipping, dancing (anything that gets you slightly out of breath) to my patients.
Not necessary for weight loss, but necessary for cardiac health. Especially if anyone has a strong family history of cardiac disease.13 -
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.1
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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
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